"When he wins, why doesn't she?": Exploring the connection between sports and domestic violence
- Prisha
- Jun 29, 2024
- 6 min read
A few days ago, as I embarked on my compulsory Instagram doom scroll of the day, I came upon this haunting poem:
Though not entirely obvious in its meaning, this poem is subtly unsettling. This poem refers to the UEFA European Championship and hints at the horrifying fact that that in England, incidents of domestic abuse increase by 38% when England loses in tournaments, and by 26% in the case of a victory or draw. This isn't a corner case or special scenario; in Canada, a domestic violence hotline saw an increase of 15% in calls when a local soccer team was playing, and there was an observed 10% increase in the United States when the NFL team was expected to win by more than four points but lost. As any sane person might, after I found out about this phenomenon, I wondered: why? As is with most difficult questions. there isn't one clear-cut answer to this question. However, some smaller questions can be answered to paint a clearer picture of this situation.
From the poem, my first thought was in the direction of alcohol consumption. Because wins are usually celebrated with alcohol, could increased alcohol consumption be linked to increased domestic violence? There are two important points to be made here. The first is that alcohol is never really a cause of violence, but rather, a catalyst that exposes violent behavior which was already present. The second notable fact is that there was no real connection found between alcohol consumption on game days and an increase in domestic violence across multiple studies. So one can confidently rule this out.
The next question I sought to answer was: does the type of sport matter? Is it about how violent gameplay is? Usually, this comes down to contact sports, which tend to be more violent, versus noncontact sports. There was a study from the United States that furthered the argument that contact sports, (American football, ice hockey) specifically were connected with an increase in domestic violence. However, two pieces of evidence refuted this argument. The first is the lack of any uptick in reported domestic violence cases after UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) tournaments. Given that MMA is the most violent sport one could participate in, this counters the theory that violence in the sport itself causes an increase in domestic violence. The second fact that contradicts this theory is the increase in domestic violence after soccer matches in England. Soccer isn't considered to be a generally violent sport due to its nature of being noncontact, and yet, as aforementioned, no matter the results of the game, there was always an uptick in reported domestic abuse cases. So, in short, the type of sport does not influence this rise in violence.
If not the type of sport, could it be the type of game? The answer to this question is a bit complex and not altogether satisfactory. The unfortunate truth is that no matter the type of game or its outcome, there is usually an increase in domestic violence correlated with televised sports events; for example, in the United States, there are more total domestic violence arrests made on NFL game-day Sundays in comparison to non-game days. However, the type of game may influence the relative increase in cases. One study has found that frustrating or controversial games that resulted in losses were correlated with a 15% increase in domestic violence reports, whereas non-frustrating games that resulted in losses were connected to a relatively lower 7% increase in domestic violence reports. There have been studies that found different results, so a clear connection between the results and the type of game cannot be established; for instance, a study from England found that alcohol-related domestic violence reports increased only when England won a game. However, multiple studies agree on the fact that the more "important" (where there is some time constraint on the team) games are connected with an increase in domestic violence reports. Another study concluded that it is possibly the combination of factors such as the preparedness of loss, the degree of its controversially, and the relative importance of the game, can all have a combined effect on changes in the number of domestic violence cases. There is, however, one common denominator in all of these qualities: emotional salience. This is the quality of a game or sport being able to inspire strong emotions from its fans. Emotional salience appears to be the biggest correlation between a sport or game and the rise in domestic violence reports. For instance, in comparing rugby and soccer in England, though rugby is a contact sport and soccer is not, only soccer showed an increase in domestic violence reports. Strong emotional reactions from one situation can often "spill over" into another and lead to an unhealthy expression of anger and rage. With this in mind, it would appear that the strongest correlation between sports and increases in domestic violence is unhealthy expressions of emotion. Though this has always been a problem, it is exacerbated during sports seasons.
So, how do we fix this?
The more detailed explanation for this problem doesn't lie in an emotional audience enoying sports, but rather in the context of sports culture. Often, organized sports operate in a way that encourages hegemonic masculinity, and even encourages violence -- for instance, we can cite the New Orleans Saints scandal from 2009-2011, dubbed "Bountygate," which pertained to the fact that players on the NFL team were paid extra to injure players from the opposite teams deliberately. This violence in sports correlates directly with violence off the field; for NFL players, the highest criminal charge is domestic violence, with 55% of all arrests made due to this. Of course, one could find a plethora of explanations for what aspects of toxic masculinity in sports culture lead to players behaving this way, but that wouldn't answer our question here. Our question revolves around the audience that supports these players. How does violence perpetrated by sports players on or off the field translate into violence from the audience?
The missing link is how sports organizations and society as a whole react to these violent actions from sports players. This reaction is perhaps illustrated best by a study in 2018 that found that only 48.8% of all NFL players involved in a domestic violence incident were suspended, and the rest did not face any consequences. More recently, Steven Van de Velde, a Dutch volleyball player, was cleared to play in the 2024 Summer Olympics even though he was sent to jail for raping a 12-year-old girl. In their defense of him, the Dutch Olympic Committee and Dutch Volleyball Association stated that, according to expert advice, the chances of a repeat offense are "very low." An eerily similar sentiment was also echoed by Judge Aaron Persky back in 2016 when he gave Brock Turner a lenient six-month jail sentence. The Stanford collegiate swimmer sexually assaulted another student, Chanel Miller, while she was unconscious, and Judge Persky* gave him a lenient sentence because a longer prison term would have had a "severe impact" on Turner and because he did not think that Turner would "be a danger to others."
To me, this is the final connection between violence from athletes and violence from audiences. When audiences see toxic and violent behavior not only condoned but even encouraged from their heroes, they feel more justified in their violent actions. This, coupled with how our society conditions men to express emotions of anger, and our culture of toxic masculinity, results in the fatal consequences of increased domestic violence that we see during sports events.
And so the answer to the most important question that this article has sought to explore is ambiguous. There isn't one way to remedy this situation, but rather many changes that we must make as a society. We must teach young boys to be empathetic human beings that express their emotions in a conducive, rather than a destructive manner. We must dismantle the toxic culture of violence being normalized in sports and hold athletes accountable for their actions. We must address the deeper issues within our sports culture that perpetrate this violence in the first place. But above all, we must all strive for equity and change by broadening our minds and gaining cognizance so that we avoid becoming part of the problem.
Remember to use your voice and get educated!
*Note: The judge who administered this lenient sentence was recalled in 2018 after public backlash.
**Note: The studies used for this article to explore the connection between sports and domestic violence incidents were conducted in North America and the U.K; there have not been significant studies conducted in any other region on this topic.
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