i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." >> he was the biggest entertainer in the world. the pillar in the black community. >> from pillar to pariah. bill cosby in a storm of sexual allegations. more than 50 women dating back almost 50 years. >> i'd like to look into the camera and say you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? >> an unprecedented interview. >> i've never done an interview this large. >> dozens of his accusers together. >> this, to me, says enough. stop. >> coming together here is going to make a difference. >> stand up and tell the truth. >> the stories are intimate with details you may find graphic and

they're stories that bill cosby denies. >> bill cosby has never been charged with any crime, as you well know. are their claims true? if so, how many others knew? >> i'm incensed that there is nobody coming forward. i can assure you that people knew. >> here's kate snow with "the cosby accusers speak." >> how many of you believe you were drugged by bill cosby? how many of you believe bill cosby raped you? 27 women together in one room for the first time sharing their accusations against bill cosby. >> he drugged me without my knowledge and raped me. >> he drugged me and violently raped me. >> their stories are harrowing. >> i was drugged and raped. >> he flipped me over and raped me. >> but are their stories credible? >> none of you in this room have

dna evidence, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> cosby's attorneys say these things never happened. >> he has vehemently denied the allegations. >> but women are still coming forward with allegations against bill cosby. there are more than 55 now. >> shame on you, mr. father figure of america. >> "dateline" nbc reached out to every woman who had gone public at the time of our interview. these women accepted our invitation and we brought them to a los angeles ballroom. >> i've never done an interview this large. >> they've come from all over the country. the youngest is 46. the oldest 80. >> this is an incredibly powerful group of women right here. >> absolutely. >> we're using our voices to say this isn't okay. >> this is about women taking power into their own hands. >> why this torrent of accusations now?

we'll start with barbara bowman. she was one of the first to go public. >> i said i won't stop talking, and i will keep talking until somebody listens. >> barbara's story began three decades ago in denver, colorado. she was a theater arts major in college, dreaming the hollywood dream. one day she says her agent surprised her. she said i have somebody i want you to meet who i think would help you move on to the next level of your career. >> that somebody was one of america's biggest stars. he made his name on "eye spy" in the 1960s, was fat albert, became the face of jell-o. by the time barbara got that call, he was playing dr. huxtable on "the bill cosby show." the hottest show on tv. he was the beloved and trusted bill cosby. as barbara tells it, bill cosby was performing in denver when

she auditioned for him backstage at a nightclub. she was 17. alone with a megastar, a married man. she says when he suggested she play a drunk, she followed his direction. >> he's going onto my shoulders. every time i would flinch, he would say, no, no, no, you've got to relax. then he started to go even lower onto my breast area. >> you must have thought this as a 17-year-old girl sitting there, this is weird. >> i thought this is very odd, but i was very nervous and afraid. >> too afraid, she says, to tell her agent. a year later, barbara says cosby and her agent moved her to new york, arranged an apartment for her, and paid for acting classes. barbara says she planned to repay them. one night she says cosby asked her to come to a scripting session over dinner at his home.

>> had a couple of sips of wine, ended upstairs, not feeling good. i remember leaning over the toilet bowl throwing my guts up. and i'm wearing a man's white t-shirt that was not mine. i'm in my panties. they're a wreck. he's holding my hair out of the toilet so i don't throw up all over my hair. >> do you know how you got there? >> huh-uh. i just remember having this black out period. he puts me in the couch and starts explaining to me that i got drunk, that he had to wash my clothes, that's why i was not dressed. >> barbara admits she can't remember everything that happened, but she was certain that she was raped and drugged. >> whatever i was given, it was laced in my drink. it was like -- like having a lobotomy.

>> if you were that hazy, people might wonder how do you know something happened. >> i didn't know show up in a man's t-shirt. i didn't show up with soiled panty, and i didn't show up scratched and bruised and dirty. i knew i was raped. >> this time barbara says she told her agent. >> what did she say? do you remember? >> she bawled me out. that's not true. nobody's going to believe you anyway. >> just to be clear, you never went to the police? >> i told my agent. i thought she would protect me. >> "dateline" contacted barbara's agent, but the agent declined to comment. here's the part some may find hard to understand. barbara says she continued to see cosby during a two-year period where he raped her more than once and she felt powerless to stop him. >> a lot of people would probably be thinking i'll just walk away, i'll just get out.

>> i was completely dominated, controlled, and complete and utter brainwashed situation. >> in 1987 after what barbara describes as a violent encounter with cosby, she left new york. almost three decades later here in this room. >> i happened to be the "it" girl on this episode. >> another story triggered barbara's memory and tears. >> what is it? >> some of the language got me. >> the "it" girl. that got me. >> barbara says the last thing cosby told her was that he never wanted to see her face or hear her name again. he didn't for decades, but then barbara says she found her voice. and the other women here say they did too. >> when we come back -- >> i was like stop. what are you doing?

stop it. >> i knew that something had happened. >> we didn't know there were other people. >> meet the women who first came forward ten years ago. why weren't their stories heard then? >> we were all effectively silenced. better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor. i'm happy. it's medicare open enrollment. have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. ♪ the wolf was huffing and puffing. like you do sometimes, grandpa? well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor.

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there are 27 women in this room but together they say they are one. >> i feel like i finally have company and i don't feel lonely anymore. >> aww. >> this is the safest, most accepted group of women that we can talk to. >> yes. >> and for me, it's powerful and it's beautiful, and i'm so glad that i have it. >> some of their stories begin with "the cosby show."

super model beverly johnson said she got a call from her agent in the mid 1980s. beverly was overjoyed. >> who was he at that time? >> he was the biggest entertainer in the world. >> over the years, bill cosby became a philanthropist, a role model. in 2002, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. cosby also began speaking out to the african-american community criticizing lifestyle choices. >> the day is now for you to realize how important parenting is, how important love is, how important love is. how important staying with your child is. >> talk of the cosby legend elicits raw anger here.

sonny wells. >> he really duped america as far as i'm concerned. we were completely drugged, everybody, in america by bill cosby. >> they say it took a woman named andrea to break the spell. she's not in this room, but in 2005 she filed a criminal complaint against bill cosby accusing him of sexual assault the year before. >> bill cosby is the focus of a police investigation near philadelphia. it stems from an allegation -- >> cosby's attorney called the allegation preposterous. the authorities decided there wasn't enough evidence to press criminal charges and she then filed a civil suit, claiming assault, battery, and emotional distress. barbara bowman heard the news and called the woman's attorney. >> i believe you because it happened to me. >> 12 other women also came forward and spoke to constant's attorney. all saying they had been sexually assaulted by bill cosby. >> i cried when i found out

there were 13 women because i didn't think there were 13. i didn't think there were two. i thought there was one, me. >> all 13 agreed to tell their stories under oath anonymously. they became known as the jane does. "dateline" talked to a small group of them. rebecca cooper neil, kristina ruly. these women say bill cosby drugged them and sexually assaulted them or tried to. >> stop it. what are you doing? stop it? he's like, i'm not going to hurt you. just calm down. >> patricia says she was assaulted in 1978 and again in 1980. >> why would you go back knowing that something bad had already happened? >> i wasn't until the last time i was with him that i knew something what happened while i was unconscious.

>> they say they felt compelled to act. >> we were doing what we thought was right. we were standing up for our fellow women. >> as they prepared to testify in 2006, they got word that bill cosby and andrea had settled out of court. she signed a confidentiality agreement, which prevents her from talking about the case publicly. for the jane does, the settlement was a mixed blessing. >> i was simultaneously disappointed and relieved. >> i was relieved, but happy for her. >> we were all effectively silenced. >> you think you turned this story in a way in 2005? >> i believe the jane does did have an impact on that suit in 2005. >> absolutely. >> it scared him to the point of settling out of court. >> some of the jane does decided to go public. beth did.

so did barbara. but the story lost traction until 2014. bill cosby was making a comeback. there was a flattering new biography. nbc was developing a new cosby sitcom. netflix had taped a special. then along came a comedian named hannibal buress. he had been killing it on the comedy circuit for years. at some point, he worked in a bit about cosby. when buress called cosby a rapist on a philadelphia stage, somebody in the audience recorded it, posted it online, and it went viral. weeks later, barbara wrote a piece for "the washington post" that got international attention. >> why did it take 30 years for people to believe me? >> why did it? >> he had such a strong bubble

of protection. >> cosby's attorneys put out a statement saying decade old discredited allegations have resurfaced. the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. but this time the story wasn't going away. barbara says she knows why. >> people were listening. finally, people were listening. >> listening and reaching out to her. women in this room with stories like hers. women like jewel alison. >> i was one of those people that contacted barbara. i did not know barbara at all. for me, seeing her having the strength to come forward helped me tremendously. >> i love you, jewel. thank you, honey. >> late last year after barbara's essay and the buress video, it seemed like the floodgates opened. dozens of women began stepping

out with similar allegations. hard for some in this room to hear. coming up -- >> i went into shock. i went into bad shock. >> four decades later, the pain is still fresh. >> it was his gloating over my humiliation that stayed with me more than anything. he let me know you think you're going somewhere in this business? you're a loser. >> when "dateline" continues.

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raise your hand if you need a tissue? >> raw emotion fills this room. private moments played out publicly. beverly johnson said she was drugged by bill cosby in the late 80s. >> when these women came out and i realize how grateful i am that i wasn't raped, i had to tell my story. i just had to. >> for all these years you didn't. >> he was this black man who was a pillar in the black community. i'm going to participate in knocking this man off his pedestal. >> why didn't you do it? >> my conscious and my principles. >> it's a difficult subject. ladies don't discuss these things openly. they don't discuss it with each other. maybe that's why these things keep happening. the conversation needs to be had.

>> their stories span decades. in some cases memories are murky and details like dates are elusive. the allegations vary widely from harassment to groping to rape. but there are many similarities. >> i got to know him a little bit. marcella tate was a 27-year-old model when she met cosby in chicago. it was 1975. one day he invited her to the playboy mansion and handed her a drink. >> i took really no more than two or three sips of it. and i really lost consciousness. >> you lost consciousness? >> i lost consciousness. i was struggling to get to consciousness. he was in a bed next to me. he didn't have anything on from what i could tell. i was groggy. i had no experience with drugs, so i didn't even recognize what was wrong with me. i was just holding my head

because i didn't know what was happening. that was what was so terrifying. >> in this room of all of you that say you were drugged or took a drug, do you know what you took? >> no. >> not any idea. >> these women say if cosby wasn't offering drinks or dinner, he'd offer something else. career advice. >> how many of you thought bill cosby was going to be your mentor? that's a lot of hands. can i go to you, lily? you thought bill cosby was mentoring you initially. >> i didn't think that. i knew that. >> lily bernard appeared on "the cosby show." lily says cosby earned her trust. >> he said drink it, bernard, drink it. very quickly the room started spinning. >> lily says she became incapacitated and cosby raped her. >> the next memory i'm on the floor, on the carpet. i remember the sensation of the carpet against the flesh of my

back. like velcro. like this. i couldn't move because of the drugs. i remember him on top of me. then there's cold water splashes me on my chest. he was bathing me. i woke up to the cold water splashing me on my chest. i was still groggy like a wet noodle. he was pulling up my stockings very quickly and took me to a car. >> their accounts are so intimate, so disturbing, and many here still say they weren't sure what happened to them. but this summer, long excerpts from the constand deposition came out. in it cosby was asked, when you got the quay lewds, was it in your mind that you were going to use these drugs for young women that you wanted to have sex with? yes. he was asked, did you ever give

any of the young women the quaaludes without their knowledge and he refused to answer. >> i knew in my heart that he gave me something. >> linda brown was a 21-year-old model when she says she had dinner with bill cosby. she says he raped her later that night after drugging her. >> i don't know if it was quaaludes, but i know i was drugged. >> it was refreshing. okay, he's basically admitting that he did that to us. >> linda ridgeway whitedeer tells a different story. she says there was no drugs involved when cosby assaulted her. linda, an actress, says she met cosby for an interview. minutes into the meeting, he did something so shocking this grandma struggles to describe it. >> he came around and gently got ahold of my hair. when i looked up, i was staring at his genitals.

he shoved his penis in my mouth and it was over in seconds. i was in shock. i was in bad shock. it was his gloating over my humiliation that stayed with me more than anything. he let me know you think you're going somewhere in this business? you're a loser. >> many of these women say they also felt humiliated, stayed quiet, and they say there were others who helped build a wall of silence around cosby. others who knew. >> let me be really precise. do you think that people knew he was in your words attacking women? >> yes. >> absolutely. coming up, who else might

have known? >> stories from the set. >> he was yelling. he was rageful. >> i can assure you people knew. and so many other discounts that people think i'm a big deal. and boy, are they right. ladies, i can share hundreds in savings with all of you! just visit progressive.com today. but right now, it's choosing time. ooh! we have a winner. all: what? [chuckles] he's supposed to pick one of us. this is a joke, right? that was the whole point of us being here.

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escalating violence in the country. typhoon coppu is howling through the philippines tonight, bringing with it winds of up to 120 miles per hour. country's weather agency says that typhoon could dump up to six feet of rain over the next few days. now back to our msnbc special. i was very naive and trusting. i never had any reason not to be. >> it's a snapshot in time. a wall of photos capturing the youthful ambitions of the 27 women. photos from 20, 30 or more years ago. many are the faces of aspiring models and actresses who say their lives changed forever when they met bill cosby. >> that man took that girl and

he killed her. there's a part of me inside that's dead. >> former playboy bunny p.j. had another photo to show us. she says she first got to know him while working at a playboy club. a few years later, he drugged and raped her. >> i woke up in bed, naked. i looked next to me and he was there naked. i got out of the bed. i slivered to not wake him. i was afraid i was going to wake him. blood was coming down my legs. i collected my clothing. i was completely freaked out. >> did you tell anyone? >> i told my boss. i told her and she said, well, nobody's going to believe you. i suggest you shout your mouth. >> many of the women we interviewed suspected bill cosby's behavior was an open secret in hollywood. >> let me be really precise. do you think that people knew he

was in your words attacking women? >> yes. >> yeah. >> oh, yeah. >> absolutely. >> former playboy bunny butterfield says bill cosby invited her to christmas dinner in 1977. >> after the dinner, later that evening he assaults me. corners me, gets me alone in the guest house, and sexually assaults me. i was so embarrassed. i just wanted to be invisible. then i was ashamed. then i'm thinking did they know. >> can anybody think of a very specific example of an eyewitness or a person who was where you were with bill cosby? >> i had a handler. >> after beating bill cosby in a tennis tournament, linda kirkpatrick claimed her prize, tickets to her show. linda said she was taken

backstage before the performance. >> there was a group of people milling about. i was assigned to a handler, a tall, beautiful blonde woman from beverley hills. >> who worked for bill cosby? >> i don't know. i was with my handler where the spotlight shone down on the stage. i said why are we up here. she said this is where he wants you. >> the woman she calls a handler took her back to cosby's dressing room. she says that's where he sexually assaulted her. >> do you think she knew you were drugged? >> she certainly well knew i was incapacitated. >> linda says she has no idea how she got home. charlotte fox told us the same thing.

>> i don't know how i got home. i'm at the playboy mansion after a jazz set. i come back from the bathroom. the next thing i know i wake up in a bed. i don't know how i got home. >> charlotte, if so many people saw things or were handling you, taking you around, why would none of them have said anything for the past 40 years? >> money trumps everything. people have jobs. they have families. they see it. they know it, and they don't say anything. >> a former model says she experienced that silence firsthand when she scored a small part on "the cosby show" in 1989. cosby's assistant plucked her out of rehearsal to take her to cosby's dressing room. the star didn't show up, but eden says she told production staff she didn't like being singled out. >> they all told me not to worry about it, that this happens all the time. i said, well, this does not happen all the time with me, and

i'm not comfort with it. >> but eden says it happened two more times and the last time cosby did show up. she says he locked the dressing room door behind him and asked her to do an exercising act with him. >> he pulled me into his body and wrapped his arms tightly and nuzzled himself into my neck and said see, this is making love. this is all we were going to do is making love. >> who did you tell about that experience? >> i went back to the person i talked to earlier in the week on the set. i am incensed that there is nobody coming forward. i can assure you that people knew. >> she says in full view of the crew she confronted cosby. both nbc and carsey werner declined to comment on lily and eden's stories, but last year the show's executive producers said, quote, these recent news reports are beyond our knowledge

or compression. playboy enterprises sent this statement. bill cosby has been a good friend for many years and the mere thought of these allegations is true saddening. i would never tolerate this kind of behavior regardless of who was involved. we spent five hours interviewing these 27 women with their stories of betrayal. cosby supporters point out there are always two sides to a story and sometimes, they say, stories simply aren't true. >> how many of you reported anything to police at the time of the incident?

nobody. coming up -- >> he has vehemently denied the allegations. >> a closer look at the story. >> none of you in this room have dna evidence, witnesses who have come forward, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> when "dateline" continues. a. plans start at $2.99 a month. ♪

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no clothes and cosby is crawling up the bed. >> but for now, that's all they are. stories. and one side of the story at that because for every woman finding her voice -- >> i believe it's healing and it's cathartic to be able to talk to each other, to look around and be together. >> bill cosby has said very little. he did not respond when asked about the allegations last year during an interview with the associated press. >> there's no response. >> cosby later told a florida newspaper a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos. people should fact check. the person who perhaps knows bill cosby best his wife of 50 years has issued a public statement of support. so did members of cosby's other family, his tv one. >> flishia ra -- felicia rashad.

>> all i can speak to is the man that i know and i love. the fact that he has been such an example. you can't take away from the great he has done. >> monique pressly is one of bill cosby's attorneys. she told thomas roberts in july that the star adamantly denies doing anything wrong. >> he has vehemently denied the allegations that he, one, without consent gave anyone a drug, and that he, two, had a relationship or had sexual interaction with another adult. >> as bill cosby's legal team has repeatedly pointed out, he's never been charged with the crime. the sheer number of his accusers, they say, does not make the women's stories true. >> let's talk about what his side has said. how many of you reported anything to police at the time of the incident? nobody. did any of you go to a hospital for a rape kit exam? cosby's attorney has said, quote, it is a completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports.

>> when it happened to me, there was no such thing as date rape. i never even heard of someone being drugged and raped. >> wife of hollywood producer alan lad said bill cosby assaulted her in 1969. >> i never even thought of going to the police. i wasn't even a thought in my mind. rape was done by somebody in the street. >> i didn't report my sexual assault because i blamed myself. >> many of the women, like janice baker kenny, said they felt too ashamed to come forward sooner. >> i one of the few that did accept pills from him. when i woke up the next morning, i apologized to him for passing out. when i think about that i apologized to him knowing what i know now, it makes my skin crawl. >> the drugs were a big part of this.

we did not know what had happened to us. >> but the mention of drugs does raise questions. >> how can you be sure if you were out of it? how can you be sure what happened? >> if you know anything about your mind, you know something is not quite right. you wake up with no clothes on. you know you're not at the beach. you don't say anything to anybody because who's going to believe you. >> that's right. >> there is another reason lily bernard says she didn't report bill cosby. she says she was afraid of what he would do to her if she did. >> when i confronted him about it and told him i would call the police, he said as soon as i left the police station, he would go to the police station and file a report against me for false accusation. >> cosby's attorneys have not commented publicly on lily's story, nor on the stories of any of the other women we

interviewed, but they have suggested some of the aspiring actors cosby mentored might not be as innocent as they claim. >> an attorney for cosby said quote, how many women and men have been willing to exchange sex for favors, had remorse after doing so, and then accused someone who they believed they could get monetary gain out of? >> you said a lawyer said that? >> those are his attorneys. that's what they are paid to do is to throw it back on us. >> many of these women never set eyes on bill cosby again after the alleged assaults, but like barbara bowman a handful did accept other invitations from him. sunny wells was just 17 when she says cosby took her to a jazz club. she said after drinking a glass of soda she woke up in an

apartment. >> naked, alone, no note. nothing. i had no idea what was going on. i went back to my mom's apartment. i called her up at the office. and i said i think that bill cosby raped me, mom. and she said, oh, my god, no. are you kidding? no. >> your mom? >> yeah, my mom. >> she says she knew she'd been raped, could feel it, but even when her own mother didn't believe her, sunny says she went into denial. that's why she agreed to see the star again. even though i had physical manifestations of being raped, i disputed what i felt. i stuffed my feelings because he was bill cosby. >> we reached out to bill cosby and his legal team repeatedly over the past six weeks for comment. both he and his attorneys declined to talk to us. while reporting this story, we did look into the backgrounds of the women.

we found out some of them had been in trouble with the law, but all of the women stand by their stories and ask how all 27 women in this room could be lying. >> victoria valentino. >> we never met until this all broke. what did we do? create this whole fantasy individually and then communicate with each other say meet us in 45 years, big reunion? >> bill cosby has never been charged with any crime as you well know. none of you in this room have dna evidence, witnesses who have come forward, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> it's insane that people actually think that any of us would have come together to bring down some celebrity, whose celebrity already started to fade long before we came forward.

we're using our voices to say this isn't okay. >> amen. coming up -- >> i'd look into the camera and say you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? >> the new legal battle against cosby. >> our client wants justice. cl. that's all she wants is justice. >> could this woman have a case? ♪ i found a better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor. i'm happy. it's medicare open enrollment. have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. ♪

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during our five-hour interview, we saw the women cry and reach out for each other. we saw them get angry, stare down at the floor, shake hair heads in disbelief. we also saw them find comfort in being together. >> i'm not afraid anymore. >> amen, sis. >> i refuse to be afraid anymore. i refuse to give him that. it has been a pleasure meeting everyone. it has been a pleasure to know that i'm not the only one anymore >> since our interview, the number of bill cosby's accusers has continued to grow. >> so i pushed him away and i said, what are you doing? >> three more women appeared at a press conference, accusing cosby of inappropriate behavior. >> we believe the women! we believe the women! >> it seems like the public is paying attention. earlier this year, hecklers and

protesters disrupted bill cosby's stand-up tour, called far from finished. >> tell them about how to get away with rape. >> business deals is have soured too. nbc scrapped that deal it was finishing with bill cosby, netflix shelved its special, and networks have stopped reruns. >> what would you say to bill cosby? >> i would like to look into the camera and say, you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? >> i would like to say to him, karmah's a bitch. >> reporter: and more change may be yet to come. bill cosby is under attack this the courts. none of the women we interviewed have sued the comedian, but four other women have signed on to two defamation suits against him, after coming forward with allegations that bill cosby assaulted them, these women say cosby's side ruined their reputations by, quote, branding the women liars. cosby's attorneys say the suits

are meritless. >> and i am inspired by her courage. >> and then there's this woman. judy hough. her attorney is gloria allred. >> she alleges that she was 15 years old when she became the victim of sexual misconduct by bill cosby at the playboy mansion. >> the statutes of limitation have run out for most of the women accusing bill cosby of assault, but judy hough may be an exception because of her age at the time. last december, she sued cosby for sexual battery and inflicting emotional distress. >> she's one of the few women who has been able to pursue a civil case. why is that? >> in california, we have a longer time period for you have individuals who allege that they are adult survivors of child sexual abuse to file a civil lawsuit. >> cosby's attorneys say that interpretation of the law is wrong. it's too late, they say, for hough to file a claim.

what's more, in a court filing, they stated that hough's allegations are, quote, absolutely false, and that she has changed her story over time. they have also challenged specific details of her story, and accused hough of engaging in extortion. >> the charge from cosby's attorneys has been that your client, judy hough, is in this for money. >> our client, judy hough, wants justice. she wants her day in court. and that's all she wants, is justice. >> and it turns out, hough's lawsuit could force cosby to answer questions about some of his other accusers, too. bill cosby was scheduled to give a deposition in hough's case. >> does that mean you could ask about other women? >> i know that it is no surprise to his attorneys that we would like to ask about the accusations of other accusers, where it might be relevant, to demonstrating a pattern of mr.

cosby's. >> whatever happens next, all the women say they have no regrets about coming forward. they hope their stories will inspire change. >> and this, to me, says, enough, stop. that's it. we're coming forward to say, that we're not going to be oppressed and we're not going to be abused. >> that's right. >> and we're not going to be treated in an unfair way. >> this body of women are moving the needle. not much, but we're still moving it. and that's the power we all feel. >> some of the women are working to exthe end the statutes of limitation in sexual assault cases. lisa has already helped change the law in nevada. beth farrier, helen hayes, and heidi thomas recently met with their state representative in colorado. barbara bowman, who kept her story secret for so long, now tells it publicly, as part of her work with pave, a nonprofit group, devoted to raising

awareness of sexual assault. >> i feel very honored and blessed to be in this position now. it's very gratifying and vindicating to watch lives be restore. that's powerful. >> these women, mothers and grandmothers themselves now, say they can't change the past, but they can change the future. >> i have a 9-year-old daughter. and i wonder what you all think we should be saying to our daughters. >> never be afraid to speak. >> sindra? >> i think for me, i feel like if i can be of service to another generation by standing up and showing how important it is for everyone to stand up and tell the truth, and that it's okay, and look at what we've created here.

>> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. . . follow "lockup" producers and crews as day go behind the walls of america's prisons and jails with the scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." unlike prison, where all the inmates are convicted and serving sentences, most jail inmates are only accused of crimes and are awaiting trial at the resolution of their cases. but