There are few things more personal for someone to decide to share with a global audience, than the details of a sexual attack.

Yet having decided she did not want to “stay silent any longer”, Evan Rachel Wood, the star of Westworld, revealed on Twitter that she had twice been raped, once by a “significant other”.

“I don't believe we live in a time where people can stay silent any longer,” she wrote in an email to Rolling Stone that she posted to Twitter. “Not given the state our world is in with its blatant bigotry and sexism. It should be talked about because its swept under the rug as nothing and I will not accept this as “normal”. It’s a serious problem.”

The 29-year-old, who married British actor Jamie Bell with who she has a son, said she had not spoken out previously as she feared she would be blamed. She was also not sure if one of the attacks was a rape.

“I think it's important for people to know that, for survivors to own that, and that the pressure to just get over it already, should be lifted,” she said of her decision to speak out.

“It will remind people of the damage that has been done and how the trauma of a few minutes can turn into a lifetime of fighting for yourself.”

She added: “It’s not that you can’t get over it, it’s just that you are never the same, or maybe I just haven’t gotten there yet.”

Westworld Finale Trailer

Wood has previously been open about personal issues. She came out publicly as bisexual in 2011 and has called herself “gender-fluid”.

She also provide more details about the incidents.

“So to answer your blunt question bluntly, yes. I have been raped. By a significant other while we were together, and on a separate occasion, by the owner of a bar,” she said.

“The second time, I thought it was my fault and that I should have fought back more, but I was scared.”

She said the attacks had taken place prior to her trying to take her own life - an episode she believes was at least partly the result of being attacked.

“This was all before I tried to commit suicide and I am sure was one of many factors,” she said.