I wasn't sure I even wanted to come forward with my story. I wasn't sure it would help or matter. But I called. When [the D.A.] and I finally spoke, I didn't tell him who I was at first. I knew I had a lot to lose if this hit the tabloids: Teri Hatcher, screaming out for attention. It's pretty much ingrained in any victim of abuse that no one will believe them, and even if they do, you feel you'll still somehow get blamed. And thus the cycle of pain…

For me, this opportunity, this turning point, gave me a chance to face a very old but still raging fear. I can't say that a victim of abuse is ever completely healed. But this experience allowed me the space to feel validated, vindicated and, frankly, not crazy. It was not my fault.

–Excerpted from Teri Hatcher's self-penned article in Newsweek entitled "The Darkest Secret." [Newsweek]