During the United Nations Official Commemoration of the International Day For The Elimination of Violence Against Women, held Tuesday, Nov. 25, actress Teri Hatcher gave a stirring speech detailing her own personal battle with sexual abuse. The former Desperate Housewives star spoke tearfully to United Nations members and supporters regarding the abuse handed to her from the age of 5 by her uncle.

“I am simply one of three women who is forced to accept violence as a part of their life story. I am one of three women, who for the rest of her life battles the voice in her head that accepts blame for abuse, a voice that is antithetical to self-esteem, self-worth and happiness,” said Hatcher, speaking at the conference that helped to launch the Orange YOUR Neighborhood, a new initiative that will now work alongside the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign.

Hatcher’s first recounting of her painful past was revealed in a 2006 Vanity Fair cover story. Hatcher’s exclamation of “I have so much pain…I’m trying to be my powerful me; it’s in there, but I have to find the strong part underneath the layers of ‘I’m s**t. I’m never going to go anywhere!’ ” began a confession that not even her book Burnt Toast revealed.

After years of manipulation by her uncle, Hatcher finally exploded at a family dinner after being notified that the uncle would be in attendance. Still, she kept silent about the incidents. Hatcher was prompted to report her experience to law enforcement, after the possible dismissal of another charge brought against her uncle resulted in a young girl’s suicide. Her accounts helped give the offender a 14-year prison sentence.

Hatcher admits that she waited so long to go public about the incident because she was worried about her career. Now that she’s well into her 40s Hatcher states that “It’s time for me to stop hiding. It’s time for me to accept all the complicated things about me—and if I do that, maybe I’ll find somebody who wants that whole package…you can have a voice; you can be part of stopping it. ”

Hatcher has been doing her part of raise awareness about sexual abuse with speeches around the country, and her latest speech celebrated the latest UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign that runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 14. This campaign began in 2008, and aims to raise public awareness and increase the political resources used for ending and preventing violence against women around the world.

The campaign has gathered a host of UN agencies and offices such as the United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the World Health Organization to help carry forth its endeavors. The efforts of the campaign have resulted in new laws being established against domestic and sexual violence, and a Global Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls has been created to assist advocates and policy makers in forming more legislation to further the cause.