Why Do Women Stay With Wife-Beaters?

Shameful act: Ray Rice assaulted Janay Palmer (left) in February and has now had his contract terminated

Video of an American football player knocking his fiancée, now wife, unconscious has led to widespread outrage. Now, a Twitter hashtag has given victims of domestic violence a voice - and the chance to explain why they were unable to leave. 

A Twitter hashtag #WhyIStayed, aimed at raising awareness around domestic violence, is trending on social media. The Twitter hashtag highlights real reasons women stay with violent partners.

It comes in the wake of insensitive comments made by a Fox News presenter, earlier last week.

Brain Kilmeade said that women who stay with abusive partners send a “terrible message” to others in the same position. 

The presenter was discussing a recent controversy in the American NFL, which has seen Baltimore Raven’s player, Ray Rice thrown out of the team for knocking his fiancée unconscious in February. 

Rice pleaded not guilty to charges of third-degree aggravated assault on the agreement that he would complete a one-year course of counselling via an intervention programme for first time offenders. 

Earlier this year, video was released that showed the player dragging Janay Palmer (now Rice – the pair married following the incident) from a casino lift. Now, further footage has emerged, showing the running back hitting Palmer in the head, causing her to fall into the handrail and lose consciousness. 

The comments and video footage also ignited an internet debate around Janay Rice, with social media users asking why she'd stayed with him - let alone gone through with the marriage. 

It prompted American author Beverley Gooden, herself a former victim of domestic violence, to start #WhyIStayed encouraging women to tell their stories and help others understand why they felt unable to leave a violent, or controlling, partner. 

So what d you think? In Nigeria, many women are traumatized and brutalized by their husbands. Why is it so many of these women won’t open up?