Rihanna will care for Chris Brown "until the day I die"

She said: "I will care about him until the day I die. We're not friends, but it's not like we're enemies. We don't have much of a relationship now."

The 27-year-old beauty admits she thought she could change the 'Loyal' hitmaker following the abuse, which Chris subsequently served community service for.

She explained: "I was that girl. That girl who felt that as much pain as this relationship is, maybe some people are built stronger than others. Maybe I'm one of those people built to handle s**t like this.

"Maybe I'm the person who's almost the guardian angel to this person, to be there when they're not strong enough, when they're not understanding the world, when they just need someone to encourage them in a positive way and say the right thing."

And Rihanna admits she never "understands" how victims can keep being "punished over and over" by being constantly reminded about the domestic abuse they suffered.

She told Vanity Fair magazine: "I just never understood that, like how the victim gets punished over and over," she told the magazine. "It's in the past, and I don't want to say 'Get over it,' because it's a very serious thing that is still relevant; it's still real. A lot of women, a lot of young girls, are still going through it. A lot of young boys too.

"It's not a subject to sweep under the rug, so I can't just dismiss it like it wasn't anything, or I don't take it seriously. But, for me, and anyone who's been a victim of domestic abuse, nobody wants to even remember it."