#AvlNews: #WhyIStayed sheds light on domestic abuse

Casey Blake, cblake@citizen-times.com 9:21 p.m. EDT September 13, 2014

#WhyIStayed, #WhyILeft

The insightful, deeply human conversation surrounding the #WhyIStayed tweets this week is truly Twitter at its finest a way for the volume of personal experiences to actually tell a story and teach us something.

After a video was released of NFL player Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiance (now wife) in an elevator, a widespread social media conversation surrounding "Why would she marry him after that?" began.

But within hours, the #WhyIStayed hashtag was started with the intention of exposing what abuse victims go through, and why leaving is more complicated than just walking out the door.

Typically these national social media trends take some to time reach our mountains but the local response on this one was immediate and powerful.

Dozens of local men and women weighed in, adding both #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft sentiments. Here are a few of the local remarks.

"#WhyIStayed I was made to believe I didn't have a choice #WhyILeft I wanted to live."

"Because he made me believe using substances would bring us closer. #WhyIStayed"

"#Whyistayed I thought sticking it out through the verbal attacks was "love is patient" - it's not."

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#AvlNews: #WhyIStayed sheds light on domestic abuse