Not IF She Stays but Why she stays

There is an interesting article written by Leslie Morgan Steiner a college graduate, an extremely articulate women, Harvard graduate and victim of domestic abuse.  She wrote a short article that was in the The Washington Post today Sunday September 14th and she presented the topic in a Ted Talk.  I have included both links.

There has been so much discussion on this topic this week because of Ray Rice.  I work in an office with all men so of course football is a topic discussed frequently.  They are a great group of guys and they were very interesting to listen to and hear their opinion.  None of them particularly sided with Ray Rice.  And then there is Adrian Peterson who has been arrested for abusing his child.

The topic is incredibly interesting and timely especially as it pertains to professional athletes. I watched the videos released of Rice punching his now wife.  Maybe they had an argument who cares.  The bottom line is he punched her so hard, he knocked her out. But here is what really gets me.  Instead of thinking oh my god what have I done he drags her out of the elevator like she was a sack of potatoes.  Someone who regrets what he had done might of picked her up and carried her out as if she meant something to him and he regretted his action. What I thought after seeing this was not why does she stays but how long has this abuse been going on.  Was this an isolated incident or repeated behavior and if it is repeated behavior will she find the courage and support to leave the relationship. Can she get the help she needs to give her self confidence and self esteem. 

I think Rice might have done women who are abused a large favor.  Because of him this issue is front and center in the news. Oh and by the way, thank you Adrian Peterson for bringing child abuse to the media. Here you have a roughly 6 ft 1 inch man weighing over 200 pounds punishing a little four year old beyond what is considered reasonable punishment for the child's actions.  Very shameful.

Football and the NFL, the sport revered by men in America, now must take a long hard look at this issue and deal with it. Hopefully other organized sports will follow their lead. So maybe because of these two incidents other women, other children in this situation can escape.

Read the article listen to the TED talk.  She is very good.

 

Washington Post Article http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/he-held-a-gun-to-my-head-i-loved-him/2014/09/12/31fb5720-39c3-11e4-8601-97ba88884ffd_story.html

TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_morgan_steiner_why_domestic_violence_victims_don_t_leave