Richa Chadha On #MeToo Campaign: 'Why So Surprised?' She Writes In Blog

New Delhi: Richa Chadha's latest blog post addresses the rising number of #MeToo hashtags on social media, in which she writes, "Hashtags are the new war-zones." The Masaan actress wrote: "For a country where violence against the girl child starts in the womb, I am surprised at the number of people surprised at the enormity of the #MeToo campaign. Unless you have been in hibernation in the Himalayan caves for the past millennium, there's no way you would not know that sexual assault- verbal or visual, and gender violence are the rites of passage for the average Indian girl."

"Over the past five days my inbox has been flooded with questions about the #MeToo campaign or about the Harvey Weinsteins in B-town. Sadly, that's something all girls would know about," Richa Chadha added.

It was Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano, who sparked the massive outpouring when earlier this month she tweeted: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet," Ms Milano wrote." The avalanche of stories came after a high-profile sex abuse scandal involving Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came was exposed. Actresses like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow also revealed how they were allegedly victimized by Mr Weinstein.

In her blog, Richa Chadha wrote: "In addition to the omnipresent everyday sexism, experiencing first-hand sexual assault is the tax women have had to pay for centuries to live in India." She added: "I agree with #NOTALLMEN. Surely, not all men are the problem here, many are part of the solution. That's what keeps the world going. There are patriarchal women that participate in their own subjugation and feminist men who point it out. Not all men, but #ALLWOMEN I know have experienced gender violence or molestation one way or another. This shouldn't it be the only way of life women know. Are you human and hence born from a woman? How are you not embarrassed?"

Richa Chadha's opinion resonates with that of actress Priyanka Chopra, who last week told Marie Claire: "There is not just 'a Harvey Weinstein' in Hollywood, there are many. It happens everywhere."

Richa Chadha stars in this week's release Jia Aur Jia with Kalki Koechlin.

You can read Richa Chadha's entire blog here.