April 25 (UPI) — Abigail Breslin says fear kept her from reporting her rape.
The 21-year-old actress explained why she stayed quiet about her sexual assault in an Instagram post after a social media user shamed her for not coming forward.
“I didn’t report it because of many reasons,” Breslin wrote. “First off, I was in complete shock and total denial. I didn’t want to view myself as a victim so I suppressed it and pretended it never happened.”
“Second of all, I was in a relationship with my rapist and feared not being believed. I also feared that if my case didn’t lead anywhere, he would still find out and hurt me even more,” she added.
“Thirdly, I knew how hurt my family and friends would be after finding out and I didn’t want to put them thru that,” the star said.
Breslin said she was diagnosed with PTSD a year and a half ago, and still struggles with “flashbacks” and “nightmares” despite making “a lot of progress.” She ended by asserting that both reported and unreported rapes “count.”
“To say that rapes reported are the only rapes that count, contributes to the ideology that survivors of unreported rape don’t matter. It’s unfair, untrue and unhelpful,” the star said.
Breslin went public with her rape April 10 in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She shared a photo of a block of text reading, “Consent II: You are not obligated to have sex with someone that you’re in a relationship with. Dating is not consent. Marriage is not consent.”
“I knew my assailant. #SexualAssaultAwarenessMonth #breakthesilence,” she captioned the post.
Breslin is known for “Little Miss Sunshine,” and has since appeared in “Ender’s Game” and “Final Girl.” She plays Libby Putney, aka Chanel #5, on the Fox series “Scream Queens,” and will star in an ABC remake of “Dirty Dancing.”
