Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) made a stunning allegation during a Senate hearing this week that a higher-ranking officer raped her during her time in the Air Force. She said she almost left the military because of how officials handled sexual assault cases like hers.

“Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again,” McSally, who served for more than two decades and became the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, told fellow lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday about sexual assault in the military.

McSally said she didn’t report the assault at the time, citing a reason that many survivors of sexual assault use to explain why they do not turn to authorities.

“I felt like I didn’t have any options at the time,” McSally told “CBS This Morning” host Norah O’Donnell in an interview that aired Friday. “Honestly, I didn’t even think about reporting it. That’s kind of the environment we were in at the time. There’s a lot of denial. There’s a lot of confusion. You kind of, you know, just suck it up.”