'He never hit me #WhyIStayed': countering the US domestic violence master narrative

In September 2014, TMZ leaked a video of NFL Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, assaulting his fiance, Janay Palmer. By the time the video was released, Janay had married Rice, drawing heavy criticism from the media. To combat the victim-blaming discourse aimed at Janay, Bev Gooden, a domestic violence survivor, created the viral #WhyIStayed. Thousands of users tweeted their experiences of domestic violence, discussing reasons for both staying in and leaving abusive relationships. This study examines the complexities of domestic violence in #WhyIStayed/#WhyILeft victim/survivor narratives. By combining narrative theory with a semantic network analysis of 19,345 #WhyIStayed/#WhyILeft tweets, we argue that these posts operate as counter-narratives to the U.S. domestic violence master narrative. Three themes emerged from the semantic network analysis: lack of awareness of abuse, the prevalence of emotional abuse, and double-binds that constrain choices. We discuss their implications for domestic violence activism and online activism generally.