Joe Biden sums up my feelings on this. The only thing I’d add is more about the NFL, which is filled with violence, glorification of violence, powerful people who coddle and protect violent players, and a lot of other problems. Of course, violence in general – and violence against women specifically – is a much broader problem in our society, and frighteningly, most of it is NEVER exposed, as with Ray Rice. With that, here’s VP Biden, who demonstrates why in spite of his occasional faux pas, 99% of the time he gets it exactly right – including in this case.
It’s never, never, never the woman’s fault. No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman. No means no. […] The one regret I have is we call it domestic violence as if it’s a domesticated cat. It is the most vicious form of violence there is, because not only the physical scars are left, the psychological scars that are left. This whole culture for so long has put the onus on the woman. What were you wearing? What did you say? What did you do to provoke? That is never the appropriate question.
[…]
The next challenge is making sure, ironically, we get college presidents and colleges to understand that they have a responsibility for the safety of women on their campus. They have a responsibility to do what we know from great experience works. Bringing the experts. Provide people, give the young woman the support that she needs. Psychological support. the medical support, and if need be, the legal support. Societal changes taking place. It takes time. But I really believe it’s taking root, and we have an obligation to just keep pushing it.
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