Public incidents in the NFL in the past year sparked a national conversation about domestic violence. But millions of Americans are struggling with this issue in private. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in four women and one in seven men in the United States will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetimes.
In 2014, in North Carolina alone, there were more than 60 domestic violence homicides. Host Frank Stasio spends the hour with survivors, activists, policy experts, community organizers and intervention specialists to talk in depth about domestic violence in North Carolina.
"I stayed because I loved him...we had a marriage and I believed we could work it out. I stayed because he was the financial provider."- Beverly Gooden, #WhyIStayed creator
The conversation begins with Beverly Gooden, a human resources manager in Charlotte who sparked a national Twitter conversation with the hashtag#WhyIStayed.
"There was such a huge response because we [survivors] were waiting for this moment"- Bev Gooden
It continues with two guests who have spent the majority of their careers working in the domestic violence field: AmilyMcCool, systems advocacy coordinator at the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence; and Angelica Wind, executive director of Our VOICE, a sexual assault intervention and prevention center in Buncombe County.
"It's not that it might happen... it will happen. Trust your gut and get help"- Kim, survivor of domestic violence
Host Frank Stasio also talks with a married couple, Mike and Kim, who share their story of how Mike learned to stop being abusive towards Kim.
Mike elected to participate in DOSE (Developing Opportunities For Safe Environment), a batterer intervention program in Raleigh.
"You have to let go of everything because everything is broken"-Mike, a former perpetrator of domestic violence
Domestic Violence Resources:
