--- title: After Ray Rice Video, Twitter Takes a Stand description: #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft go viral, leading to widespread public conversation about domestic violence canonical: https://time.com/3307109/twitter-ray-rice-domestic-violence-abuse-whyistayed-whyileft/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-09T06:21:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:56.496Z og:title: After Ray Rice Video, Twitter Takes a Stand og:description: #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft go viral, leading to widespread public conversation about domestic violence og:url: https://time.com/3307109/twitter-ray-rice-domestic-violence-abuse-whyistayed-whyileft/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26a5a73c462418ef/6986a2731eebf776b03728b0/454969636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Ravens running back Ray Rice is planning to address the media at 3 p.m. Friday for the first time since he was charged with knocking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: After Ray Rice Video, Twitter Takes a Stand twitter:description: #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft go viral, leading to widespread public conversation about domestic violence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26a5a73c462418ef/6986a2731eebf776b03728b0/454969636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # After Ray Rice Video, Twitter Takes a Stand With #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Sep 9, 2014 6:21 AM UTC  Ravens running back Ray Rice, right, and his wife Janay made statements to the news media regarding his assault charge for knocking her unconscious in a New Jersey casino, on May 5, 2014, at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. Ravens running back Ray Rice, right, and his wife Janay made statements to the news media regarding his assault charge for knocking her unconscious in a New Jersey casino, on May 5, 2014, at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md.Kenneth K. Lam—Baltimore Sun/MCT/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Sep 9, 2014 6:21 AM UTC The recently released [video](http://www.si.com/nfl/video/2014/09/08/ray-rice-video-shows-him-striking-then-fiancee/?xid=timerail) of Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice punching his then fiancée and current wife Janay in an Atlantic City elevator, then dragging her out unconscious, prompted many red flags — about the NFL’s [handling of the incident](http://time.com/3304377/the-nfls-epic-breach-of-trust/), about the Ravens’ ill-advised defense of their player and about how domestic violence is handled in general. But one of the main questions doing the rounds was directed at Janay Rice (formerly Janay Palmer) was why she married him in spite of the abusive relationship. Well, Twitter provided the answer, with the hashtag #WhyIStayed. > [](https://twitter.com/KyriaAbrahams/status/509116236773748736) > [](https://twitter.com/anniemal/status/509169741484027905) > [](https://twitter.com/j2tyco/status/509201736993480705) > [](https://twitter.com/ibrisbin/status/509127365046566912) The hashtag was[ created ](http://www.beverlygooden.com/hear/whyistayed)by writer Beverly Gooden, who was physically abused by her former husband for over a year. In a post on her website, Gooden explains that it’s not always that simple. “Leaving was a process, not an event,” she writes. “And sometimes it takes awhile to navigate through that process.” Gooden also expressed the hope that the hashtag will help people “find a voice, find love, find compassion, and find hope.” And the responses were overwhelming. Twitter users even took the conversation a step further, responding with the hashtags #WhyILeft and #WhenILeft sharing the moments when they finally decided they had had enough. > [](https://twitter.com/KatherineRomero/status/509172870992654336) > [](https://twitter.com/DRussell76/status/509193453272850432) > [](https://twitter.com/laurala/status/509184302639104000) > [](https://twitter.com/ChristinaM96/status/509190991887495168) > [](https://twitter.com/luvsmytwoboys/status/509118501823741952) The stories of abuse weren’t restricted to women, either. > [](https://twitter.com/Jedi%5FDaddy/status/509163585164304384) > [](https://twitter.com/WestTexasDust/status/509192934760009728) Thanks to Twitter, it doesn’t look like this conversation is going to die down anytime soon. > [](https://twitter.com/PaulDeBoy/status/509203803934314496) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3307109/twitter-ray-rice-domestic-violence-abuse-whyistayed-whyileft/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3307109/twitter-ray-rice-domestic-violence-abuse-whyistayed-whyileft/"},"headline":"After Ray Rice Video, Twitter Takes a Stand With #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft","datePublished":"2014-09-09T06:21:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:56.496Z","description":"Twin hashtags go viral, leading to widespread public sharing about domestic violence","url":"https://time.com/3307109/twitter-ray-rice-domestic-violence-abuse-whyistayed-whyileft/","keywords":["Living","Social Media","Family","twitter","NFL","video","ray rice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26a5a73c462418ef/6986a2731eebf776b03728b0/454969636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26a5a73c462418ef/6986a2731eebf776b03728b0/454969636.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ravens running back Ray Rice is planning to address the media at 3 p.m. Friday for the first time since he was charged with knocking","caption":"Ravens running back Ray Rice is planning to address the media at 3 p.m. Friday for the first time since he was charged with knocking","creditText":"Kenneth K. 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