Minnie Driver goes public with shocking assault story

Minnie Driver arrives at the Premiere of Lifetime Television's 'Return To Zero' at Paramount Theater on the Paramount Studios lot on May 1, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Photo / Getty

Minnie Driver was assaulted in a bar when she was 17.

The 46-year-old actress was on vacation in Greece when a guy "punched"
her after she refused to dance with him when he grabbed her.

She recalled: "This guy came, and he kind of elbow grabbed me and he said, 'You're going to dance with me.' And I said, 'No.'

Minnie Driver in her younger years. Photo / Getty

"And I pulled my arm away from him and he grabbed me by the back of my hair and I tried to kick him and he punched me."

Though the man was arrested after police were called, the British star didn't feel the male officers took the situation as seriously as they should.

English actress Minnie Driver stars nightclub singer Irina in the James Bond film 'GoldenEye', 1995. Photo / Getty

Speaking on SiriusXM's StandUP! with Pete Dominick, she added:

"They're like, 'Sure if you want to come back to Athens and press charges,' but the way they presented it was, this guy was just having a good time and if you'd gone along with it, it would have been fine.

"'If you'd just danced with him, you wouldn't be in this position that you're in now.' And I think that's the way it's framed for most young women."

Minnie Driver with her partner Neville Wakefield are spotted at the Bibury school and church fete on Saturday June 13, 2015. Photo / Getty

TheGood Will Hunting star - who has seven-year-old son Henry with former boyfriend Timothy J. Lea and is dating father-of-two Neville Wakefield - believes all young women experience unwanted advances at some point and finds it frustrating that the incidents are "belittled".

She said: "When you're 17, 18, you're going out, the idea of unwanted male attention is something that you're supposed to put up with because it is somehow your role that a guy can come and touch you.

Minnie Driver and her son Henry Story Driver are seen on August 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty

"He can put his hand way too far down the small of your back so that his hand is kind of going into your butt and that that's alright. That you can be shepherded, herded, touched, mauled.

Actress/singer-songwriter Minnie Driver visits SiriusXM Studios on October 13, 2014 in New York City. Photo / Getty

"I think young women have been belittled when they've said something.
I remember getting called a 'prude.'"