These 15 women opened up about their sexual assault experiences thanks to the #metoo campaign

• At the Women's Convention in Detroit last year, women shared their stories of sexual abuse and harassment.
• Many said that the #MeToo movement helped give them the courage to speak up.
• They hope that talking about the issue will help prevent more people from staying silent.

In Hollywood and around the world, two simple words have given victims of sexual assault and harassment the courage to speak out against their alleged abusers: me too.

At the Women's Convention in Detroit, a gathering run by the same people who organized the Women's March, 15 brave women shared their stories of sexual abuse and survival and talked about how the #MeToo movement helped them find the courage to speak out.

Here are their powerful statements.

"Let's lift each other up instead of pushing each other down."

"Women have been taught that sexual harassment or anything sexual or abusive towards them is just a part of being a woman, it's just something that we live with, that we accept that we have to push through or push down and go on with as a part of life. The #MeToo movement is just another part of the women's movement that we're finally coming together and saying let's lift each other up instead of pushing each other down... I think it's changing the entire future for women that the younger generation are seeing this and saying 'Wait. That guy shouldn't be talking to me like that. I'm not going to let that happen to me in the club. He shouldn't be touching me in this way...' My daughter is 19 and I'm proud of what's happening with the #MeToo movement because I feel that it's going to make her safer and stronger. Just to have that on a huge scale right now, that it's not okay to be harassed and raped and abused."

— Theresa Joy, 39

"I didn't realize how many other people didn't realize and were not aware that there was such a large community of us."

"I've always been aware that most women, if not all, and tons of other people experience sexual harassment and assault. I've always been really open that I've had those experiences throughout my life. But I didn't realize how many other people didn't realize and were not aware that there was such a large community of us."

— Maya Helferty, 25

"My #MeToo experience prompted me to get involved in local organizations."

"My #MeToo experience prompted me to get involved in local organizations to help disenfranchised women who have been sexually assaulted or victims of human trafficking or domestic violence."

— April Slusser, 24