Věra Jourová, European commissioner for justice, has her sights set on Malta | Julien Warnand/EPA European commissioner Jourová: I was a victim of sexual violence Věra Jourová calls on women to join the #MeToo movement by reporting inappropriate and illegal sexual behavior.

Věra Jourová, the European commissioner for gender equality, told a Brussels audience Wednesday morning she had been a victim of sexual violence and called on women to join the #MeToo movement by reporting inappropriate and illegal sexual behavior.

Asked at a POLITICO Playbook Breakfast about the extent of such behavior within the European institutions, Jourová said she was worried that the Harvey Weinstein scandal and other reported incidents are "just tip of the iceberg."

She said most women don't report being victims of violence and other behavior because of "the feeling [that] 'I am guilty. I deserved it.'"

Describing it as "a very strange feeling," Jourová said, "I myself was the victim of such violence." Addressing the audience directly, she said, "There must be some sitting here."

"Don't keep it with yourself," she said. "Go and find the helping hand. Don't be ashamed to say it."

Jourová said that while laws against harassment and violence should be better enforced, only new mindsets and a broad discussion would put a more definitive end to harassment culture.

Millions of European men still think that "beating a woman is a normal, kind of accepted" behavior, Jourová said.

Around half of European women experience verbal, physical or online sexual harassment: "We have to change the perception of the society that this is something normal," she said.

The European Commission will raise awareness about issues of bullying, harassment and sexual violence at a conference with the United Nations in Brussels in December.

Jourová praised the accession of the EU as well as half of the EU's member countries to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating sexual violence and called on the other 14 countries to speed up ratification of the convention.

Well done to @VeraJourova for speaking out! Inspiring more women to come forward: https://t.co/wJFUfvDGvB — kriszta satori (@fulelo) October 18, 2017

Do you have a #Brussels sexual harassment or violence story? Make confidential contact via playbook@politico.euhttps://t.co/PfMr4CBle2 — Ryan Heath (@PoliticoRyan) October 18, 2017