The arrest of U.S. women’s soccer goalie Hope Solo on charges of domestic abuse highlights a fact that NOW has long asserted: domestic violence is wrong, – no matter who the perpetrator is – male or female.
As we have also long asserted, the fact that men may be victimized, and that women may be perpetrators provides no justification for ignoring or denying the deeply gendered nature of intimate partner violence. Here are the facts, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: One in three women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and in the overwhelming majority of such cases the abuser is male. One in 14 men will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and in 86 percent of those cases, the abuser is another man.
NOW’s long-standing position on this issue is simple. Violence has no place in relationships or families, period. When it does occur, the first priority must be to ensure the physical safety and well-being of the victim, while also holding the perpetrator accountable.