Camila Mendes On How She Found Strength After Being Roofied & Sexually Assaulted In College

Camila Mendes is keeping a terrifying experience she endured close to her heart.

In a cover interview for Women’s Health, the Riverdale star opened up about the meaning behind the “to build a home” tattoo she got on her rib after her first year at college, revealing how it’s a powerful reminder to stay strong in a world full of perils.

The 25-year-old, who attended New York University‘s Tisch School of the Arts, said she decided to get inked after she was roofied and sexually assaulted during her freshman year. She explained to the mag:

“I got the tattoo after my freshman year. I had a very, very bad experience; I was roofied by someone who sexually assaulted me.”

Unfortunately, cases like Cami’s are far too common on US campuses. According to LiveScience, about 1 in 13 students from three separate US colleges reported having been drugged, or suspected they were drugged, in 2016.

While Cami didn’t go into more detail about the incident, she revealed getting the tattoo served as a reminder to herself to “strengthen both her sense of self and the environment around her.”

It’s a mantra she carries with her to this day: the CW star says she always thinks about what she can do “physically for [her]self” whenever she goes through a difficult time. She continued:

“I danced for seven years, from age 4 to 11. Then I did musicals as a kid, then so much of acting school is movement classes and connecting your breath to your body. Activity has always been an important part of my life.”

But giving her body time to recover is just as important. She added:

“People sometimes put working out first and don’t give their bodies rest. I’ll always choose sleep first. I think it’s just so underrated.”

She’s not wrong there — sleep saves lives!

In the years since she’s seen success on Riverdale, the starlet has gotten candid about other traumas she’s dealt with in the past; like her struggles with bulimia.

Telling the mag how she’s recently been helped by a therapist and nutritionist, Cami said:

“I’ve only recently gotten better. I needed professionals I trusted to tell me things that I didn’t know.”

While sharing her personal issues with the world can be scary, the Veronica Lodge portrayer said she hopes her honestly could help others who might be experiencing similar struggles.

She concluded:

“When I was a teenager, there were no role models when it came to body positivity—that simply was not a thing. Being thin was the thing. It’s health that’s important, not appearance. I make choices that are good for me—and not just in my body—but for my soul, for my mind. And sometimes that’s eating ice cream because I want to eat ice cream.”

Preach!

We applaud the actress for speaking out about such a serious — and sadly all too common — experience.

See how healthy Camila looks on the cover of Women’s Health (below)!

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officially a healthy woman!!!! thank you @womenshealthmag ????????✨ this cover means so much to me. it took me a while to view self confidence as a product of physical & mental health, instead of appearance and thinness. i’m grateful for the opportunity to spread that message; i could have used it way earlier in my life. link in bio ????

A post shared by camila mendes (@camimendes) on Sep 9, 2019 at 11:15am PDT