Fri September 12, 2014
(CNN) -- The video of Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancee Janay Palmer unconscious and then dragging her body out of an elevator brought the topic of domestic violence to the nation's attention.
Unfortunately, the series of events in this case -- the initial abuse, then the victim-blaming, and the NFL's response -- is not unique to the hyper-masculine culture of the NFL, but is a microcosm of what occurs in our society more broadly. I have seen this far too often in my work specializing in domestic violence law.
What the nation saw in the video of Ray Rice's abuse happens every day in America.
In our country, one-in-three high school girls and women experience intimate partner violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That is: one-third of our female population experiences untold physical, psychological, and developmental harm.
Stated another way:
domestic abuse occurs at rates higher than the combined number of automobile accidents, stranger rapes, and muggings that women experience.
Janay Rice's experience is not really sensational or extraordinary, it is ordinary.
note: Jane K. Stoever is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Opinion: Domestic abuse 'ordinary' in U.S. - CNN.com:
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/12/opinion/stoever-domestic-abuse/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
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