Regret without accountability is meaningless. In the new gilded age, the NFL’s cosmetic response to its domestic violence and child-battery scandals illustrates the hypocrisy of damage management. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t express sorrow for the abuse victims, although he was heartsick that he’d disappointed NFL fans.
“Unfortunately, over the past several weeks, we have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong,” Goodell said Friday. “That starts with me.”
It doesn’t, however, end with him. Goodell is unwilling to resign. He’s emblematic of a culture of feigned guilt without responsibility (see Wall Street for case studies galore.) Privileged CEOs such as Goodell should emulate the Japanese example of collective responsibility and vamoose. Barring an epidemic of conscience, sponsors need to yank the plug and call out the NFL’s toothless remedies, including a new, broad-brush conduct committee signifying little.
The horror of these events — reinforcing the cynicism, if not the reality, that privilege pulls you out of a jam — throws light in the wrong direction. Forget the NFL and Roger Goodell’s art of the dodge. The pathology circles home. And the solution falls on each of us.
Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, which opened in 1976, is, per its own description, the only local program offering emergency shelter and comprehensive, confidential services to victims of domestic abuse without regard to age, gender, race, religion, culture, national origin, sexual orientation or income level. Last November, DVS opened a 52-bed confidential shelter. It’s the biggest DV facility in Washington and the only confidential shelter in Snohomish County. The organization’s mission is to end domestic abuse. No small feat, that.
Other local resources include YMCA Housing and Shelter for women and their children and the Providence Sexual Assault Center (425-252-4800.) There also is VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), which provides specifics on offenders in custody.
There are other manifestations of domestic abuse beyond physical assault, including stalking and intimidation. Often times a perpetrator spies or follows a victim or shows up at places without a credible reason. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one-fourth of stalking victims reported some form of cyberstalking, such as instant messaging, and more than half of victims lose five or more days from work.
Intimidation is a force multiplier. There’s a sense of loss of control and isolation. Victims who don’t have the financial means to get out, stay in.
The best way, the only way, to address domestic violence is to think and act locally.
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