Connie Chung reveals she was sexually assaulted in letter to Christine Blasey Ford

Christine Blasey Ford, left, inspired Connie Chung to recount the time she was a victim of sexual assalt.

CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD'S public testimony accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has opened the doors for women to reveal long-held secrets of sexual assault in their pasts.

Television journalist Connie Chung is the latest to talk about being sexually assaulted , 50 years ago when she was a college student.

In an open letter to Blasey form, Cung wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, She wrote: "I, too, was sexually assaulted — not 36 years ago but about 50 years ago. I have kept my dirty little secret to myself. Silence for five decades."

Republican senators and Kavanaugh supporters like Donald Trump have criticized Blasey Ford for not talking about the alleged assault that occurred 36 years ago. They don't know or understand the traumatic impact of the assault, the shame and the cultural environment that blames the victims.

For three decades starting in 1976, Churng was one of the most recognizable Asian American journalists on television. During her long career, she has worked with ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC.

Chung says she was molested by the same doctor who delivered her in 1946 so she thought he could be trusted. The assault occurred in the doctor's home office when Chung was undergoing a gynecological exam. The doctor, who she ddn't name, has since passed away.

She was in a state of shock after the assault that all Chung could do was dress and and leave as quickly as possible.

Chung explains to Blasey Ford, as well as those who can't comprehend the horror of being assaulted, that she also didn't report the assault.

“I think I may have told one of my sisters. I certainly did not tell my parents. I did not report him to authorities. It never crossed my mind to protect other women,” she wrote. “Please understand, I was actually embarrassed about my sexual naivete. I was in my 20s and knew nothing about sex. All I wanted to do was bury the incident in my mind and protect my family.”

“Christine, I, too, am terrified as I reveal this publicly," continued Chung. "I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. Can you? If you can’t, I understand. I am frightened, I am scared, I can’t even cry…Will my legacy as a television journalist for 30-plus years be relegated to a footnote? Will ‘She Too’ be etched on my tombstone instead? I don’t want to tell the truth. I must tell the truth. As a reporter, the truth has ruled my life, my thinking. It’s what I searched for on a daily working basis. I wish I could forget this truthful event, but I cannot because it is the truth. I am writing to you because I know that exact dates, exact years are insignificant.

“We remember exactly what happened to us and who did it to us. We remember the truth forever,” Chung wrote, reinforcing Blasey Ford's testimony before the U.S. Senate Judciciary Committee.

Chung is the second prominent Asian American woman to go public with the long-held secret of her assault. Inspired by Blasey Ford's courage in describing Kavanaugh's alleged assault, Padma Lakshimi, host of the cooking competition Top Chef, told how she was raped when she was 16, but kept the attack secret until her New York Times oped published last week.

In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.