Actress Evan Rachel Wood has revealed that she was afraid to talk about her sexual abuse experience, but she pushed herself to do it.
Earlier this year, she had shared her experiences of domestic violence and sexual abuse with the House Judiciary Committee as part of an effort to secure a bill of rights for sexual assault survivors in the US, reported TOI
Wood at House of Judiciary
Wood disclosed that she was contacted by Amanda Nguyen, who wrote the Bill.
"She said, 'You have a platform and you also have a story, so will you come and say it in front of Congress?' And I was like, 'Well, I have really only told my story to about five people, I can count on one hand, so to go from that to everyone, to the world knowing, it was overwhelming," said the 30-year-old in a statement.
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The actress had told the Congress that movements like Me Too and Time's Up had stirred "waves of memories" of her own assaults. She then narrated two incidents from her life which feels are like a "mental scar", even to this day.
Wood's story
The Westworld actress had said that she was tortured by her then partner. She said that the sexual abuse started slow but steadily increased until it became unbearable for her.
In a report by USA Today, she recalled, ""The worst part, sick rituals of binding me up by my hands and feet to be mentally and physically tortured until my abuser felt I had proven my love for them. In this moment, while I was tied up and being beaten, and being told unspeakable things, I truly felt like I could die, not just because my abuser said to me, 'I could kill you right now,' but because in that moment I felt like I left my body, and I was too afraid to run."
She had narrated the second incident, saying that she was
raped in a locked storage closet in a bar by another man after the bar had closed.
Wood went on to say that those experiences haunted her for a long time and she was diagnosed with long-term PTSD seven years after these incidents took place. She said her struggles had prompted her to attempt suicide twice.
The actress later took professional help to deal with the trauma.
Wood added, "I don't know a world in which everyone knows this about me, and it was terrifying to think about what that would mean, and what people would think. But, the fact that I was so afraid to tell my story, and ashamed, just made me want to do it more, because I felt like that it was wrong, and I shouldn't feel like that, so I said yes."
Picture Credit: Insider
Kriti Dwivedi is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv
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