'I am a survivor of domestic violence'

Los Angeles: Supergirl star Melissa Benoist says she is a "survivor of domestic violence" in an emotional video posted on social media. "I am a survivor of domestic violence or intimate partner violence, which is something I never thought I would say let alone be broadcasting into the ether," Benoist begins in the video.

She says the violence began around 5 months into the relationship, and goes on to describe several incidents during which the perpetrator was violent and abusive towards her. The first time it happened, man threw a smoothie at her face. The bottle smacked her cheek and the liquid went all over her face.

"The stark truth is 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, shoved against the wall so hard the drywall broke, choked," she says.

Over time, Benoist says that she too became violent and fought back. After the phone incident, Benoist says she broke off the relationship. This began to affect Benoist's work.

Benoist closes the video by saying that she will be healing from the experiences for the rest of her life, and cites a shocking statistic from the Department of Justice that one in four women in the United States aged 18 and older will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

"I want the statistics to change and I hope that telling my story might prevent more stories like mine from happening," she says.