I’m not ready to go into specifics about my own experiences with abuse, but I can say that I have been assaulted and sexually harassed more times than I can really recall off the top of my head. If someone asked me to list every single time, I would have to sit down and take inventory of my entire life. And that’s not because I work in Hollywood. Some were times when I was out at bars with friends or just riding in a cab. This is not just a Hollywood problem — #MeToo has proved that. And I’m not the first to use those powerful words: Tarana Burke, an activist, began calling for people to share their stories years ago, recalling a moment when a young girl told her about being abused and she couldn’t bring herself to say, “Me, Too.” Hers is an incredible, gut-wrenching story, and I hope to meet her.

We tend to push down the things that hurt us so they don’t come to define us, but those traumas end up becoming a bigger part us when we haven’t healed. To be able to take your experiences out, dissect them and share your stories with others is a powerful thing. We have communities of like-mindedness for pretty much everything — religious communities, Fantasy Football, everything of interest to human beings. But because we’ve been so silent — and silenced — about this issue, we don’t realize there is a community out there that’s ready to embrace and support us. Women need each other, and we need men. We need brothers, fathers and friends who see “Me, too” and stand ready to offer support. They will be the men who reject a culture of “locker room talk.” Help them understand.