Parvathy considers herself to be a survivor

Actress Paravathy says it took her years to realise that she was assaulted as a child, and that it's still a daily affair for her to consider herself a survivor.

"It happened to me when I was very young. It took me 17 years to realise it did happen to me. I was three or four years old. I didn't ask for it. But I was assaulted. And then to speak about it, it took me another 12 years," Parvathy said at the Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival with Star on Tuesday.

"To sit and speak of it as a fact that has happened to me...but not being defined by my gender. So, I sit here as a person first and then rest of the tags come in.

"But you know where the survival part comes... it's still a struggle for me on a daily basis to realise it, acknowledge it and get past it. It's a daily affair. And then let my friends know, my parents cope with it. It becomes an extreme exercise on a daily basis."

She also shared that she was brought up as a pretty confident and outspoken girl. Still she wondered did she ask for it or did she deserve it.

"As a personal experience, I know it's still a daily affair for me to consider myself a survivor. Survival is not just a physical thing. It's a constant mental affair. So, I kind of really draw a lot of power from that word," she said.

The "Take Off" actress is a member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an outfit of women in the Malayalam film industry.

--IANS

nn/vc