jane fonda

Jane Fonda Reveals She Was Raped and Sexually Abused As a Child

Photo: Mike Windle/Getty Images

In a revealing new interview with fellow actress Brie Larson in Net-a-Porter’s The Edit, Jane Fonda has spoken out for the first time about being raped and sexually abused as a child. “To show you the extent to which a patriarchy takes a toll on females; I’ve been raped, I’ve been sexually abused as a child, and I’ve been fired because I wouldn’t sleep with my boss,†Fonda said. “I always thought it was my fault; that I didn’t do or say the right thing.†It was because of her troubling past that Fonda became so passionately involved in advocating for women’s rights throughout her whole life — Fonda is a devoted supporter of the V-Day movement, which works to stop violence against women, and in 2001 she founded the Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health at Emory University, which seeks to to advance scientific knowledge about adolescence with an emphasis on reproductive health. “I know young girls who’ve been raped and didn’t even know it was rape,†Fonda said. “They think, It must have been because I said ‘no’ the wrong way. One of the great things the women’s movement has done is to make us realize that [rape and abuse is] not our fault. We were violated and it’s not right.â€

Jane Fonda Reveals She Was Raped, Sexually Abused As a Child