Pamela Anderson: I was raped twice and molested

Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson stunned guests at the Cannes Film Festival by revealing that she was molested at the age of six, raped when she was 12 and gang raped just years later.

Anderson, 46, spoke about her ordeal at the launch of her charity, The Pamela Anderson Foundation, at the Cannes Film Festival last Friday, reported CNN.

"I feel now might be the time to reveal some of my most painful memories," she said, according to the transcript posted on her online blog.

"At the risk of over-exposing myself, again, or being inappropriate, again, I thought I might share with you why I am doing this."

She talked about being molested between the ages of six and 10 "by my female babysitter," and then being raped when she was 12 by the 25-year-old brother of a "friend's boyfriend."

The man "decided he would teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape," she said.

It was her first sexual experience, she said.

After that, a boyfriend "decided it would be funny to gang-rape me with six friends". Anderson said she "wanted off this earth".

She first spoke of her love for animals before detailing incidents of sexual abuse from her youth, reported UK's The Guardian.

SOLACE

The gathering was attended by about 200 people, including Anderson's husband Rick Salomon.

She said she found solace from her traumatic childhood in her love for animals, which were "my only real friends until I had children".

The Pamela Anderson Foundation is dedicated to human, animal and environmental rights.

Although she said she had "loving parents" while growing up in British Columbia, Canada, she did not have an easy childhood.

Her father was an alcoholic, while her mother tried to hold down two jobs, reported UK's The Independent.

"My parents tried to keep me safe, but to me the world was not a safe place," she said.

She said she never told her mother about the incidents because "I couldn't (bear) to give her any more disruptive information".

After she spoke, the star wrote on Twitter, "My speech at launch of my Namesake foundation. I want people to know - they can overcome and prosper with love."

This article was published on May 20 in The New Paper.

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