30 November,2016 08:22 AM IST | | PTI
Evan Rachel Wood has opened up about being sexually assaulted on two separate occasions by different people and the actress says even though the incident still affects her she does not want it to be a sob story
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Los Angeles: Evan Rachel Wood has opened up about being sexually assaulted on two separate occasions by different people and the actress says even though the incident still affects her she does not want it to be a sob story.
In an letter posted on Twitter the 29-year-old actress said she is not ashamed of sharing her haunting experience with the world.
"Well, since everything is out in the open now, figured I would share the confession letter I wrote to @RollingStone in its entirety. #NotOk (sic)," Wood captioned her post.
"I started questioning my reasons for staying vague about my experiences as a girl growing up in America. I think, like a lot of women, I had the urge to not make it a sob story, to not make it about me.
"I didn't have to confirm what happened, what mattered is that it happened. That still affects me to this day. I think deep down, I also didn't want to be accused of doing it for attention, or told it wasn't a big deal, or 'that's not really rape.' I will not be ashamed. I will also not project some false idea of being completely over it because "I am so strong," the letter read.
The actress feels in today's time people do not shy away from speaking their heart and that is why she decided to go public about her assault.
"I don't believe we live in a time where people can stay silent any longer. I certainly can't. Not given the state our world is in with its blatant bigotry and sexism. It should be talked about because it's swept under the rug as nothing and I will not accept this as 'normal'. It's a serious problem.
"I am still standing. I am alive. I am happy. I am strong. But I am still not ok," she wrote. Wood admitted she was "scared" during the one of the incidents, but believes victims of sexual assault shouldn't feel "pressure" to "get over" their experiences.
"I think it's important for people to know that, for survivors to own that, and that the pressure to just get over it already, should be lifted. "It will remind people of the damage that has been done and how the trauma of a few minutes can turn into a lifetime of fighting for yourself. It's not that you can't get over it, it's just that you are never the same, or maybe I just haven't gotten there yet."
