Paulina Porizkova, once a shining star of the modeling world, is speaking out about the unsettling pattern of sexual harassment she faced at the tender age of 15. The Czech-born icon, now 60, recently took to Instagram to share her story. In a candid video, she recounted the uncomfortable encounters she endured at the start of her career.
The former supermodel described the "go-and-see" calls from her modeling agency – a routine that often led her to meet well-dressed individuals in offices or middle-aged men in untidy apartments. These men frequently requested "casual" photos, often hinting at topless shots. "I've lost count of the amount of men in open bathrobes who greeted me in their hotel rooms or apartments," she revealed.
“I took it all for granted that my job was to take my clothes off, put my clothes back on and then learn how to creatively fend off horny men so that you don't offend them and lose a job,” she confessed.
It wasn't until the '90s, while watching an "Oprah" segment on workplace sexual harassment, that Porizkova began to understand the gravity of her past experiences. She connected her own story to the ongoing controversy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier convicted of trafficking underage girls. Porizkova marked her video with hashtags "Epstein," "Epstein files," and "justice," linking her personal narrative to the broader societal issue.
In her reflective monologue, Porizkova highlighted the vulnerability of children placed in adult situations. "When you take a child, and you put them in any situation, that child will adapt," she explained, emphasizing how easily children can be manipulated.
The model, who has become an advocate for embracing aging, continued to address the misconceptions about the age of consent and maturity. Speaking directly to her audience, she cautioned against the dangerous rhetoric that teenagers are not children.
"If you're unsure of how old exactly a child is… well then you either don't have one or you don't have the humanity to remember being one," she concluded, leaving a poignant message for viewers.
Through her courageous sharing, Porizkova not only sheds light on her own experiences but also calls for a deeper understanding and protection of young individuals in vulnerable situations.