By Shirley Farmer 
“It was the story of 1995 that I can’t tell you.” The untold story of actress and director Anna Rocha de Sousa at the Tivoli Theater, with her often emotionally stifled voice, occurred when she was seventeen years old. violation, Remembered in a passionate speechThursday evening, during the handover of the Activa Mulheres Inspiradoras Awards 2020. The director of “Listen”, a feature film at the Venice Film Festival, was awarded the Arts category. He said that the story he did not tell was also “overpowering”.
“One day, I too let go of caution and I shouldn’t do it. I blame myself. Especially because she was so naive, typical of her young age, that despite my strange warning of the danger, I thought it was impossible,” the actress began. “The danger is not only in the obvious. Take shelter. Whether in the spontaneous confrontation of the unknown man hidden in the sand dunes. Whether it was before the famous singer that they think they know And it seems very safe because it enchanted you with lyrical and beautiful words, ”continued Anna Rocha de Souza, speaking on the Tivoli stage in Lisbon.
“I regret very little in my life, but I am sorry that I kept the story you let me tell. I tell you, girl and teenager: This is not your fault. Remember and repeat: It’s not your fault. I have a lot to say that I can help. “
While many Portuguese women have come to the public to tell stories of sexual harassment, such as Catarina Furtado or Sofia Arruda, Anna Rocha de Souza also spoke about the abuse she endured, not forgetting that public opinion often calls for disclosure. Of nouns, which is of no value to the courts long after the verb.
“To the unimportant who turn their eyes to these girls – the women who talk, those who come to the fore. Immediately stop getting bored. This is not for games. They are not playing. They stop demanding details from those who, by law, cannot disclose them. More than that: stop living as if someone in their right mind wants to be in the news with this or their faces stick to these pains, this sadness “Know that feeling guilt and shame is very difficult for us and that the last thing we need is an accusation or Accusation, more pain, or any kind of judgment. “
He added that remembering those moments means reviving violence.
“Today I am only talking to you about this because it is my duty to confirm it first My generation is not free to reveal the facts without again questioning us about violence and of little use for progress. Second, the consequences of revealing now what justice is supposed to have passed into history are already harmful to all and in vain. Third: I really want, and this is why I will go back to the past today to tell you, that with the recent stories, whether they are about harassment, abuse or rape, you know that you have our support and help and we have in us with whomever speaks.
At the end of the speech, which lasted nearly 10 minutes, Anna Rocha de Souza directly addressed the attacker and others committing crimes against sexual integrity: “To you, harasser, rapist. Whether you are someone else, a boss, a dense man or a famous singer. I learned to wish the best. I wish you well. I never intend to destroy anyone’s life. never.”
The actress also said that she wanted to believe her aggressor became a different person and her case was unique. “I want to believe that after more than 25 years you are someone else. Hope you are different and much better.” I want to believe you have stopped using your fame for harassment and seduction Teenagers For your own sexual, violent, crazy and immoral world. I want to believe that I was the only one who was forced to grow up all of a sudden in the disgrace of my sin. It might be. I hope that. “
Finally, Anna Rocha de Souza said she was still unable to wish the man who raped her when she was still a teenager, saying that “the very painful, lost and tormented soul is doing what she knows you did to me.”
“Listen carefully: Never do it again. Never do it again.” And the actress’s speech ended with a sentence that Anna Rocha de Souza stressed that it was not her, speaking first in English, then Portuguese. “We get hurt by people, but they are also the ones who save us.”
And his intervention ended with a standing ovation from the audience.