The conversation of many different media outlets lately has been the Ray Rice scandal and how the NFL is handling the situation. And while I wish it wasn't a topic of conversation — because the incident in where Rice knocks out his wife should have never happened in the first place — it has opened up a line of communication for many women to tell their own personal stories. On her Wednesday show, Meredith Vieira will open up about her abusive relationship that she experienced as a young woman. Vieira, who has opened up briefly about the relationship in the past, explains to viewers on why she stayed in the relationship, and how she got out of it.
"Every nine seconds a woman is abused or assaulted in this country," Vieira starts out by saying, a staggering statistic that is unfortunate and very harrowing. Vieira continues to explain the recent Twitter trend of #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft, and says that she plans on telling her own "Why I Stayed" story. "I loved this guy," Vieira starts out. "It started out with we would have a fight and he would grab my arm." Vieira continues to say how the physical aggression escalated into pushing against the wall, and taking his hand and grabbing her face saying, "I could ruin your career." So why did Vieira — who had a job and the means to leave the relationship — stay?
"Part of it was fear, I was scared of him, and scared that if I tried to leave something worse would happen to me. Part of it was guilt, because every time we had a fight he would then start crying and say, 'I promise I won't do it again,' and I would feel like maybe I contributed somehow to this..." "Then there was the night — we shared an apartment — he threw me into the shower, naked, in scalding water, and then he threw me outside into the hallway — we lived in an apartment building — and I hid in a stairwell for two hours he came, again, crying, saying, 'I promise I won't do this again.'"
But these incidents didn't cause Vieira to leave the relationship. It wasn't until she was offered a job in another state, that she got out of the relationship. Vieira finishes her story saying that domestic violence is a complicated issue, and for some people, it isn't easy to get away. She finishes up saying that if it were her daughter, she would say, "Go." She urges victims to tell someone, whether it is by calling a hotline, or going to a shelter. Check out the entire video below.
Vieira opening up about her experience with domestic violence is very brave, and will hopefully encourage those who find themselves in similar situations to reach out to someone to find security.
