Surviving Abusive Relationships w/ Beverly Gooden

Beverly Gooden, author of Surviving: Why We Stay and How We Leave Abusive Relationships and creator of the viral social media movement #WhyIStayed, joins program host Chris Meek in this edition of Next Steps Forward. Listed as one of the top social change hashtags of 2014 by Forbes and named one of the "top 10 hashtags that started a conversation" by Time magazine, Ms. Gooden will discuss what prompted her to start the hashtag, the immediate reaction to the movement and how the greater dialogue about domestic violence is different today as a result of the hashtag. As someone who understands that it's not always simple or easy to leave and that there can be practical reasons why someone stays, she will walk through some of the reasons that women do choose to stay in abusive relationships and what someone should do to protect themselves from physical violence or even death once they are able to leave an abuser. Ms. Gooden speaks from personal experience and works to reframe the conversation and narrative surrounding abusive relationships, prompting listeners to ask "Why did he hit her in the first place" instead of "Why didn't she leave?"