Rosario Dawson has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, and now she has revealed that she was also a victim of sexual abuse.
“I was raped and molested as a child, so for me, the world was like that since I was a child,” the Rent actress, 38, said during a recent interview with Morado Lens podcast hosts Cindy Rodriguez and Nathalie Farfan. “So when I saw it in the workplace, it wasn’t foreign to me. It was like, well, that even happens within family. It happens with people that are supposed to take care of you when you’re a child.”
Dawson went on to discuss the sexual harassment and assault scandal that has unfolded in Hollywood in recent months, beginning with the New York Times’ October report on film producer Harvey Weinstein’s alleged misconduct.
“Now we’re in a place where it’s finally like, ‘No, we don’t have to keep passing this on. This is archaic and terrible and destructive. Let’s look at it,’” the Defenders star said. “It’s beautiful. I’m so ready for this moment.”
Later in the interview, Dawson — who wore black at the Golden Globes earlier this month in solidarity with the Time’s Up initiative — opened up about finding her 26-year-old cousin Vaneza Ines Vasquez dead inside the actress’ home in Venice, California, in May 2017.
“When Vaneza died, it was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Regardless of how well I’ve spent these years, I’ve already got 12 more years of life than Vaneza will ever have,” she said. “I think what [that] really did was give me back my gratitude.”
