How Gabrielle Union Moved Past Rape Ordeal

Feb. 25, 2014 -- Gabrielle Union is speaking out about a horrific ordeal she experienced decades ago.

At 19, the actress was raped at gunpoint, but she said she refused to let the incident dictate her life.

"I got sick of people letting me off the hook. Being a victim is so comfortable," Union, 41, said while on The View. "It makes you lazy."

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Union, who got engaged to NBA star Dwyane Wade in December, explained that while she appreciated the unconditional love and support she got at the time from those close to her, she resented that it was happening because of something "catastrophic."

"I hated the cloak of victimhood," she continued. "I realized they were going to allow me to be a victim, and not succeed and not to achieve my goals."

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Instead, Union, who now stars on the BET show "Being Mary Jane," decided to "embrace being a survivor, because that's who I am."

"I wasn't raised to be coddled," she said. "I was raised to be an independent woman, standing on my own two feet, and that's the road I opted to take."