On “How To Get Away With Murder,” Viola Davis plays the mesmerizing and conniving character of Annalise Keating, a woman whose life is utterly shaped by tragedy, including the tragedy of being raped by her uncle when she was a young girl. In real life, though, Davis’ life isn’t the one that was shaped by such a terrible horror. Sadly, it is her sister whose life has been indelibly marked by sexual assault, and the actress recently opened up about the heartbreaking story of her sister’s sexual trauma during a public speech.
On Tuesday, Davis appeared at UCLA’s Stuart House, a program that helps sexually abused children and their families, and gave a deeply emotional speech about the impact of her sister, who is now 39, being raped at just 8 years old.
“I have a sister, who, when she was 8 years old, put on some roller-skates with her friend, went down to the corner store at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, went into the store, and was sexually assaulted in the store. She came home and she told my mom. My mom ran down to the store, started screaming at the store owners and they said: ‘Leave that man alone. He does that to all the little girls.’ And then my mom proceeded to flag down a police officer. They found the man. They put him in the car. I saw my little sister crying. My mom was crying, too. And that was it,” Davis said.
She went on, “And then from there, a precocious, very intelligent, very creative child grew up to be frail, angry, a drug addict by the time she was 20. Six children, all of which have been taken by social services. A prostitute. An IV drug user. You know, memories demand attention, because memories have teeth. And in my vision, and in my dreams, when I pray for my sister…you pray in general terms. You pray that she finds peace and love and happiness, she gets off drugs. And then of course you open your eyes, and you’re like, she’s still on the streets. But it struck me that God answered my prayers with the Stuart House.”
Davis’ speech about her sister’s life didn’t end there. Read more, after the cut.
