and beverly gooden's powerful response, #whyistayed, is creating a viral movement.o her and dr. phil in a moment. first, here's abc's ryan smith. >> reporter: the haunting images. a national wake-up call. janay rice knocked out cold, by then-fiancee, ray rice. the tape, costing rice his livelihood. but sticking by his side, the victim, janay, now, his wife. poston posting on instagram tuesday, this is our life. just know we will continue to grow and show the world what real love is. in may, janay, shouldering some of the blame. >> i deeply regret the role i played in the incident that night. >> reporter: and some ask how she could defend the football star, others like beverly gooden, a former victim of domestic violence, firing off tweets, listing the many reasons it took her a year to leave all her own abuser. all ending with the #whyistayed. he said he would change. i believed him. he lied. gooden's posts, sparking an avalanche of comments. because every time was the last time. #whyistayed. and because i was pregnant. and wanted my daughter to have a dad. #whyista

incident that night. >> reporter: and some ask how she could defend the football star, others like beverly goodenisting the many reasons it took her a year to leave all her own abuser. all ending with the #whyistayed. he said he would change. i believed him. he lied. gooden's post, sparking an avalanche of comments. because every time was the last time. #whyistayed. and because i was pregnant. and wanted my daughter to have a dad. #whyistayed. the viral hash tag, and now the infamous tape, igniting a coast-to-coast conversation, on the topic. >> i would never stay with a man that did that to me. >> she can be a positive role model for women going through similar situations. >> abused women often stay in the relationship and blame themselves. >> reporter: it's far from a new issue. it's estimated that 25% of american women experience domestic violence. statistics show it takes an average of seven attempts for a victim to leave the abuser. >> it's a horrible decision to make. in 75% of cases, of domestic violence, the most traumatic and the most dangerous time in the relationship the not when she s

. >> now i want to bring in beverly gooden, creator of the hash tag, called #whyistayed. it sparked a heated digital conversation about domestic violence. beverly, thank you for joining us. off awe thank you for havi awe thank you for having me. >> when you hear people in the media say of janay rice or chantal jackson. why don't they just leave. it drives you crazy. why, what is wrong with that advice. >> it puts the blame on the victim as opposed to the person who victimized. i stayed in a marriage far too long. i stayed. i had my reasons for staying. i started the hash tag as a response to all of the people who immediately out of the gate said, why did she stay? why didn't she leave. why did he hit her? what is his reason for doing this? why is he behaving this way? it's not fair to ask her. she may mhave financial reasons emotional reasons for staying. any reason for staying. i started the hash tag to call attention to the fact that there are multiple reasons why some one who is an abusive relationship might stay. but the pressure isn't on them to explain. the pressure

we will show the domestic violence victims sparked by beverly gooden of north carolina monday. i try to leave the house once after an abusive episode and he blocked me. he slept in front of the door that entire night. hashtag, why i stayed. the human resources manager sparked a conversation with her hashtag. people chimed in adding, why i left. like this tweet. i thought he would kill me. why i left, i saw his eyes the moment he decided to kill me and i wanted to die free. >> we see women five to seven times before they actually left for good. >> karma runs the d.c. coalition against domestic violence. she says the tweaks help shatter the damage that could be done by rushes to judgment. >> you are already being isolated from family and friends and then we internize judgment. people will judge the situation and think i'm crazy. think something is wrong with me for choosing this person and for choosing to stay. >> the number for the national domestic violence hot line is 1- 800-799-safe. that's s-a-f-e. if you're in immediate danger, call 911. in northwest d.c., debra alfarone, w

. >> reporter: social media opened a door with the help of writer beverly gooden who created the hash tags why i stayed and why i left. on twitter, hash tags have struck a cord. rachel writes why i stayed, he made me believe it was my fault, in one could help me. i was crazy. he would change. stripped me of all strength and confidence. and then nancy writes why she stayed, because word of wisdom from elders taught to endure, be patient and it will get better. but then it was misty who found courage to leave, after this. when my seven year-old asked me if her husband would treat her, the way daddy treated me. the last straw is different for victims of abuse. hess, who works for the philadelphia anti violence partnership, wants women to embrace this. >> no matter what you did to provoke that person to resort to violence, no one, in the world has the right to lay a hand on another human being. >> reporter: janay palmer calls her crisis a family matter and an incident her and her husband ray rice regret every day. that is why i stayed and why i left are trend nothing social media. pat cia

someone who knows that harsh reality all too well is beverly gooden. saw herself in janay rice and she created the hashtag, why i stayed. she just started and the ball was rolling from there. it's now a viral campaign. beverly, thanks so much for being with us. i just want to ask you that question and from the horse's mouth, i'd love to hear that answer from you. why would someone like janay rice have married her abuser within weeks of that attack? >> you know, the answer is just as complex as the question. janay is me, i'm janay. a lot of us are janay. i married my husband after the first time that he hit me. he'd hit me several times and i still married him. and the answer could be because she loves him. she feels a need to protect him. her finances are tied to him. it could be a multitude of reasons. and i can't speak for her. i can only speak for me. there are a multitude of women out there who stay with the person who abuses them, who stay with them and they love them and they try to help them and they want the best for them. it can be as complex a

the avalanche of social media support for jeane and other domestic violence victims sparked by beverly gooden of north carolina monday. i tried to leave the house once after an abusive episode and he blocked me. he slept in front of the door that entire night. hashtag, why i said. the human resources manager sparked a conversation with her hashtag. people chimed in, adding why i left. like this tweet. why i stayed, i thought he would kill me. why i left, i saw his eyes the moment he decided to kill me and i wanted to die free. >> when average on the domestic violence field, we see women five to seven times before they left for good. >> karma runs the d.c. coalition against domestic violence. she says the tweets help shatter the damage that could be done by rushes to judgment. >> you are already being ice isolated from family and friends. so much twee that we think something is crazy or something is wrong for me for choosing this person and for choosing to stay. >> one in four women will be victims of domestic violence at some point in their lifetime and right now, there are four women in this

beverly gooden, a domestic survivor who starte startestarted #why started #whyistayed. u for being here. beverly, why did you star start #whyistayed? >> i didn't see the video at first with the full footage. i saw the reactions. overwhelmingly the reaction is, why didn't she leave him? why did she stay with him? i started the hashtag for one to give all of us survivors a voice, when our voice has been taken away. two, to change the conversation to why did she stay to why did he hit her? there's a million reasons why people stay. there were several reasons why i stayed. while that's important, the focus should be on the offender and not the victim. >> there's a piece in "the daily beast," inspired by your hashtag, and she used it in the title of it. she had no bank account, car in her husband's name, pregnant with her second child and she going home would feel like a failure to go back to her mom. that's the thing that's been disturbing in the beginning of this because you had people defending ray rice by saying, well, if janay stayed with him, it can't be that bad. >> an