In the March 7 episode of her show Bawal ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie, Winnie Monsod revealed that she was sexually harassed by a family friend when she was around 12. As Winnie tells it, this man was a guest speaker at her school, and he asked if he could hitch a ride in the car with Monsod’s group. The vehicle was crowded, so the man told Monsod to sit on his lap.
When she did, he started feeling her up. She was so petrified that for around four minutes she didn’t know what to do. She wanted him to stop, but she couldn’t even speak. Then, she found her voice and shouted, "Please stop the car!"
The teachers in the group told the man to get out of the car, and later, Winnie's father confronted the man. The man denied the accusations, saying that Monsod was exaggerating. Her father retorted, “Aside from trying to sexually exploit my daughter, you are telling me that she is a liar!” The man’s parents went to Monsod’s house to apologize on behalf of their son.
This experience taught Monsod a painful lesson. She said, "Not all adults should be respected. Not all adults should be obeyed. That a child, no matter how young, must use their minds to say, 'This is wrong, and I will do something about it.'" She also learned how important it is for victims of abuse to have the support of the people around them. She said that the support of her parents helped her get over the guilt that all victims of sexual abuse experience, and this gave her the power to recover from the traumatic experience. Watch the video below to see the clip from Winnie's show.
(Screencap via YouTube)
