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Domestic violence against women surges in UK after football games: Study

Sunday, 11 December 2022 4:01 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 11 December 2022 4:28 PM ]

An undated file photo by AFP shows British women protesting against domestic abuse and violence.

Violent domestic abuse incidents against women went up by a remarkable 38 percent when England lost football matches during the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a recent study at the University of Lancaster has found.

The number of reports on such incidents increased by 26 percent when the team won or drew matches.

England lost their second knockout game of the World Cup on Saturday. Many will be celebrating the tournament. But to some women, the hype will be scary.

Also, researchers at Warwick Business School discovered abuse and violence by partners increased by 47 percent on the day England won a World Cup or European Championship match. Domestic abuse remained higher than average on the day after a tournament win, with reports of cases involving alcohol 18 percent higher than average.

Prior to the World Cup, the Women’s Aid Federation of England launched a campaign to “raise awareness of football-related abuse towards women in England and Wales” and to promote the idea that “the responsibility to end domestic violence and sexual harassment against women and girls lies amongst our men and boys.”

Researchers whose findings were published in the journals Social Science and Medicine analyzed a decade of crime statistics from West Midlands Police stretching from 2010 to 2019.

Anna Trendl, a researcher at Warwick Business School, said, “It is important to recognize that for victims, domestic abuse does not occur once every two or four years following a football match. It is a lived experience of constant fear.”

“However, our results provide a deeper understanding of the environments that could increase the likelihood of that manifesting itself in alcohol-related abuse.”

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Elaine Yates, chief executive of Coventry Haven Women’s Aid, said, “For many existing victims, these tournaments create a period of more intense control and fear from their partners, exacerbating an already existing problem.”

She said they were especially worried this year as the spiraling cost-of-living crisis was keeping the victims in a trap of living with the abusers since they cannot afford to flee.

The Independent recently reported on concerns that incidents of domestic abuse will increase during the World Cup as fresh data showed a surge in inquiries about children enduring violence at home in the last tournament.

Levels of abuse towards women have surged dramatically across Britain in recent years.

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