Domestic Violence and the World Cup

[LordPanofthePeaks]

I raise this after an exchange of emails with MN HQ and after checking the list of issues raised in this topic list.

Posters may or may not be aware of the significant rise in the experience of DV at the times of football tournaments, and most specifically the World Cup.

Anyone googling this issue will read some startling statistics, and would appreciate that as the tournament draws near this is a heighten time of risk to women. In the borough where I work the highest ever reporting time of DV was when England played Paraguay last time ( and won).

I don't wish to killjoy a fabulous event, but the darker side of it should not be ignored.

Nationally, DV incidents reported 'spike' at these times, and we can speculate why.
I do have a professional ( and personal) interest in this, and am keen to promote an awareness of this danger. I do have responsibilities in a public organisation for Domestic Violence, as well as Children and Families, and have noticed a lack of promotion of this danger which can be so easily predicted.

So I am inviting a discussion and pointers for how people, both perptrators and potential victims can do what they can to avoid this nasty experience. MN do not ahve a current DV campaign, though the strength of opinion from posters may change this.

Anyone?

I think that such a campaign/awareness raising is a good thing - because they challenge attitudes and share information.

There are some women who due to their backgrounds/upbringing have "normalised" the DV situation they are in.

Access to sources of information can be provided through posters/adverts etc.

moondog - have a look at the Tackling Violence against Women and Girls - A guide to Good Practice and Communications. I think that it shows what campaigns should be trying to do and then talks about measuring attitude changes.

OP - I have been reading this topic for just long enough to pick up on:

"how people, both perptrators and potential victims can do what they can to avoid this nasty experience"

Surely you can't tell "potential victims" how to avoid DV without somehow making it their fault! Access to info, yes ...

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Thanks for starting this thread. For the record I think that informing people about this correlation can only be a good thing.

no tabouleh, you're right of course about 'victim-blaming' and I wasn't intending to apportion blame at all.

It may be possible though for a woman who has been assaulted before to exercise some leaverage with her partner beforehand to give the heads-up to him to behave better. IF she feels she can do this of course. For other women it may mean choosing to absent themselves for a period. This latter option is pretty poor, unfair and disruptive but may be a choice some women make.

IT's apparent from the boards that lots of posters have to get around to managing violence in the home, or have done in the past, so it seems MN is a good place to bring this ot the attention of thousands of women.
Public-funded campaigns are aimed rightly at the perpetrators, and perhaps govt advertisements in men's magazines may lead to a change in thinking and make DV a shameful act, much like drinking/driving is now.

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Herbeautitude..

'The evidence that public campaigns work, is that attitudes and behaviour have changed.
.........................
Isn't that evidence?'

No herbeatitude, it's not. That's the whole point.
It merely means that one folows the other in a way that may or may not be connected.
I go to the pub less frequently than i used to and i now wear nicer clothes.

Are the two related?
Who knows.

It is dangeorus to spend large amounts of public money when correlations are by far means clear.

Thanks for the link Tabouleh.
I read it carefully.
I think however it is ultimately designed more to make the people delivering the training feel that they have ticked boxes than to effect meaningful ong term change.

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Ah, now I see what's got moondog's goat (I love 'get's my goat')
I couldn't understand why you were being so contrary, rather than just giving your POV. But I guess it's because the OP sounds like one of the people who just wants to tick boxes, right?

Just seen that they are doing a piece on this subject on the BBC News in a few minutes.

But are you suggesting that attitudes and behaviour changes have not been impacted at all by public info campaigns Moondog?

I agree, you can't automatically assume that one follows the other, but it's a bit like advertising, PR, public policy etc. - how far do they reflect and follow attitudes and how far do they shape them? No-one knows the exact proportions, but I think it's a bit extreme to come down on one side or the other - ie they only follow or they only lead. It's a bit of both IMO.

Hi everyone,
I work for a domestic violence organisation and have been talking to journalists today about this issue.

The main reason that dv incidents increase during the world cup is that there is more publicity and encouragement to report, so therefore it looks like it is happening more, when actually this is not the case.

Drinking is a common excuse for domestic violence, but the drinking itself does not CAUSE dv, it increases risk and vulnerability.

Clearly advertisement campaigns offering details of support services are crucial and should be happening all year round, not just at sporting events and Christmas. These news reports are not helpful as they do not show the whole picture.

If you are worried, please call the national helpline: 0808 2000 247

People drink too damn much in this country and get away with alarming behaviour when they are drunk.

Everything is an excuse to get drunk - The World Cup, the weekend, any holiday, etc.

And this is a nation of violent drunks, too.

It's appalling.

Hi Jana. Were you the woman on the BBC News with cheryl Gasgoyne? If so I can see you were really passionate about getting the right message over.

I wondered how you felt about the way it was covered by breakfast? I felt a bit like the interviewers (I forget their names Sian and bill maybe) didn't really get it.

'Well actually, don't live with a violent drinker isn't the answer.

Don't be a violent drinker is the answer.'

Absolutely, HerBeatitude.

jana - I am seriously doubting the basis of what you say re there is more publicity and so there is more reporting at these times hence the spike. There has been a pitiful level of publicity for recent football events ( doesn't happen at times of Wimbledon, does it?), eg World Cup 2006, Euro 2008, and recorded DV levels rise at those times.

Suggesting news reporting isn't helpful " as it doesn't show the whole picture" strikes me as an irresponsible assertion.

Why would someone who works "for a domestic violence organisation" refute the information we know on DV reporting AND suggest that some publicity not being comprehensive makes it 'bad publicity'.

i thought this would be about South Africa and their appaling rape and DV record and that all of it is swept under the carpet for the world cup.

i had no idea that the event itself increased DV.

how lovely.

and FWIW, im with you lordpanofthepeaks, jana77 that makes no sense at all.

The event itself does not increase DV it's more to do with the increased alcohol consumption i think.

I would say that, given a predisposition to violence, the amount of drinking and enforced family time is what creates this peak.

I also think that the Supermarkets could highlight this issue with a campaign.

Have a look at the work done by Strathclyde police on this - they saw a huge spike in violence around old firm games and had a strategy to reduce violence. Part of it was actively visiting and warning known abusers in the home before matches. The idea was to warn the perp they were watching and to be visibly supportive to women.

It’s a fantastic bit of work - I think John Carnochan (not entirely sure I’ve got the name right) was the person or one of the people behind it.

The work done on this does show that yes football events raise risk and I think paradoxically it’s higher when the perp’s team win than loses.

Perhaps a campaign with both the women and men's football players?

or link with the 'kick it out' campaign?

I was just thinking that - the kick racism out campaign is good (although there’s still a LOT of racism in football crowds...) . It’d be great to hear actual players/teams/theFA speak up in the same way against DV.

Where I am DV incidents show 41% increase and non DV incidents show 72% increase on days of big footy matches - mostly alcohol fuelled