Olivia Munn writes powerful essay on H'wood's sexual harassment problem

Hollywood actress Olivia Munn, who accused producer Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct, has addressed Hollywood's sexual harassment and abuse issue in a hard-hitting essay.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Munn, who was one of the six women to accuse Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct, called attention to Woody Allen's recent interview where he warned of a "witch-hunt atmosphere where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself."

She wrote, "The possibility of an overcorrection is much less worrisome than all of the injustices that led us to this moment. Woody's gut instinct to fear what this might become would be better suited to a gut instinct to hold back an urge that could be wrong."

After publicly sharing her experience with Ratner, Munn wrote of her saddening realisation that victims must be "broken first" in order for abusers to suffer consequences.

"The violating act alone is not damaging enough to spark society's outrage. It's a marathon towards self-destruction in order to gain credibility and a vicious circle of victim-blaming," noted Munn.

The 'Ride Along 2' star attributed blame to a "system" that is complicit with the inappropriate actions "people at the top" inflict on their targets.

Munn noted, "The system that lets men like Ratner and Allen back in is the same system that creates disparity. It's tilted to roll back into their favor while the rest of us are saddled with a Sisyphean task."

Munn goes on to explain her own experiences as a woman in Hollywood and the challenges that women, people of color, and other marginalised communities often face when trying to get ahead in a system that's catered to the desires of white men.

She stated, "This is not a 'women's' issue, this is an abuse-of-power issue and until we eradicate the diseased roots of our infrastructure and make foundational, systemic changes, nothing will change."

In her essay, Munn also focused on the wage gap between men and women, which she says contributes to an unconscious power bias by men.

"Heads of studios, bosses, and CEOs should enforce equal pay because continuing to pay us less perpetuates a bias that women are inferior. This trains boys at a young age not to recognize when girls are refusing their advances and grooms young girls to believe they can't or shouldn't fight back," explained Munn. 

-ANI