Halle Berry volunteers with the oldest domestic violence intervention program in Los Angeles, The Jenesse Center, and for good reason -- her childhood was shaped by it.

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On Friday, E! News reported that the actress opened up about her experience with a violent father at Unite4:Good's Unite4:Humunity Gala.

"I wasn't married to a man that beat me up, but my mother was," she said.

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Berry was all of five-years-old when she became a witness to the abuse of her mother who was beaten "day after day after day."

She reportedly watched her get "kicked down stairs" and hit in the head with a wine bottle when she wasn't looking.

"Knowing that she wanted nothing more than for her little girls to see her be empowered and be a woman of strength, but having no way to make that happen was heartbreaking for me," Berry said.

Berry also noted that her mom stayed in her abusive marriage for way too long.

 "She stayed for too long and her children, my sister and I, saw far too much and I've suffered the damage of being a child of domestic violence," Berry said.

Berry has been working with Jenesse for 15 years and says her first-hand experience with domestic violence makes her work with them that much more important.

"The reason I say this organization is my heart and soul is because I understand the good that it does and the lives that it changes and the impact it has on women and the children in our community," Berry said.

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