Evan Rachel Wood has spoken out about an abusive relationship she went through in the past to help raise awareness about the worldwide epidemic of domestic abuse, detailing her personal experience via a series of Instagram posts on Monday, March 11.
The 31-year-old’s first upload featured a grid of professional portraits of herself. “The day of this photoshoot, I was so weakened by an abusive relationship,” she wrote in the caption of the post. “I was emaciated, severely depressed, and could barely stand. I fell into a pool of tears and was sent home for the day.”
The next post showed Wood with scratch marks on her forearm. “2 years into my abusive relationship I resorted to self harm,” she wrote. “When my abuser would threaten or attack me, I cut my wrist as a way to disarm him. It only made the abuse stop temporarily. At that point I was desperate to stop the relentless abuse and I was too terrified to leave.”
In the caption to each post, the Westworld star added the hashtag #IAmNotOK, inviting other social media users to come forward with their experiences. “Have you or someone you know been affected by #DomesticViolence?” she asked in a third post. “Join the movement. Share your story. 💜”
Wood revealed in November 2016 that she had been sexually assaulted twice but has not yet revealed the identity of her assaulters. In an October 2017 YouTube video, she defended herself and other #MeToo accusers who had felt forced into silence. “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 the video. “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. … 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 [it] when I’m ready.”
Wood was previously engaged to Marilyn Manson, splitting in 2010, and was married to Jamie Bell, with whom she shares son Jack, 5. After she and Bell broke up in 2014, Wood went on to date The L Word’s Katherine Moennig, then got engaged to her Rebel and a Basketcase bandmate Zach Villa. She and Villa ended their engagement in September 2017.
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
