Real Housewives’ Taylor Armstrong says domestic abuse caused divorce [video]

Domestic abuse is a serious problem but Taylor Armstrong, who says she’s a victim herself, is proud to use her platform on ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ to help women fight back.

Taylor, 40, recently split from her husband after five years and they’ve filed for divorce. Now she says the breakup was caused by a long history of abuse at the hands of her spouse.

“I’m mad at myself for tolerating things I should not have,” she says. “I felt like I was dying inside.”

She claims Russell, 47, would grab her, push her around and even throw things at her during their frequent arguments.

Russell denies this.

“Did I push her? Yes, maybe things happened in the heat of the moment, but it was during a time that was not characteristic of who we were. This show has literally pushed us to the limit.”

Taylor, who calls herself “a child of domestic violence” and says one of her earliest experiences in life was being abused…But she won’t explain what that was. Her family saved her but she still claims it left ‘an emotional mark.’

She now works as an advocate for fellow sufferers at LA’s ‘1736 Family Crisis Center‘ and often uses her time on-screen in ‘RHBH’ to draw attention to the needs of domestic violence victims and other low-income families who need help.

The breakdown of their marriage leaves one major problem – their 5-year old daughter, Kennedy. But Taylor says she’s on that case;

“I hope we can co-parent as healthy as possible. He’s an amazing dad, and I want Kennedy to think her dad is the greatest guy on the planet,” she enthuses.

The former pair even tried six months of couples therapy to rescue their union, but it didn’t work. Russell left the family home back in June and you can look forward to some heated debates on their split when the new season bows on September 5th.

Here’s Taylor telling the girls about the bad times in her childhood. Watch, and tell us what you think…