Actress Natalie Portman shares "sexual terrorism" experience at 13

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman said in a public speech Saturday that she experienced "sexual terrorism" at the age of 13, which had greatly changed her way of behavior in later years.

The 36-year-old actress said her first fan-mail was a "rape fantasy" that a man had written to her when she was only 13 years old, one year after shooting her first film "The Professional."

"A countdown was started on my local radio station to my 18th birthday, euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with," said Portman.

"Movie reviewers talked about my 'budding breasts' in reviews," she said.

All those made young Portman feel unsafe and the need to cover her body and inhibit her expression and desires.

"I understood very quickly even as a 13-year-old, if I were to express myself sexually that I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body, to my great discomfort."

"So I quickly adjusted my behavior...I emphasized how bookish I was and how serious I was," Portman said.

"The response to my expression, from small comments about my body to more threatening deliberate statements, served to control my behavior through an environment of sexual terrorism," she said.

The actress, in her speech, called for a world in which female desire and sexuality could have its greatest expression and fulfillment.

"Let's declare loud and clear that this is what I want. This is what I need. This is what I desire," said the actress.

Saturday's speech was delivered at this year's Women's March in Los Angeles. The movement has gathered thousands of demonstrators across the United States over the weekend, with an aim to fight for women's empowerment and their legitimate rights. Enditem