Sports Leagues Begin to Take a Stand Against IPV

Last week was a week of great progress for intimate partner violence advocates. The Major League Baseball Association (MLB) announced last week that it was working with advocates to revise their policies regarding intimate partner violence. Although the new policies have not been announced, we at CFVC are excited to see how the MLB chooses to address this issue. This process has been ongoing since last September, when IPV was brought to light again by the abuse against Janay Rice by her then fiancée, now husband, Ray Rice.

In the world of college football, the South Eastern Conference has recently adopted a new policy about disallowing players who have been convicted of intimate partner violence from playing on any Conference team. According to ESPN.com, the policy states, “a transfer student-athlete who has been subject to official university of athletics department disciplinary action at any time during enrollment at any previous collegiate institution (excluding limited discipline applied by a sports team or temporary disciplinary action during an investigation) due to serious misconduct (as defined herein) shall not be eligible for athletically-related financial aid, practice or competition at an SEC member institution.” Kuddos to the SEC, a conference known for its passionate  devotion to football, for taking a stand against IPV at the collegiate level, especially since the SEC is a large source of future NFL players.

IPV perpetrators are not just athletes, however, we hope that changes like the SEC’s and MLB’s will reflect the growing cultural trend that IPV is a crime that will not be tolerated. If your workplace could benefit from training about keeping IPV victims safe in the workplace, or any potential ways to partner with CFVC, please contact Meg Graham, Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected].