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Evan Rachel Wood: This Is Why I Haven’t Named My Rapists

Evan Rachel Wood revealed her own reasons why she has remained silent and not named her rapists. Following the recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein by women in Hollywood, the Westworld actress is sharing her thoughts on why she believes other women are often afraid to come forward too.

Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood

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“People are wondering why more women didn’t come forward sooner, and why in a lot of these cases one woman will come out or multiple women will come out and then the floodgates will open,” she said in a YouTube video on Wednesday, October 11. “They do not feel safe enough to do so, period. And I am guilty of this as well because I have not named my abusers.”

The actress, 30, revealed in a November 2016 interview that she had been sexually assaulted twice and it took her seven years to admit to herself that it happened. And although she thinks it’s her responsibility, she still doesn’t feel ready to publicly out her attackers. “Not because I don’t plan on saying these peoples’ names eventually,” she explained. “But because to start that process is an emotionally draining, financially draining, really everything draining thing to do and to go through and I want to do with when I’m ready.”

“They were very powerful, very rich, very entitled, very narcissistic white men. And I haven’t named my abusers for a number of reasons,” Wood added. “One. I’m one person against some very powerful people. Two. Money and time and re-traumatizing yourself. To go after the person that assaulted you takes quite a toll. It is a terrifying thing to have to go through.”

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Evan Rachel Wood attends the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Arrivals at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Evan Rachel Wood attends the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards – Arrivals at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. David Livingston/Getty Images

The Thirteen actress said that women stay silent out of fear of not being believed and their careers being hurt: “The fact that women are still afraid to name their abusers is not their fault. It should tell us all that that’s what little faith women have in the system because it’s failed them so many times and just how scared they are of their perpetrators.”

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The Golden Globe nominee first shared her experience in an email to a Rolling Stone reporter in 2016. “I’ve been raped. By a significant other while we were together. And on a separate occasion, by the owner of a bar,” Wood wrote. “I don’t believe we live in a time where people can stay silent any longer. Not given the state our world is in with its blatant bigotry and sexism.” 

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