'Feminist' Aishwarya Rai raises voice against street harassment: ‘Don't blame your dress or your lipstick’

Aishwarya spoke about the issue of street harassment as part of Loreal Paris’ Stand Up training program.

Actor Aishwarya Rai has never been one to mince words, especially when it comes to issues that affect women everywhere. Now, the actor has raised her voice against street harassment, saying the burden should never fall on the woman, or on her dress, lipstick and choices.

Aishwarya Rai was last seen in Mani Ratnam’s 2023 epic historical action drama Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2. (AFP)

Aishwarya Rai speaks up

Aishwarya spoke about the issue as part of L'Oreal Paris’ Stand Up training program. She has been associated with the beauty brand for over a decade now. A video of the actor urging people not to shy away from calling out the problem was shared on Instagram.

Rather than subscribing to the age-old advice of avoiding eye contact or shrinking herself to stay unnoticed, Aishwarya described a very different approach. In the video, Aishwarya is seen saying, “Street harassment. How do you deal with it?”

“Avoid eye contact No. Look the problem directly in the eyes. Hold your head high. Feminine and feminist, my body, my worth. Never compromise your worth. Do not doubt yourself. Stand up for your worth. Don't blame your dress or your lipstick. Street harassment is never your fault,” she added.

Social media users came forward to applaud Aishwarya for speaking up, flooding the comments with praise for highlighting an issue so many experience yet so few address openly.

“street harassment is so real and not spoken about enough. Love this,” one wrote, with another sharing, “A powerful reminder and important message for young girls and women everywhere.”

“A great Motivation Girl'ssss,” one shared, with another sharing, “great message my queen.” “Someone had to talk about it,” one noted. Another shared, “Well said… She is always so pretty.”

Aishwarya Rai’s recent work

Aishwarya was last seen in Mani Ratnam’s 2023 epic historical action drama Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2. The film, which also starred Vikram, Ravi Mohan (as the title character), Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, Jayaram, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, Sobhita Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Rahman, and R. Parthiban, received positive reviews upon release and was a box-office success, earning ₹344.63 crore worldwide.

For her performance, Aishwarya won the Best Actress in a Leading Role (Critics) award at the South Indian International Movie Awards. Her husband, actor Abhishek Bachchan, also praised her portrayal, calling it her “best work till date.” Aishwarya shares a daughter Aaradhya with Abhishek.