Supergirl star Melissa Benoist has spoken out about domestic violence in an Instagram post detailing her own experience in an abusive relationship. “I am a survivor of domestic violence, or IPV, intimate partner violence,” Benoist, 31, said at the beginning of the 14-minute video posted Wednesday. She described meeting the unnamed, alleged perpetrator when she had just gotten out of a previous relationship. Benoist said the two became friends, and that when they began dating, the relationship immediately felt like a “runaway freight train.” The abuse began as emotional manipulation, she said, where he was jealous of her flirting or kissing with other men in scenes, leading her to turn down auditions and job offers.

The physical violence began five months into the relationship, when she said he threw a smoothie at her face. Benoist said the turning point occurred when her then-partner threw an iPhone at her face, tearing her iris to the point where it nearly ruptured her eyeball and breaking her nose, an injury she said changed her vision forever. Benoist ended her relationship shortly thereafter. “None of this is salacious news, it was my reality,” Benoist said. “What I went through caused a tectonic shift in my outlook on life.” At the end of the video, she said she wanted to tell her story because IPV is an underreported crime. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in four women and one in four men have experienced some kind of violence from their partners.