Actress Molly Ringwald has come forward to share her experiences of s**ual harassment during the early stages of her career.

In an essay for The New Yorker, Ringwald detailed multiple incidents of s**ual harassment on film sets.

The Pretty in Pink star said that when she was 13 years old, a crew member pushed up against her with an erection while promising to teach her to dance.

At age 14, a married director stuck his tongue in her mouth while filming on set.

Ringwald said that these experiences led her to fear going to work and that she became “hyper-aware” of the men on set.

Ringwald also recounted a disturbing audition in her twenties during which the lead actor was instructed by the director to put a dog collar around her neck.

“The actor was a friend of mine, and I looked in his eyes with panic.”

“He looked back at me with an ‘I’m really sorry’ expression on his face as his hands reached out toward my neck,” Ringwald wrote.

In the wake of s**ual assault allegations being made against Harvey Weinstein, Ringwald stated that the disgraced US producer kept it strictly professional when they worked together.

However, she did have an unpleasant experience with former Dreamworks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has recently called Weinstein out following the scandal.

In an article about Ringwald for Movieline back in 1995, Katzenberg was quoted as saying: “I wouldn’t know [Molly Ringwald] if she sat on my face.”

Katzenberg has since denied making the crude comment, and offered an apology to Ringwald in a statement issued to The Hollywood Reporter.

“That Molly Ringwald had to read those words attributed to me and believe I said them is horrifying, mortifying and embarrassing to me,” he said.

“Ms Ringwald, 22 years too late, I am deeply, deeply sorry.”

She also called for more support for young actors and actresses.

“Child actors are vulnerable,” she wrote.

“They need to be protected more than adults who are already protected by unions and contracts and adults who have access to the media, where they can speak up about abuse and harassment without fear of losing their livelihoods.”

Ringwald’s essay has been widely praised by celebrities and commentators.

Actor and writer Lena Dunham tweeted: “Molly Ringwald sharing her own experience of s**ual assault on set and the insidious way that kind of abuse can impact a person’s future work is powerful and necessary.”