Jessica Alba used to suffer sexual harassment "all the time" in her career.
The 37-year-old actress – who shot into the limelight as a teenager – has revealed she just "accepted" that she was going to be mistreated while growing up in the industry because she thought she’d miss out on opportunities if she had said anything.
Speaking on CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’, she said when asked if she had experienced sexual harassment: "Oh yeah, of course I have. Yeah. All the time along the way. I don’t know, I guess you shouldn’t have accepted it, but, as a young actress growing up in the business, you just accepted that that’s the way you were going to be treated.
"You could either go this way or that way with it, and do I think I could’ve gotten some opportunities if I would’ve done this versus that? Sure.
"But for me, that’s just not something I was comfortable with, frankly … I mean, I’ve been doing this since I was 12. Imagine, imagine what that’s like."
And, although she brushed off the sexual harassment she suffered as a youngster, Jessica believes it was "time" for the #MeToo movement, which was launched earlier this year to encourage women in the entertainment industry come forward about their own experiences after Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct.
She explained: "I think things have been imbalanced for way too long and I think it’s about time. No-one gave me a handout. No-one gave me an opportunity. I had to fight for it, but it would be nice if I had some people who helped me along the way and I didn’t have to fall on my face so much, and it would’ve been also nice to have more women mentor me and help me along the way."
And, being a mother of three children – Honor, 10, Haven, six, and Hayes, six months – the brunette beauty wants to encourage them to take control of their own bodies.
She said: "There’s warning signs and there’s that feeling in your stomach and you have to listen to that feeling."
Jessica Alba suffered sexual harassment ‘all the time’ in her career
