It's provocative and disturbing to some, but it has gotten attention on domestic violence. To mark domestic violence awareness month for San Diego organization called Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence has posted a video on Facebook . Survivors use the F word to describe domestic violence. Here's a clip. One in four women are affected -- hold it wait a minute what that afford -- The video is called F domestic violence. Joining me is Kristen Faith Paruginog founder of Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence. What can you tell us about where the idea for the video came from? We are an organization that has been known to be edgy and different. Our ways to raise awareness are blatant. We are fed up with domestic violence. It's come to the point where you are so fed up with the domestic violence and the new stories that come out. You had a young child say the afford, what made you make that decision? There was a bold move to have a child in the video, that young boy he witnessed domestic violence and for him, and we explained to him what the video was and he was not forced. He was uncomfortable saying the F-word . He's not a big fan of saying it now, with the campaign afterwards. For him, after witnessing his mom be abused and growing up with domestic violence, he knew he wanted to make a difference. That's why we had him as part of the campaign. Is part of the reason for putting out a provocative video that the issue of domestic violence is maybe not getting as much attention as the past? Absolutely. There isn't enough attention about domestic violence. We are hoping with this very different campaign, people who wouldn't give domestic violence a second look or bother learning about it, we hope this video gets their attention to talk about it and learn about it. To learn about the resources and what healthy relationships are. We are hoping this video sparks conversation for people around the world. Can you share your personal experience with domestic violence? I was in an abusive relationship for three years. I suffered all five forms of domestic violence. From being tied with my hands and legs behind my back and suffocated with a pillow, strangled more times than I can tell you, I've been financially abused, I have been raped, I have been in a variety of different situations where my abuser demeaned me or made me feel less than and ultimately my confidence disappeared. Ultimately, I survived that relationship, I left my abuser when I was 22 years old. That moment brought me here to being an advocate and sharing my story on Facebook. You say you didn't recognize the warning signs, what are they? There are so many, in my situations he was very controlling and I didn't recognize that as being unhealthy. I thought that was his way of showing his love. He was very jealous of the success that I had in my life, whether it was winning scholarships or I competed in pageants, he would demean Nat. Other warning signs are telling you who you can and cannot talk to, who you can be friends with or isolating you and manipulating you. Those are just some of the warning signs. You started breaking the silence after your experience with domestic violence. What does the organization do? We provide programs and resources to the community, not just for victims but for survivors, families that have lost loved ones to domestic violence. We provide resources, like our women's retreat, we educate the community about domestic violence. We have financial assistance programs called grants of hopes and our scholarships for students that have been impacted by abuse. We have our empowerment groups located in San Diego and they are now on Facebook live. Those are just some resources that we have two men and women who have been affected. Just Thursday, a domestic violence incident ended in a murder suicide in the Bankers Hill area. You know the family. Yes. Did she break off the relationship before he found her and shot her? Yes. They had separated and they still spoke often on -- off and on. On September 29, he came to her workplace and killed her. Is that a frequent situation, once the victim decides to leave? Absolutely. I tried to tell people, when you leave an abusive relationship you absolutely have to be careful, once you leave your abuser, they now lose control and they will do everything in their power to gain control. The first 72 hours is the most dangerous time in the entire relationship. The abuser is now grabbing at straws to get the victim back. If people are interested in our conversation and they want to see the video where do they go? They can go to our website www. www.ratethesilenceDB.org. I've been speaking with Kristen Faith Paruginog founder of Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence.
A San Diego nonprofit wants to shock people into action with a new video about domestic violence.
Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence created the video for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In it, survivors use the F-word to bring awareness to the issue.
"We hope this video gets their attention to talk about it, have a conversation, learn about it, learn about the resources, learn about what a healthy relationship is, we're hoping that this one video sparks conversation for people around the world," said Kristen Paruginog, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit. She started the organization after leaving an abusive relationship.
Paruginog joins Midday Edition Tuesday to talk about the campaign and domestic violence.
