Teri Hatcher
Actress Teri Hatcher, who voices the character of "Dottie" poses at the world premiere of "Planes" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California August 5, 2013. The movie opens in the US on August 9. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

"Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher has talked about the details of her childhood sexual abuse by her uncle when she was just seven years old. Hatcher broke down at the United Nations event commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Tuesday.

"I was convinced it was my fault and I blamed myself for what had happened, so I didn't tell anyone and I was silent," the 49-year-old actress said, according to celebrity.yahoo.com. The actress said that her mother sensed something was wrong with her and she kept her away from her uncle. According to the actress, no one in her family wanted to know what happened to her. The family preferred to remain silent on this issue because of the social stigma attached to it.

The actress was prompted to break her silence when she came to know about the suicide of a teenage girl from her town. The girl shot herself in her head, as she could no longer take the sexual abuse from Teri's uncle Richard Hayes Stone. When Hatcher came to know about it, she felt the need to stop her uncle from doing the same with other girls. Teri spoke about her own suffering and Stone was ultimately sent to prison for 14 years. The actress first went public about her childhood sexual abuse in 2006 and revealed to Vanity Fair that she tried to hide it her entire life.

Teri gave a moving speech at the United Nations event, saying that most of the time women prefer to stay silent on the sexual abuse issue and continue to suffer throughout their entire lives. She said that the stigma and taboo attached to cases of sexual abuse should disappear so that more victims can come out and seek help.

"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. This is a statistic that has to change," said Hatcher, who received a standing ovation for her powerful speech from the audience, including First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray. The entire video of her speech can be seen below:

[Source: Youtube.com/Pepper Black]