Statement of NOW President Terry O’Neill Regarding the Ray Rice Appeal
Roger Goodell must resign, and his successor must be fully committed to real and lasting change. The NFL doesn’t have a Ray Rice problem; it has a domestic violence problem.
Category: Ending Violence Against Women
National Organization for Women Calls on Roger Goodell to Resign, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Flips Out
“The NFL has lost its way. It doesn’t have a Ray Rice problem; it has a violence against women problem,” NOW said in the statement, pointing to other incidents like Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy’s recent conviction on domestic abuse charges and a FiveThirtyEight study into domestic violence arrest rates in the league. NOW’s statement goes farther than many of the other calls for Goodell’s resignation, saying whoever succeeds him should also begin an investigation into how the NFL can reform its policies for preventing domestic violence (presumably beyond the “new” policy Goodell instituted in August).
Does slut-shaming start with school dress codes?
“The schools’ response tells young women that they are completely responsible for men’s behavior, which is an extraordinarily dangerous message. Women and girls are regularly blamed for the crimes committed against them,” said Chitra Panjabi, spokesperson for the National Organization for Women.
National Organization for Women calls for Roger Goodell to resign
“The National Organization for Women has called for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s resignation over the NFL’s domestic violence issues, NOW announced Wednesday. While NOW cited Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice case, the group said Goodell should step down because of what it calls the league’s larger violence against women problem.”
NOW asks for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to resign
Critics are ripping Goodell’s handling of the situation, and Wednesday the National Organization for Women called for his resignation. Here is a part of NOW’s statement: “The only workable solution is for Roger Goodell to resign, and for his successor to appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the NFL community, and to recommend real and lasting reforms.”
