Pamela Anderson recently launched her new charity the Pamela Anderson Foundation, which is dedicated to helping the environment, animals, and human rights.
While at the Cannes Film Festival event, where she launched the charity, the former Baywatch star and animal activist gave an emotional speech about how she was sexually abused at a young age, and how her love for animals helped her cope.
“I did not have an easy childhood. Despite loving parents, I was molested from age 6 to 10 by my female babysitter,” she explained.
“I went to a friend’s boyfriend’s house and when she was busy the boyfriend’s older brother decided he would teach me backgammon which led in to a back massage, which led in to rape,” she added. “My first heterosexual experience. He was 25 years old, I was 12.”
The abuse continued into her teenage years, when her first boyfriend thought it would be fun to gang rape her with six other boys. “My first boyfriend in grade nine decided it would be funny to gang rape me with six of his friends,” she told the crowd of over 200 people. “Needless to say I had a hard time trusting humans and I just wanted off this earth.”
http://t.co/k7XcCfS4wK My speech at launch of my Namesake foundation. I want people to know – they can overcome and prosper with love…
— Pamela Anderson (@PamelaDAnderson) May 18, 2014
She explained that her love for animals is what saved her. She knew that the world was not a safe place, and vowed to help keep the animals and the environment safe from harm.
“My affinity with animals saved me, they came to me naturally. The trees spoke to me. I wasn’t sure why I was alive – a burning question, a quest,” she said. “My loyalty remained with the animal kingdom. I vowed to protect them and only them. I prayed to the whales with my feet in the ocean, my only real friends until I had children.”
Image via Wikimedia Commons
