Understatement of the year: There's been a lot of buzz surrounding the NFL's handling of accusations of domestic violence against Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. Ray Rice was banned indefinitely from the NFL for punching and knocking out his wife, and according to The Boston Globe, Adrian Peterson was banned from team activities while the charges against him beating his son with a stick play out in court
But another athlete who was charged with a similar offense has continued to play without any issues: Back in June, Olympic goalie Hope Solo, star of the Seattle Reign FC soccer team, was charged with domestic violence for allegedly hitting her 17-year-old nephew and half-sister at a family party, according to E! News. Despite the accusations, the U.S. Soccer Federation's president said in a statement that they'll let Hope play. "U.S. Soccer stands by our decision to allow her to participate with the team as the legal process unfolds," says the federation's president, according to The Washington Post. "If ne w information becomes available, we will carefully consider it." The soccer star also kept her role as a Nike spokeswoman.
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So why are the penalties for Hope and the other two athletes so different? It’s possible that gender could be to blame. The stats on domestic violence against women have been widely publicized, especially since the Ray Rice scandal broke earlier this month, but less is known about how many men are impacted by the same issue or how many women are doing the abusing.
According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 2003 and 2012, 24 percent of those who reported experiencing domestic abuse were guys. A 2010 survey by the Centers for Disease Control found that one in seven men surveyed had experienced severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Another survey by the CDC found that an estimated 14 percent of men have experienced being hit with something hard, kicked, beaten, or burned on purpose by a partner.
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It's important to keep in mind that the surveys did not identify which gender was doing the abusing, and it's possible that some of these instances of abuse could have occurred in same-sex couples. However, it’s obvious that men aren't the only ones doing the abusing.
As The Washington Post's Cindy Boren notes in her piece about Hope Solo's case, the sport, the importance of the athlete, and the gender of the athlete shouldn't affect how alleged abusers are punished. "Aren’t women’s soccer players just as much role models as male football players? The goalkeeping record is an important one, but does it really trump an accusation of domestic violence? Why is the notion of awaiting due process so inconsistently applied? And why aren’t more people talking about the fact that domestic violence isn’t simply an issue of men against women?"
While we're happy that the issue of domestic violence and its female victims are getting more attention, critics like Boren make a good point that female domestic abusers should also be held accountable.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, you can learn steps to take to end the cycle. You can also call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233).
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