Film Director Jami Just Shared That He Was Raped By A Powerful Person In The Industry

By Aam Nawab | 21 Oct, 2019

Director Jami just opened up about why his support for the Me Too movement is much more than being an ally.

 

Update (December 30, 2019): this post has been updated to reflect that Jami has named his alleged rapist.

 

Pakistani award winning film director Jami aka Jamshed Mehmood has been very vocal in lending his support to the Me Too movement when it took off in Pakistan

Apart from talking about it openly and siding with the women who came out with their stories, he went as far as to boycott the Lux Style Awards and even threw away his Lux Style Award for best film as a protest when the award show stood by their decision to not withdraw the nomination of an accused harasser.

 

A lot of people appreciated director Jami for sharing his experience and for being vocal about it when a majority of celebrities shied away from lending their support to the Me Too movement

Last night, Jami made an admission about his support for the movement; it’s not merely as an ally but as someone who has been a victim as well. Jami opened up about his own experience with sexual assault at the hands of an unnamed media mogul.

While Jami mentioned that he was physically bigger than the man who assaulted him, he froze; a completely normal response that a lot of victims of sexual assault face. And which is why asking victims why they didn’t ‘fight off’ their attacker is one of the stupidest things you could possibly say.

 

He talked about how he was at first in disbelief and then blamed himself for it

Even 13 years after the incident.

 

Director Jami shared how no one believed him or laughed it off. Even his closest friends did nothing.

He then spent time with in therapy and was prescribed a lot of medications and finally left the country for a change of setting, hoping it would make him feel better. When he returned for his father’s funeral, the man who assaulted him showed up which was of course incredibly triggering for Jami and he had his grief stricken mother stop the man from entering their home.

 

Jami went on to say that he knew he would be ridiculed for coming out about his experience but he was willing to do so for the greater good of the movement

The veracity of Me Too movement has been called into question after a teacher from Lahore allegedly committed suicide after he was allegedly falsely accused of harassment by a student.

 

Jami talked about how the sexual assault changed him as a person and even 13 years later he felt it’s effects on him and his personality

He also mentioned he knew that writing his statement meant he would come under fire and it was practically suicide for his career. How he expected to be attacked and knowing the toxic masculine culture that he would not only face victim blaming but also have his ‘manliness’ questioned since apparently, men can never fall victim to sexual assault since they should be able to ‘fight their attacker off’.

 

Nonetheless, Jami was brave enough to talk about his experience

He did it for all survivors of sexual assault and harassment. And honestly, we are in awe of his bravery.

 

On December 28, Jami said that he was raped by Hameed Haroon, the CEO of Dawn Media Group

 

Jami’s powerful statement about his own harrowing tale is inspiring. If it’s hard for women to come out about experiences like these it is just as hard if not more for a Pakistani man to do this because of our culture of toxic masculinity.

More power to you Jami, and to all of those who have similarly survived.

 

We Talked To Male Victims Of Harassment And Sexual Abuse. Here’s What They Had To Say

Dear Men, The “Me Too” Movement Is Your Responsibility Too. Here’s How You Can Help

 


Cover Image Source: dawn.com

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