Halle Berry's Personal Mission To Help Domestic Violence Victims (VIDEO)

As a child, actress Halle Berry was traumatized by domestic violence in her own household.

As an adult, the Academy Award winner gives her time and money to help domestic violence victims at the Jenesse Center in Los Angeles, CNN reports.

She's worked with the organization for over a decade. Her current project: renovating apartments for women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

Supporters can get involved with the Jenesse Center by making a donation or volunteering.

CNN's interview with Berry is part of their hour-long Big Stars, Big Giving special.

WATCH:

Comments

[Dr Confuso]

08:35 AM on 12/27/2010

Wonder if her agent or her manager dreamt up this obvious ploy?

[frameofmind2]

09:48 AM on 12/27/2010

You are confused, obviously.

[Queen Cassandra]

01:59 AM on 12/27/2010

Good job Halle.

[Dokemion]

01:21 AM on 12/27/2010

Married… divorced… separated… never together… what does any relationship status have to do with a man's parental duty? Once you’re a father, you're always a father. There is no you in the formula of life anymore. There is always at least one other person standing beside you in that equation. Always. Own that. And never leave that behind.

http://www.singledadfinancialhelp.com/

[kimota]

12:26 AM on 12/27/2010

What about hit-and-run amnesia victims? Is she helping those out, too?

[milliemonster]

06:47 AM on 12/27/2010

Jealously has no bounds apparently........

[frameofmind2]

08:12 AM on 12/27/2010

Tell me you're joking, please.

[temenos]

11:57 PM on 12/26/2010

I've respected this woman ever since she turned up personally to accept her Razzie for Catwoman. She has class, grace and a marvelous sense of humor and she seems totally unspoiled by her successes.

[85Percent]

12:59 AM on 12/29/2010

Wasn't she having some inner ear problems about that time? I recall that she took the part because she was having trouble reading longer scripts. Reading can make a person with inner ear trouble very dizzy. I can attest to that. She is certainly a beautiful woman.

[SamEasy]

11:43 PM on 12/26/2010

I once had a girlfriend rip my shirt to rags in the middle of the street. Thankfully it was late at night so not many people witnessed my embarrassment of getting smacked around by an irate woman. I was just taking my lumps but I believed I deserved them lumps so I just let it happen. The more I did nothing, the more aggressive she became and I wish I would have saved that shirt as it would be a great conversation piece. My friend laughed for days about the way I looked when I went back inside after my shellacking.

Ironically,I found out later from a mutual friend she was also experiencing problems with infidelity when I was out of town!! I still think well of her, she was a great girl in spite of her agressive nature.

[OldBro70]

03:13 AM on 12/27/2010

Sameasy, my ex wife whom i still love dearly was also an aggressive woman, although she was never aggressive towards me personally, she didn't take no nonsense from no body, no matter their size, weight or whatever. My daughter and her two daughters have her feistiness and pity the man who would try to intimidate them. I once interceded in a argument that my daughter was having with a male friend,who was acting as if he was going to strike her she informed me that I was to stay out of it. needless to say she prevailed leaving him speechless and bruised, my son who is 6'4" and I both taught her some basic defensive moves, in the event she would ever need them when dealing with some men who thought that a woman made the best punching bag,Especially when the bottled spirits gave them a false sense of being invincible. You are to be commended for taking her lumps and still remembering her with fondess and admiration.

[SamEasy]

03:35 AM on 12/27/2010

OldBro70
Thanks for your kind words. My shellacking was delivered by a tiny Lady and I myself am only 5-3 but she had amazing energy which was more apprecitated under more tender circumstances. My guess that she has a good chuckle whenever she tells that story but if I ever see her again I will be wearing a flac-jacket.............and a cheap shirt!
ADIOS!

[MrDane]

09:56 PM on 12/26/2010

How many programs / initiatives have you heard of supporting "End violence against men" ?
How many Celebs have gotten free publicity taking a stand against "violent women" ?
- I was going to give a sarcastic answer to my own questions, but the truth is too depressing.

[EnlightenUp]

08:33 AM on 12/27/2010

There might be more of that if male victims reported the violence, got PFA's, and pursued criminal charges. Unfortunately, men are "supposed to be strong and manly" (a.k.a. to "take it")- it's indeed unfortunate, b/c I believe that more DV cases are mutually violent than purely "violence against women". These agencies are biased for a reason.. They assume the men are the violent ones and b/c men are usually stronger than women, they're blamed/jailed, etc.
A year ago November, I was strangled by my boyfriend, he served his time, we got back together, have had some turbulence, but I also have taken full responsiblity for MY part in it.. I'm volatile, too. We both have anger issues, and are working on them and are committed to working on our relationship free of violence and volatility. It's not easy, but we both love each other dearly, and have not had any violent interactions for months. (last time it was me giving him a black eye). No one is perfect. There are some men who fit the "batterer" profile, but these agencies (aimed at women) need to understand it goes both ways, probably more often than not. If we women want equal rights.. we need to own up to our own part in domestic violence. It's generally not a one-way street, or the same situation for all. People can indeed change.. I wish more people had faith in that.

[LaLa1999]

09:32 PM on 12/26/2010

Halle's courage, compassion, and poise is an inspiration.

[ItsAlinaHudson]

08:07 PM on 12/26/2010

Amen and thank you, Halle! I lost one of my beautiful auts to domestic violence! So many times women stay (as my aunt did) thinking one day he'll change!

God bless you, Halle.

[Redemption Song II]

07:54 PM on 12/26/2010

This is excellent, both Berry's commitment and impressive work to help women out of violent relationships and Cho's dedication to bring good news.

[ArjenBoatsma]

06:13 PM on 12/26/2010

Women and children are certainly NOT the only victims of domestic abuse.

[Redemption Song II]

07:51 PM on 12/26/2010

They are, alas, the majority of victims.

[EnlightenUp]

08:36 AM on 12/27/2010

Only because men rarely report it.. they're too embarassed. We need to start raising our children right.. and if more men reported it, and the police and police/dv agencies were less biased, it might be a different story.

[LaurieAnn]

06:11 PM on 12/26/2010

I admire Ms. Berry for doing something meaningfully helpful for women and children.

[RusStyles]

05:47 PM on 12/26/2010

The woman is doing something constructive. I wonder what contributions the people that are knocking Halle are doing to make a positive difference in the world.

[dct1999]

06:06 PM on 12/26/2010

Exactly. They're just willfully ignorant haters.

[Blodo]

06:35 PM on 12/26/2010

Right on Rus. There's a good lesson for all of us in Halle's charitable works.

[Gibbon2010]

05:32 PM on 12/26/2010

People do realize that women do it too? I heard a neighbor screaming at her kid. But hey, there's no law against it, so the cops say.

[Classof89]

05:36 PM on 12/26/2010

Never knew that screaming should be illegal.

[Bluemax1]

05:48 PM on 12/26/2010

It is not illegal to verbally abuse your children but should it be?

[ArjenBoatsma]

06:13 PM on 12/26/2010

Verbal and psychological abuse are as bad, if not worse than physical abuse. The nursery rhyme of "sticks and stones" is a big lie perpetrated on our society.

[Maverickpower]

06:57 PM on 12/26/2010

My x was verbally and physically abusive to me and now he is verbally abusive to my girls.
It should be illegal to continue visitation if your a domestic batterer. It only creates more of the same in the children as adults. I have to risk goin

[Gibbon2010]

11:27 AM on 12/27/2010

Both Alice Miller and Dan Neuharth have some decent books on the subject. Alice Miller goes into a lot of interesting details about Freud was a destructive hack.

[Chicago0048]

05:27 PM on 12/26/2010

Halle has been repeating that story about her dad for decades now. And she's had trauma committed by old boyfriends, allegedly Wesley Snipes. She needs to come up with more original stories, because those are getting old. Of course, she has a new movie out and she's trying to get into the Oscar race.

[Blodo]

06:33 PM on 12/26/2010

Unfortunately, unpleasant past events don't disappear over time, no matter how often they have been talked about. Kudos to Berry for making a positive difference in the lives of others.

[Damaven]

06:35 PM on 12/26/2010

Possibly she repeats the same story(ies) because of truth and doesn't feel she needs to waste her or your time and intelligence -- and I've just complimented you and probably shouldn't have -- making up a juicy lie to get more attention and/or money. And she doesn't bring it up every time she has a movie coming out. And maybe you should jump on anybody's band wagon to help someone in need and you'd have less energy for silly thoughts.

[AmericanLeslie]

07:53 AM on 12/27/2010

Thank you!