NEW YORK - Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of misconduct, read aloud a personal letter she’d written to sexual assault survivors, telling them that healing is not only possible, “it’s our birthright.”

Judd’s remarks, in which she referenced her own journey to recovery after experiencing sexual abuse in her youth, provided an emotional finale to a daylong event hosted by the Tribeca Film Festival and the Time’s Up movement fighting sexual harassment and promoting equality in the workplace. Along with Judd, panelists and presenters included #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, and actresses Lupita Nyong’o, Mira Sorvino, Julianne Moore, Sienna Miller and Mariska Hargitay, alongside lawyers, labor organizers and activists.

“We can heal,” Judd began. “That has been my experience.” She spoke of a time when she was sexually assaulted in high school, a crime she said she doesn’t remember but was reported to police. “I was wearing a green and gold cheerleader’s uniform, my mother tells me. It was in a local store and I have no memory of that crime.”

“Healing is our birthright,” Judd said. “It was not our birthright to be sexually harassed or assaulted or raped... (but) it is our birthright to know in our bones that it wasn’t our fault. We humans hurt each other and sometimes we hurt ourselves, but we can make decisions and take actions that free us.”

The focus of the Time’s Up event was both national and global, including a speech by United Nations official Phumzile Miambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, on gender inequality around the world. - AP