Christina Aguilera is supporting a charity near and dear to her heart.
On Thursday night in Las Vegas, the What a Girl Wants singer attended The Shade Tree Shelter‘s Mask Off Gala where she received the “Community Hero” award.
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Per its website, the organization aims “to provide safe shelter to abused and homeless women and women with children in crisis; as well as, offer life-changing services promoting stability, dignity, and self-reliance.”
While giving a speech, the 38-year-old teared up while discussing how domestic violence has affected her life and her art.
She told the audience:
“It’s just disgusting and it happens far too much to the people that we do love. It is very dear to my heart because I did grow up as a survivor of it. As I’m sure many of you are, and are affected by it… It’s such a part of who I am. The music that I make, the lyrics that I write, from Fighter to Beautiful. It truly does comes from the heart. If it doesn’t feel genuine to me, I just don’t do it… I’m just so happy and honored to be able to donate to this charity in particular.”
While talking about her childhood, the songstress said she, her little sister, and mother had to literally travel across the States to avoid malicious treatment.
“Growing up, I would have to escape in the middle of the night with my little sister and my mother and literally drive across the country. And luckily I had my grandmother who took us in. But if it wasn’t for that, I would’ve needed to come to a place and a resource like this.”
Of course, this is not the first time the musician has revealed harrowing details about her past.
In a 2018 interview with Paper magazine, the pop star opened up about how her mom was forced to deal with her abuser.
“I watched my mom have to be submissive, watch her Ps and Qs or she’s gonna get beat up… You can either be, unfortunately, so damaged by it that you take a turn for the worse, or you can feel empowered by it and make choices to never go down that route.”
Aguilera added:
“I hate when people say, ‘Why doesn’t she just leave?’ There’s psychological damage and mental abuse that comes with being in a situation like that… A lot of people don’t have the ability to vocalize it themselves or have the know-how to get out.”
If you are dealing with an abusive situation, you can call the National Domestic Violence helpline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
[Image via DJDM/WENN.]
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