Rosario Dawson says she was sexually abused as a child at the hands of a family member.
The 38-year-old actress, speaking on the Morado Lens podcast, revealed how the horrifying experience shaped her view of the world and how she wasn’t surprised to see similar abuse in Hollywood.
‘I was raped and molested as a child, so for me, the world was like that since I was a child’ the Luke Cage star told hosts Cindy Rodriguez and Nathalie Farfan.
‘For me, the world was like that’: Rosario Dawson has revealed she was raped and molested as a child
‘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.’
Rosario was raised in poverty, born in New York City to Puerto Rican-Cuban writer Isabel Celeste, who was only 16 at the time and Patrick C. Harris – who soon disappeared from their lives.
When Rosario was a year old her mother married construction worker Greg Dawson who ‘loved and raised the actress as his own daughter’ and they had a son, Clay, who is four years younger than Rosario.
When she was five, Rosario’s mother moved the family into an abandoned building on the lower East Side of Manhattan where Isabel and Greg renovated the squat, installing plumbing and electrical wiring.
‘It happens with people that are supposed to take care of you when you’re a child.’ the actress is pictured at 13
Rosario once described it as ‘a railroad apartment run by a slumlord’.
Her big break came when she was discovered at the age of 15 sitting on her front steps by director Larry Clark, who was looking for children to act in his gritty urban movie Kids.
Dawson went on to discuss the sexual misconduct scandal that has unfolded in Hollywood in recent months, beginning with the New York Times’ report that uncovered Harvey Weinstein’s alleged years of abuse of actresses and employees he worked with.
‘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 Seven Pounds star grew up in poverty in New York. She is seen in a childhood picture that she posted on Instagram
‘It’s beautiful. I’m so ready for this moment.’ the Daredevil star added.
Rosario revealed in October that she had, like many other actresses, been a victim of sexual abuse when she joined the legion of women all over the world using the #metoo hashtag.
‘All too pervasive… Me too.’ she tweeted on October 15.
It comes after Dawson revealed she wanted to ‘celebrate’ those who have spoken out about sexual misconduct earlier this month at the Golden Globe awards and encouraged everyone to wear black, even if they couldn’t attend.
‘It wasn’t foreign to me’: The 38-year-old actress said because of her childhood experiences she wasn’t surprised to see abuse in the workplace. She is pictured in 1999
Rosario encouraged her fans to show solidarity by wearing black in honor of the Time’s Up movement against sexual abuse ahead of the Golden Globes
In a video posted to Instagram, she said: ‘We wear black to symbolise solidarity. That the death knell has struck on abusive power, and that it’s time to celebrate each other – not just the nominees on our film and television screens but our storytellers who have bravely come forward and courageously shared their stories which have liberated so many of us.’
Later in the podcast Rosario, discussed her cousin Vaneza Ines Vazquez, who she tragically lost last year at the age of 26.
‘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.’
Rosario revealed in October that she had been a victim of sexual abuse when she joined the legion of women using the #metoo hashtag
‘It’s beautiful. I’m so ready for this moment.’ the Daredevil star said of the Time’s Up movement. She is pictured with alleged serial abuser Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob in 2007