Intentional Fouls: Athletes and Violence against Women
![handle is hein.journals/collsp31 and id is 175 raw text is: Intentional Fouls:
Athletes and Violence Against
Women
ELLEN E. DABBS*
Domestic violence and sexual assault are significant problems
of American society.' A report by the American Medical Associa-
tion found that nearly twenty-five percent of women in the
United States will be physically abused by their current or for-
mer husbands or boyfriends during their lifetimes, and that in
1990, thirty percent of female homicide victims were killed by a
husband or boyfriend.' A House of Representatives committee
found that fifteen to forty percent of all women will be victims of
attempted or completed rapes during their lives3 This Note will
address the problem of physical violence committed by male
athletes against women.
The problem of domestic violence and sexual assault is par-
ticularly visible in the area of sports. Newspapers abound with
reports of athletes being accused or convicted of domestic vio-
lence or sexual assault. In the first nine months of 1997 alone,
O.J. Simpson was found liable for the wrongful death of his for-
mer wife (apparently, O.J. Simpson had abused his former wife
while they were married);4 college basketball player Courtney
* Administrative Editor, Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs., 1997-98.
1. While domestic violence and sexual assault are committed by both sexes against
both sexes, male-on-female violence is the most common. See U.S. Dep't of Justice, Vio-
lence Between Intimates 2 (Nov. 1994).
2. See Doctors Are Advised to Screen Women for Abuse, N.Y. Times National, June
17, 1992, at A26.
3. See Victims of Rape: Hearing Before the House Select Comm. on Children,
Youth, and Families, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. 5 (1990). One reason for the estimation's
broad range may be that, as olne study showed ... [,] only 53.8% of rape reports women
filed were listed as rape by police in statistics sent to the FBI. See id. at 6.
4. See Stephanie Simon, Simpson Liable in Slayings, L.A. Times, Feb. 5, 1997, at
Al, available in WL 2179416.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/collsp31&div=12&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Intentional Fouls: Athletes and Violence against Women
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most