By naming Marilyn Manson as her abuser, Evan Rachel Wood begins the healing process and encourages others to speak out
- For years Wood has spoken publicly about surviving sexual, physical and emotional abuse. On Monday she revealed it was Manson who had abused her
- Wood said she ‘struggled with depression, addiction, agoraphobia, night terrors’, and finally went public to ‘expose this dangerous man’
When actress Evan Rachel Wood first began to speak about it, she did not name names. Some speculated, but she was careful, calling him only “a significant other” or “my abuser”.
Wood, who for years has spoken publicly about surviving sexual, physical and emotional abuse, on Monday revealed a missing detail central to her story. “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood wrote in an Instagram post.
On Monday night, the singer refuted Wood’s accusation, writing: “My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual.”
Wood’s post may not have been a shock – there has long been speculation that Manson was the man she was referring to – but experts say it was a remarkable and rare disclosure given that most survivors never report abuse, let alone name their perpetrators. Experts say fear, shame, and threats of retaliation are tremendously silencing for survivors.
“Naming the person who sexually assaulted you for many survivors is a way of reclaiming their voice and power,” said Laura Palumbo, communications director at the US National Sexual Violence Resource Centre.