“If England get beaten, so will she.” You might have seen the advert (above) in yesterday’s i. It shows the cross of St George on a woman’s face, made up by blood pouring out of her nose. And it contains the harrowing message: there are spikes in domestic abuse after England football matches.
The link between the two is incontestable. A Lancaster University study of the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups showed that domestic abuse reports in Lancashire rose 26 per cent when England won or drew a World Cup match, and 38 per cent when they lost; while over a third of domestic abuse is against men, the spike was overwhelmingly because of violence committed by men against women. Incidents were also 11 per cent higher the day after England played – whatever the result.
The surge in domestic violence around England World Cup football matches is a microcosm of how sport and violence are linked. In Glasgow, domestic violence increases by 36 per cent when Celtic play Rangers, regardless of who wins. Even in Canada, sometimes regarded as a utopian antidote to the tumult in the rest of the globe, domestic violence spikes around the most prominent Canadian Football League games.
Why the spike?
Matches can unleash a disturbing cocktail of tribal machismo, bountiful alcohol consumption and anger. “Football itself doesn’t cause domestic abuse, but there are factors which could increase existing abuse or act as a catalyst,” says Teresa Parker, from the charity Women’s Aid.
Sport is a walk of life where sexism is often normalised; misogynistic chants can still be regularly heard from football crowds. This is not directly linked to domestic abuse, but creates a climate in which it is more likely to happen.
“Sexism and misogyny underpin violence against women and girls. These damaging attitudes are rife in our society; football is no exception,” explains Katie Ghose, chief executive of Women’s Aid.
Alcohol’s effect
Football games have also been associated with an increase in testosterone levels, which has been linked to greater acts of aggression, the Lancaster University study recently noted.
In supermarkets the land over, World Cups are marked by special offers on alcohol. The surge in domestic violence is due to “increased and heightened emotion and the fact that alcohol levels go through the roof,” says Kathy Coe, chief executive of Pathway Project, a charity which helps victims of domestic abuse. The heatwave may have exacerbated these risks. “This tournament the weather has been really hot and this too has an impact on violence and abuse. People also drink more to keep cool, and tempers are shorter when everyone is hot and uncomfortable.”
Anger caused by a surprise defeat is sometimes channeled into abuse. In the NFL, a study found that upset losses lead to a 10 per cent increase in the rate of at-home violence by men against their partners.
What can be done?
Some significant steps have been taken to use sport to fight against domestic abuse. In 2014, Women’s Aid launched the Football United Against Domestic Violence campaign, which has worked with clubs, the Football Association, the Premier League and BT Sport, as well as the parliamentary football team. Yet so far Football United has only linked with 12 clubs in England; just three – Bristol City, Exeter City and Bournemouth – have officially signed up to the scheme.
Parker, who created Football United, hopes that more clubs promote the campaign in their stadiums and online. “We would like domestic abuse and sexism to be seen as an issue that all clubs engage with.” The Football United campaign also lacks proper financial support, of the sort that professional clubs could easily provide with an infinitesimal proportion of their own revenue.
It all creates the impression that football, and sport more broadly, has not truly faced up to its relationship with domestic violence. After uncovering the link between Old Firm matches and abuse, Gary Koop, one of the co-authors of the paper, found “there was not much interest in it from the clubs”.
Yet perhaps one positive legacy of the World Cup – infinitely more important than the restoration of the bond between the England football team and their fans – can be heightened awareness of violence.
Parker hopes that “because people are talking about football and domestic abuse, this is an opportunity to do something positive and really help.”
More on World Cup 2018:
How England’s brilliant World Cup campaign helped a Syrian family feel at home
After such a joyous World Cup all that remains is the question: ‘What do we do now?’
Olivier Giroud increases cult hero cachet at World Cup as the striker who doesn’t score
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