by Zara Mustapha

Hollywood actress, Gabrielle Union opened up on how she was raped at gunpoint aged 19 while encouraging others ladies who have been raped before not to wear a ‘victim hat’.

The 40-year old actress who is set to wed her 32-year-old NBA player beau, Dwyane Wade told viewers that getting raped did not weigh her down rather she felt like a survivor, though it wasn’t easy doing that.

Union said: ‘When something catastrophic happens in life everyone rallies around you but it’s not for something positive and I hated that. I hated feeling like a victim, it makes you lazy. I wanted to embrace being a survivor. I was raised to be an independent woman. That’s the road I decided to take.’

Daily Mail reports:

The Being Mary Jane star added that she was ‘lucky’ the ordeal happened in an affluent area, because the ‘under-worked’ police department and rape crisis center were quick to respond.

But she said her ‘power’ really came back when she successfully sued Payless ShoeSource for negligence.

It was in one of the footwear brand’s California stores where the incident took place. 

Ms Union had taken a summer job there and was just closing up when a man robbed the shop and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. 

 

 

Next step: While talking on The View, Ms Union

The Being Mary Jane star added that she was ‘lucky’ the ordeal happened in an affluent area, because the ‘under-worked’ police department and rape crisis center were quick to respond.

But she said her ‘power’ really came back when she successfully sued Payless ShoeSource for negligence.

It was in one of the footwear brand’s California stores where the incident took place. 

Ms Union had taken a summer job there and was just closing up when a man robbed the shop and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. 

Gabrielle Union on how she overcame being raped at gunpoint

 

Next step: While talking on The View, Ms Union also opened up about her upcoming nuptials and how she is ‘excited’ about being step mom to her fiance’s three children

 

Hard to miss! The actress’s sportsman beau, Dwayne Wade, proposed to her on December 21 at the construction site for the couple’s new Miami home 

It later transpired that her attacker had actually been a former employee of another Payless store which he had robbed, and where he had also raped another employee. 

The man was charged criminally and finally sentenced to 33 years in prison, and Ms Union won her negligence lawsuit against Payless.

Concluding on the subject, Ms Union warned parents to check out the criminal history of businesses before sending their children off to work there.

After she managed to find strength with the help of friends, family and counselors, the Nabraska native returned to  the University of California in Los Angeles graduating with a degree in sociology.

However, after interning at a model and talent agency she went on to enter the world of show business. 

Among her notable roles is as a cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the 2000 film Bring It On and as Syd in the blockbuster Bad Boys II. She is currently the star of the drama series, Being Mary Jane.

 

Covering up: Gabrielle teamed her pretty dress with a maroon coat as she headed back to her hotel after the interview

 While sat with The View hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd, Ms Union also discussed her upcoming nuptials and how she is ‘excited’ about being step mom to her fiancé’s three children.

‘I’ve come from a family that went through divorce, My parents were married 30 years before they went through a divorce,’ she said. 

‘I’m sure after 30 years there was bitterness and anger and fear and all sorts of things but I don’t know because they never made it our issue.

Set to wed: Ms Union and Mr Wade have been together since 2007 and it will be the second marriage for both

‘They handled their divorce and our subsequent transmission in to a blended family with grace and dignity and respect and always put us first and didn’t involve us. So I’m lucky I can just mirror what my parents did.’

She and Mr Wade have been together since 2007 and it will be the second marriage for both of them.

Ms Union divorced American football player Chris Howard in 2006 after five years. Meanwhile, Mr Wade married his childhood sweetheart, Siohvaughn Funches, in 2002 and they split in 2007, but their divorce wasn’t finalised until 2010. 

 

 

 

Road to fame: Ms Union entered the world of show business after interning at a talent agency

He was awarded sole custody of their two sons Zaire, 11, and Zion, six, in 2011. He also has a son, Xavier, three months, from a previous relationship with longtime friend Aja Metoyer.

The sportsman proposed to Ms Union on December 21 at the construction site for the couple’s new Miami home.