American actress Tippi Hedren, who has alleged that Alfred Hitchcock assaulted her in 1960s, on Thursday encouraged more women to speak out about harassment following a spate of accusations against Harvey Weinstein.

"Keep it up! It's the only way it's going to stop. You don't have to put up with that. There is not a reason in the world," she told Sky News.

 

"That sort of activity needs to be brought out... We have a right to act out how we feel about that kind of thing," the 87-year-old said.

Hedren, whose daughter Melanie Griffith and granddaughter Dakota Johnson are both big names in Hollywood, was plucked from obscurity by Hitchcock to star in his 1963 masterpiece "The Birds".

In her memoir published last year, she said the British filmmaker had sexually assaulted and intimidated her after she turned down his advances.

Hitchcock, known as the "Master of Suspense", died in 1980 and the allegations were made after his death.

"Alfred Hitchcock told me he'd ruin my career and I stood up and as I was walking out the door I said: 'Do what you have to do! I think it was the best door-slamming I've ever done," Hedren said.

Asked if there were any solutions to harassment, she said: "What has to happen is that young people have to be educated in what they can accept, what they should accept, what they shouldn't accept."

"This isn't unique to Hollywood. It's just that Hollywood is more glamorous and it's more fun to talk about and it's an actress and it's a big producer and that makes a story," she said.

Thousands of women have taken to social media under the hashtag #MeToo to speak out about the abuses they suffered after allegations of rape were made against Hollywood producer Weinstein, who has denied them.

source: AFP