Gabrielle Union Discusses Her Rape, Defends Other Victims: ‘No One Asked For It!’

Actress Gabrielle Union spoke out about her own experience with rape to defend other survivors. She took to Twitter Sunday to remind her followers that dressing modestly doesn’t stop sexual assault.

“Sexual violence & harassment can happen to anyone at anytime anywhere,” the “Being Mary Jane” actress wrote.

The actress seemed to be addressing discussions about where actresses were meeting producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of actresses. Some place blame on the aspiring thespians for going into Weinstein’s hotel rooms at all. Union defended the victims.

“Folks are also very open and obvious about what kind of victim should be prioritized & believed. To think otherwise is to be willfully dim,” Union tweeted. “In Hollywood meetings in homes, hotel lobbies/restaurants/suites, private isolated office space is the norm. NO ONE ‘ASKED FOR IT!!’”

Union went on to discuss her own rape, which happened when she was 19. The 44-year-old noted that she wasn’t wearing anything revealing at her retail job. “Reminder. I got raped at work at a Payless shoe store. I had on a long tunic & leggings so miss me w/ ‘dress modestly’ [stuff],” the star wrote. “Though I was raped by a stranger who raped me at gunpoint after robbing the store, I was still asked by a female ‘friend’ what I had worn.”

Discussion about the alleged victims’ clothing became a hot topic after “Big Bang Theory” actress Mayim Bialik wrote an op-ed for the New York Times where she noted that she made the choice to dress modestly and refrain from flirting to keep herself safe.

“In a perfect world, women should be free to act however they want. But our world isn’t perfect. Nothing — absolutely nothing — excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. But we can’t be naïve about the culture we live in,” Bialik wrote.

Bialik says her words were taken out of context and misinterpreted. “It’s so sad how vicious people are being when I basically live to make things better for women,” Bialik said. “I am doing a Facebook Live with the N.Y. Times Monday morning. Let’s discuss it then.”

This isn’t the first time Union has discussed the circumstances of her own rape, though. The actress has opened up before, but she’ll go more in depth than ever when her book “We’re Going To Need More Wine” hits bookstores Tuesday. The author told People that she plans to keep telling audiences about her experience with sexual assault.

“Each time I tell the story is a revelation that I need to keep sharing since there’s so many more victims than survivors,” she said earlier this month. “They need to know healing is a process — a slow process like moving a boulder uphill with one hand tied behind your back, but there is hope. I will never stop sharing, and I will try to educate as much as I can for the voiceless and for people who didn’t get my treatment.”