As the public eye turns to the widespread cover-up of domestic abuse in the NFL, HBO is releasing a new documentary that reveals what it’s like to be in an abusive relationship — and why women can’t leave them.

Private Violence is a documentary that tells the stories like Kit Gruelle's, a domestic abuse survivor turned advocate who questions how the system — from law enforcement to courts — respond to abusers. The documentary puts faces and stories to Centers for Disease Control statistics that shed light on how fatal the situation can be. 

One in four U.S. women report experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime. Two million are injured and 1,300 are killed every year because of domestic violence. The CDC estimates that 10 million women and men are victims of physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner in any given year. The show cites that between 50 and 75 percent of those killed by a violent partner had attempted to leave.

In an interview with The Guardian, Gruelle said that society must stop blaming women for domestic violence. 

“We have to start asking better questions. Rather than ‘why doesn’t she just leave,” it’s ‘why does he abuse her’ and ‘why does society drive the getaway car.’”

Gruelle advocates for better law enforcement training and suggested that rather than make women give up their home and lives to flee to a shelter, abusers should be sent away.

The documentary is gaining steam in light of a viral video that showed former running back Ray Rice beat his then-fiance Janay Rice, who subsequently defended him. Survivors of domestic violence have taken to social media, using the hashtag #WhyIStayed to counter reactions that blamed Janay Rice for what happened, and questioned her rather than the actions of her husband.  

Rice's abuse was just the tip of the iceberg on the American Football's culture of ignoring abuse. A recent article in the Washington Post interviewed anonymous ex-NFL wives on their experiences with the culture of covering up abuse. A former wife of a New Orleans Saints player told her story in which neighbors called the police when they saw the player roughly dragging his partner by the hair. Rather than arresting him, the police laughed with him about a recent game and asked for an autograph. The Saints player made her clean up and convinced police that all was well. The following day, an NFL representative called her to make sure she wouldn't tell her story to the media.