Huma Qureshi opens up about sexual harassment

Actor reveals she has been a victim to abuse from within and outside the cinema industry

CANNES: Actor Huma Qureshi recently revealed she has had to deal with sexual harassment from within and outside the cinema industry.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the Gangs of Wasseypur star said, “Well, as a woman, absolutely, I have had to deal with people making advances at me. Not just people from the film industry, but people across different professions as well. I think it has a lot to do with power and is not only limited to the film business."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BipQyjbF_lv/?taken-by=iamhumaq

Huma feels that for many women at the receiving end, it becomes difficult to come out and speak. "In India and elsewhere in the world, the moment a woman speaks out against harassment, people sort of start making all sorts of character judgments about her, about her morality, about what she was wearing and all such things and I think that is not fair," she added.

"If a woman is saying something out loud, she is asking for help and you have no right to assassinate her character. You have to reach out to her and help her and protect her and I think we need to protect our women and our children."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BioFRRtlVPT/?taken-by=iamhumaq

On the spate of incidents involving rapes of minors in India, Huma mentioned, "Only laws cannot help, the change has to be more profound and more voluntary and from within.” She believes a lot of the issues that exist in the world today, rise from the fact that we do not know enough about each other’s cultures.

"We don't respect each other's origins and there is so much negativity and strife around because we don't know where the other person is coming from.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiGw3m5BLMd/?taken-by=iamhumaq

Coming back to Cannes is special for Huma because it was here that her first film Gangs of Wasseypur was screened six years ago.  "It was literally like a dream come true. I did not even for a moment think that a film about gangsters from India would find a resonance with the French or global audience. But I remember the screening over here and it was a very special occasion," she said.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.