Very Sad
Supergirl' Star Melissa Benoist Opens Up in Emotional Video: "I Am a Survivor of Domestic Violence"
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The first incident of violence occurred five months in, she says in the video, when the partner allegedly threw a smoothie at her face. She kept the incident a secret out of shame, fear of again being abused and reluctance to admit it was happening to her. "I learned what it felt like to be pinned down and slapped repeatedly, punched so hard I felt the wind go out of me, dragged by my hair across pavement, head-butted, pinched until my skin broke, slammed against the wall so hard the drywall broke, choked," she said. When she locked herself in rooms, she said, the door was broken down, and she learned not to value property or "myself."
After a violent attack, the alleged perpetrator would put her in a bathtub and turn on the faucet before leaving the room, only to later return and apologize. She says she stayed because "Deep down I never believed he would change, I just fooled myself into thinking I could help him.... Someone had to let him know his behavior wasn't OK, and who better than the one he was taking it out on?"
A turning point occurred when the partner threw an iPhone at her face, allegedly tearing her iris to the point where it nearly ruptured her eyeball and breaking her nose, an injury such that her vision changed forever. She lied to the nurses and police about how she got the injuries but soon mustered the courage to be able to confide in a friend who asked her about her partner's controlling behavior. "The more people I let in, the more I was bolstered," she said. She says she then broke off relations with the partner.