American Horror Story actress Angela Bassett hosted the annual Rape Foundation brunch in Santa Monica this past weekend and got very candid with the attendees when she shared a story of when she was sexually assaulted when she was a young girl. The horrible event happened when Angela was 12 or 13 and woke up in bed to find a man her mother was dating touching her inappropriately.
"Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete assault, it was fondling, but it was devastating enough for a child who’s 12 or 13,” she said, according to Variety. Angela was grateful that her mother believed her. "Thankfully, to have a mother who could tell as soon as light broke that this happened and for her to expel him. That she heard me, believed me, and did something about it, I think was so empowering for me as a young teen, as a young woman.”
Angela detailed further how her childhood experience made her teach her children about the importance of boundaries. “I started that early because of experiences with friends and I know that they will be in situations one day,” she explained. “When a girl says no, both to him and to her, she means no. Back up. She has to say come here, kiss me.”