'Where Have You Been' songstress Rihanna has opened up about the tattoo she has of a gun and explained that she got it done after she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown.

The small piece of body art is high up on her side and during an interview with Elle magazine, she confessed that while it might look controversial she wanted a symbol of strength following the 2009 attack that left her bruised and bleeding:

"Everybody wanted to know what was happening in my life (at the time). Is she a drug addict? No. Is she an alcoholic? No. Is she a victim? No."

"That's when I got the gun. It was a symbol of strength - it was 'I'll never be a victim!' I had all these eyes on me, critic after critic after critic. I'd heard so many things I was kind of numb to it."

Meanwhile, Rihanna has recently been in London to launch her new fashion collection in association with River Island (pictured below) and described the project as "selfish": "I think my fans have so many different personalities, but they all think they're very badass. I think they'll enjoy the collection quite much, because it's a lot of me. I'm being very selfish, I designed every piece so I can wear it."

Watch behind-the-scenes footage from 'Rihanna for River Island' at the 2013 London Fashion Week here: