Story highlights Other witnesses included leaders from the nonprofit Rise and from Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN)

The hearing was also tied to the release of a PSA, titled "Guess Who: #MeToo Edition," from Funny or Die

Washington (CNN) In emotional testimony Tuesday on Capitol Hill, "Westworld" star Evan Rachel Wood opened up about being sexually abused.

"I thought I was the only human who experienced this, and I carried so much guilt and confusion about my response to the abuse," Wood said, before detailing two separate instances where she was raped and tortured by her attackers. "I accepted my powerlessness, and I felt I deserved it somehow."

Wood was among the handful of witnesses who shared their stories before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations during a hearing about the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights Act. While the bill was passed in 2016, activists -- including Wood -- want the federal legislation to be implemented at state level.

She told CNN she felt it was important to testify to "give a voice to survivors everywhere."

"I want Congress to understand that sexual assault and rape have lasting effects on your health and well being," she said in an email. "It's the trauma that continues after the act itself that is overwhelming. Survivors shouldn't also be forced to jump through hurdles to hold their perpetrators accountable."

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