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Empowering Women To Be All They Can Be
Celebrity Survivors of Domestic Violence
Being victims of domestic violence didn't prevent these survivors from being who they were meant to be...
Halle Berry
Actress Halle Berry admitted she was hit so hard by a former boyfriend that she suffered hearing loss in her left ear.
In a recent interview with NBC, actress Halle Berry opened up about her experience growing up with domestic violence. For much of Berry's childhood, she watched her father abuse her mother and older sister. The cycle repeated itself in Berry's own relationships -- after a beating from a boyfriend, she lost 80 percent of the hearing in her right ear. Today, she's an advocate for victims of domestic violence, and is involved the fundraising efforts of the Jenesse Center, a domestic violence shelter in Los Angeles.
Charlize Theron
Charlize grew up with a violent alcoholic father who was abusive toward Charlize and her mother, and often threatened to kill both of them.
Actress Charlize Theron's childhood sounds like something out of a horror movie. Her father, a violent alcoholic, was abusive toward Charlize and her mother, and often threatened to kill both of them. As it turns out, those threats weren't empty -- Charlize's mother shot her husband in self-defense when Charlize was just 15. The actress now serves as a U.N. messenger of peace in her home country of South Africa.
Christina Aguilera
"Growing up I did not feel safe. I turned to singing as an outlet. The pain at home is where my love for music came from."
Many singers will say that their music is their escape, but it's especially true for singer Christina Aguilera, who used singing as a way to cope with the pain of growing up amid childhood domestic violence. Christina told E!, "Growing up I did not feel safe. I turned to singing as an outlet. The pain at home is where my love for music came from."
Tina Turner
Tina Turner accused her husband of 16 years, Ike Turner, of severe spousal abuse in her autobiography, I Tina: My Life Story.
Tina Turner wasn't always the name that this iconic singer went by. Before she met her ex-husband, Ike Turner, she was Anna Mae Bullock -- until Ike insisted she change it. "[It was] so he could own me," Tina told the Huffington Post in an interview, "Ike was smart. He wasn't an educated smart man, but he had common sense." But Ike was abusive, and Tina decided she'd had enough of that, leaving him in 1976. Today, she still goes by the name Ike gave her, but now it stands for a strong, independent music legend who reclaimed her life.
Mariah Carey
For me to really get out, it was difficult because there was a connection that was not only a marriage, but a business thing where the person was in control of my life."
Mariah Carey met her first husband and former manager, Tommy Mottola, when she was only 18. The couple married in 1993, and divorced 5 years later -- but it wasn't until 2009 that the pop sensation spoke publicly about the abuse she experienced during their time together. She told Larry King, “Abuse has several categories -- emotionally, mentally, in other ways. For me to really get out of it was difficult because there was a connection that was not only a marriage, but a business where the person was in control of my life.”
Robin Givens
"I didn't understand how a man could say that the best punch he ever threw was against his wife," actress Robin Givens said about her ex-husband, boxer Mike Tyson.
"I didn't understand how a man could say that the best punch he ever threw was against his wife," actress Robin Givens said about her ex-husband, boxer Mike Tyson. The couple was married only for a year, divorcing in 1988. Since then, Givens has devoted much of her time to helping others who have suffered the same abuse. She recently spoke about her experience at the Knock Out Abuse gala benefit -- a charity that provides funding for domestic abuse shelters.