Don’t shame sexual assault victims, urges Big B

Mumbai, April 11 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has recorded a two-minute prologue for a social campaign on 'Victim Shaming', urging families, authority figures and citizens to reflect upon the need to break the tolerance towards how victims of sexual assault are treated.

Amitabh has lent his voice to a public service awareness initiative by Star Plus, in which he questions culprits of character assassination with the question "Whose fault is it?". The campaign advocates that society needs to place the guilt rightfully with the perpetrators by putting them on trial instead of shaming the victims.

Talking about it, Big B said in a statement: "The idea that a woman loses her dignity if she is sexually assaulted is instilled strongly in our cultural mindset. The shame should be on the perpetrators instead of the victim. We need to foster a safe, secure and supportive environment where victims can seek refuge especially from those who they turn to for protection like authority figures, family and society.

"There is a strong need to step forward and talk about this through stories which can trigger this change in mindset of the people."

The campaign is an extension of the channel's new show "Kya Qusoor Hai Amala Ka".

The 74-year-old earlier took to his blog to dwell on how it's a shame that one has to rely on various mediums and campaigns to raise awareness about such issues.

"Is it not a shame though, that what should come to us humans as a natural reaction to protect the female gender in our society, one and many ones, have to propagate the issue through various mediums and campaigns! A shame," wrote the lead actor of "Pink", which has just won the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues.