Dame Helen Mirren has said that a man once flashed at her on the train when she was aged 13 and that she was sexually harassed ‘almost on a daily basis’.
The Oscar-winning actress, 75, who is part of L’Oréal Paris’ Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign, added that in her 20s she would stay in reading books as she didn’t feel ‘safe’ out and is still ‘p***ed off’ about the fact she was ‘repressed’.
Helen said that every woman she knows has been through some form of harassment and that she was always ‘amazed’ that no one would talk about it openly.
Speaking out: Dame Helen Mirren has said that a man once flashed at her on the train when she was aged 13 and that she was sexually harassed ‘almost on a daily basis’ (pictured in 2019)
According to the Mirror, the actress said of her ordeal when she was aged just 13: ‘It was horrible. And they do it because young girls are vulnerable. It’s a power trip.
‘It would happen almost on a daily basis – whether it was pick-up lines, being followed, being objectified. Men exposing themselves… it could be extreme. That would happen once a month to me – sometimes more.
‘When I spoke to other women about it, they would all say, “Oh, yeah – me too.” Every woman I know has been through it. That means there’s an enormous number of men out there doing it – and I was always amazed that no one was really talking about it.’
Helen added that she got ‘angrier’ as she grew older as the harassment didn’t stop and that she was ‘repressed’ from enjoying times out.
Campaign: The Oscar-winning actress, 75, who is part of L’Oréal Paris’ Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign, added that in her 20s she would stay in reading books as she didn’t feel ‘safe’ out and is still ‘p***ed off’ about the fact she was ‘repressed’ (pictured in 2020)
She continued: ‘As I got older, I got angrier because it didn’t stop. And I still am p***ed off that my ability to be out in the world was repressed.
‘In my 20s there were times when I would sit in my hotel room reading a book rather than go out and enjoy myself to avoid it.’
Helen is one of many celebrities backing L’Oréal Paris’ Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign.
Talking about the importance of the social media movement, the actress said that men have never ‘historically ever really understood’ what women go through.
Helen added: ‘It’s about educating the people around the person who is being harassed that it’s our collective responsibility to take action. The more people look away, the more people think they can continue doing it.’
Harassment: Helen said that every woman she knows has been through some form of harassment and that she was always ‘amazed’ that no one would talk about it openly (pictured in March)
The actress revealed in March that she was taking part in L’Oréal Paris’ Stand Up Against Street Harassment campaign, she penned on Instagram: ‘Today as part of International Women’s day I stand up with Loreal Paris to fight street harassment.’
The campaign aims to empower people with five tools so they can intervene safely after they found 78% of women have experienced street harassment.
Helen has previously revealed that she was treated like a ‘piece of meat that had no value’ when she first started out in the film industry as a young actress.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, which shone a spotlight on sexual harassment and inequity in the entertainment industry, Helen told Vogue in 2018: ‘I just thought it was what men did, what men were like. I never questioned whether I should stand up to men who behaved like that to me.’
She added: ‘I felt like a piece of meat that had no value. It happened here, it happened there, then you’d go on a date with a guy and it happened again.
Looking back: ‘In my 20s there were times when I would sit in my hotel room reading a book rather than go out and enjoy myself to avoid it’ she recalled (pictured in 1991)
‘And I started blaming myself. Maybe it’s me? Maybe I am putting something out there that I am not aware of? Maybe it is my fault?’
In 2018, Helen claimed that men used to ‘expose’ themselves to her once a week in her 20s.
Speaking on Today with Willie Geist, the star said: ‘When I was in between 16 and 23, 24 – men would expose themselves to me often, I would say about once a week… on the subway, on the tube, on the bus, walking down a road and it was like, “Ugh”.
Helen previously revealed she ‘wishes she had told people to f**k off more’ when she was younger.
When asked what advice she would give her younger self, the actress shared: ‘It’d be to say ‘f**k off’ more and stop being so b****y polite…
‘In those days, you had to. It’s hard to explain how difficult it is to overcome the culture. You become a voice in the wilderness. No one wants to listen.’
Helen also said that she believes things have ‘changed substantially’ for women in the film and television industry in the last decade.
She said: ‘Hugely. In the last 10 years – or really the last three or four years – things have changed substantially.
‘There is a pressure mounting behind a dam, and I hope that that dam is finally bursting in terms of women directors and women-led dramas.
‘When I first did Prime Suspect they were not at all sure that a female-led drama would be acceptable to the public.
‘So that’s how much things have changed since we first began Prime Suspect. It’s changed hugely.’
Looking back: Helen previously said: ‘When I first did Prime Suspect they were not at all sure that a female-led drama would be acceptable to the public.’ (pictured in 2003 still)