Jessica White is opening up about her extremely difficult childhood—and finally revealing who molested her when she was 14 years old.
The model and Sean Penn ex hosted a dinner party at Georgica in East Hampton on Sunday for her Angel Wings Foundation, where she told guests she started the charity to allow women who have been sexually abused to come forward and get help because she'd been through the nightmare herself.
"I was sexually abused as a child, and the work that my foundation does is not going to end sexual abuse, but it will definitely raise the awareness and give room for other women and girls to come forward and begin the healing process," White said. "This is personal to me, this is not something that I went and slapped my name on."
After the event, Jessica opened up to E! News in more detail about her painful experience...
White, who had never before stated who her abuser was, told us her former brother-in-law made her life hell when she was a young teenager.
"I was 14 years old, I never talked about who my abuser was," she told E! "It was my brother-in-law, my sister's ex-husband. For the first time I realized I kept it a secret for so long, but why when people weren't protecting me?" she said. "At 17, I told my older sister and asked her not to say anything, to not tear my family apart."
The Sports Illustrated beauty says that she's turned into a "warrior" on the topic, and that she thinks it's her calling to help others that have gone through the same situation.
"This is my mission in life, I've actually lived it," she said. "When you think about that, you see why I'm very passionate about it. We may not be able to stop sexual abuse but we can minimize the stress intake. How I feel today, I truly believe if we team up and we can stop sexual abuse, we can prevent some pedophile from taking some girl's innocence."
White's foundation donated the money raised Sunday to UNICEF's City of Joy Program, which provides nearly 200 women between the ages of 14 and 35 with psychotherapy and an extensive training program offering literacy, economics and sexuality education in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Victoria's Secret model's next step for victims is to take her message to the Internet. "I'm teaming up with other women and teenagers and we're gonna do a YouTube campaign, along with Gabrielle [Union] who also was sexually abused," she tells us. "We're all partnering together, and we're fighting to stop this altogether."
The 27-year-old seems to be in a much better place these days, going from model to mogul with a new skin care line, Devise Beauty, hitting shelves Oct. 1 and a budding music career working with Rihanna's team on song recordings.
"It's soulful pop, inspired by Tori Amos, my favorite artist on the planet," said White.
The model and Sean Penn ex hosted a dinner party at Georgica in East Hampton on Sunday for her Angel Wings Foundation, where she told guests she started the charity to allow women who have been sexually abused to come forward and get help because she'd been through the nightmare herself.
"I was sexually abused as a child, and the work that my foundation does is not going to end sexual abuse, but it will definitely raise the awareness and give room for other women and girls to come forward and begin the healing process," White said. "This is personal to me, this is not something that I went and slapped my name on."
After the event, Jessica opened up to E! News in more detail about her painful experience...
White, who had never before stated who her abuser was, told us her former brother-in-law made her life hell when she was a young teenager.
"I was 14 years old, I never talked about who my abuser was," she told E! "It was my brother-in-law, my sister's ex-husband. For the first time I realized I kept it a secret for so long, but why when people weren't protecting me?" she said. "At 17, I told my older sister and asked her not to say anything, to not tear my family apart."
White says life at home was so hellish, she'd punch holes in the wall in order to deal with the secret she was carrying.
"I hated going home, I had holes in my wall, it was the worst situation that a child could ever be in," she said. "It was a very dark situation that I came from. But God used something very evil into something every powerful and beautiful. I don't want any other young girl to feel like it's their fault. The majority of the time it's caused by someone that you know."The Sports Illustrated beauty says that she's turned into a "warrior" on the topic, and that she thinks it's her calling to help others that have gone through the same situation.
"This is my mission in life, I've actually lived it," she said. "When you think about that, you see why I'm very passionate about it. We may not be able to stop sexual abuse but we can minimize the stress intake. How I feel today, I truly believe if we team up and we can stop sexual abuse, we can prevent some pedophile from taking some girl's innocence."
White's foundation donated the money raised Sunday to UNICEF's City of Joy Program, which provides nearly 200 women between the ages of 14 and 35 with psychotherapy and an extensive training program offering literacy, economics and sexuality education in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Victoria's Secret model's next step for victims is to take her message to the Internet. "I'm teaming up with other women and teenagers and we're gonna do a YouTube campaign, along with Gabrielle [Union] who also was sexually abused," she tells us. "We're all partnering together, and we're fighting to stop this altogether."
The 27-year-old seems to be in a much better place these days, going from model to mogul with a new skin care line, Devise Beauty, hitting shelves Oct. 1 and a budding music career working with Rihanna's team on song recordings.
"It's soulful pop, inspired by Tori Amos, my favorite artist on the planet," said White.
