Shweta Tiwari has spoken out against the growing normalisation of abusive and degrading language directed at women on social media. The actor, who is currently seen as a contestant on The Traitors Season 2, shared a series of Instagram Stories questioning why people feel entitled to demean women they do not even know. The actor further pointed out that such behaviour cannot simply be attributed to a lack of education or awareness.

Addressing the issue, she wrote on Instagram, “Today I want to talk about something that is both deeply concerning and unfortunately very common on social media: calling a woman: r****. Any woman. Of any age. From any profession. Any man from any background can come online and call a woman r****. And what shocks me is that these men are not necessarily uneducated or from troubled backgrounds. Many of them are educated, seemingly come from respectible families, have wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. And yet feel completely comfortable using the most degrading word they can think of for another woman.”

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Shweta Tiwari also opened up about facing such abuse personally, revealing that some users even make inappropriate comments about her children. She said that when she checks the profiles of these users, she often finds pictures of their wives, daughters and other female family members.

In another Instagram post, Shweta also referred to people who proudly identify themselves as Marathi manus. She questioned whether such abusive behaviour truly represents the values associated with Marathi culture.

Having lived in Maharashtra all her life, Shweta said she grew up believing that Marathi culture respected women. She wrote on Instagram, “And I thought how do you go home to that family after speaking to another woman like this? Apparently, he is also a supporter of Raj Thackeray or his party. And that brings me to something very personal. I have lived in Maharashtra all my life. My father was brought up in Mumbai. I was born and brought up in Mumbai. All my life, I have grown up seeing the pride and dignity attached to being a Marathi manus. मी मराठी आहे, माझी मुंबई, माझी आई, माझी टाई I have heard Marathi women proudly say, ‘Mi Marathi mulgi.’ I grew up believing that Marathi culture respected women, their strength and their dignity.”