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Ever since Evelyn Lozada was assaulted by her troubled ex-husband, Chad Johnson, last year, the “Basketball Wives” star has become one of the many celebrity faces of domestic violence. Although having her name tied to such a violent event is unpleasant, Lozada has decided to use her experience to help other women launching a domestic violence foundation.

In her new cover feature for Latina magazine, Lozada explains that the idea to launch Pain Is Not Love after receiving a barrage of personal stories about abuse from her many fans.

“I get emails every single day from women who are still with their abusive partner,” said Lozada.

The BBW star’s own story of abuse has lingered in the world of pop culture ever since that infamous August evening when she got into an altercation with Johnson in which he head butted her. Johnson was arrested for the attack and the couple quickly divorced. Fans recently got a harsh reminder of the incident when photos of Lozada’s lacerated forehead hit the Web.

“I knew my life would never be the same. I knew the world was going to laugh at me and be mean and nasty and blame me for everything. But I had no choice. I had to go to the hospital,” said Lozada, who challenged critics that claimed she provoked the altercation with her infamous hot-blooded attitude.

“I never lifted a finger at him,” she said.

While speaking with CelebTV Latina about the Latina mag cover, Lozada explained that her new role in bringing awareness to domestic violence isn’t one that she wanted. Sshe felt responsible to use her celebrity to bring a change in the lives of other abused women.

“I don’t want to wear this hat of being a domestic violence survivor, but this happened to my life. I need to flip it and help people,” she explained.