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​University panel discuss domestic violence in NFL

Caplan calls for constructive punishment

The Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, the Women’s Center and Sigma Psi Zeta held a panel Tuesday to discuss domestic violence in the National Football League.

Panel members included Maggie Cullinan, the director of the Virginia Witness Assistance Program at Charlottesville Commonwealth Attorney's office; Claire Kaplan, director of the Gender Violence and Social Change program at the Women’s Center; and Gordon Braxton, 2002 Commerce School graduate and current contract specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Panel questions were facilitated by University alumna Emily Renda.

The panelists started off by commenting on general public responses to publicized matters of domestic violence, including the recent tape showing Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice beating his fiancée in an elevator.

“The reporting has kind of shifted,” Kaplan said. “Initially these stories were reported and then there was a backlash to the consequences initially, … and then survivors started speaking up and the whole ‘Why Did I Escape’ campaign started on Twitter. … Now there are commentators bringing it up and talking about how this is going to stop, and being very up front and vocal about domestic violence.”

Cullinan said the perception of these cases depends on the lens of the audience, referring to their personal connection to or understanding of cases of domestic violence.

“When I saw the [first] video of what happened in the elevator, and he dragged her out of the elevator and punched her with his foot, I thought, ‘Doesn’t that show people enough?’” Cullinan said. “What does it take for people to stand up and say this isn’t right? It takes people seeing the actual slam in the face for people to wake up and say, ‘That’s really horrible.’”

Cullinan said it is difficult, however, to say the NFL should be held to different standards when it comes to domestic violence, especially when smaller institutions deal with the same issues.

“I would like everyone to have a higher standard,” Cullinan said. “It’s an ethical and moral question, more than a legal one. … It takes the men in those positions to make a difference, to make it stop. There are women protesters protesting all they want from outside the game, but it’s the people inside that have to make the differences.”

Braxton, however, said the NFL should take on more responsibility fighting domestic violence.

“I absolutely believe [the NFL] should hold a higher standard,” Braxton said. “There’s no one challenging their masculinity and their manhood, so they’re in a very unique place.”

Kaplan said the NFL and all other institutions need to implement punishments that won’t only inconvenience the perpetrators, but will teach them not to commit another act of domestic violence.

“Consequences need to have some kind of transformative aspect to them,” Kaplan said. “[For] someone like Ray Rice or whomever, being suspended is a pain and is an annoyance, but isn’t necessarily going to make them change. … There needs to be some public accountability and general learning about the issue.”

Kaplan said part of the issue is the NFL focuses on cultivating a supportive mindset among young athletes by encouraging them on the field, but does not take as much of a stance on moral issues.

“It’s about how we hold professional athletes to a certain standard,” Kaplan said. “But it’s also what we expect from kids who are gifted athletes and have that future ahead of them.”

Cullinan also said that Rice's family has a right to privacy.

“That’s the problem of this being spotlighted is that the victim of the case is also under unending media scrutiny, depending on what she does or doesn’t do, or whether or not she does or doesn’t stay,” Cullinan said.

Kaplan said people feel entitled to vocally scrutinize public figures such as Ray Rice, and that publicity will happen regardless of the family’s wishes.

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