Oprah Winfrey broke down in tears while recalling the horrific experience of being repeatedly raped by her own adult cousin when she was just nine years old.
The 67-year-old TV mogul opened up about the lasting trauma caused by the sexual assaults that she was subjected to until the age of 14 while speaking in her new mental health series, The Me You Can’t See, which she created in collaboration with Prince Harry.
During the first episode of the Apple TV+ show, Oprah discussed her own childhood trauma, explaining that she didn’t even know what sex and rape were when her 19-year-old cousin began raping her as a child — but the experience taught her that young girls are never safe.
‘At nine and 10 and 11 and 12 years old, I was raped by my 19 year old cousin,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what rape was. I certainly wasn’t aware of the word. I had no idea what sex was, I had no idea where babies came from, I didn’t even know what was happening to me. And I kept that secret.
‘And it’s just something I accepted. That a girl child ain’t safe in a world full of men,’ she said.