Yes, this phenomenon occurs in women’s
sports as well!
When it comes to the topic
of domestic violence, its coverage in the WNBA is nearly incomparable to that of
its male counterparts. The male
dominated sports leagues, especially the NBA and NFL, have had a plethora of
domestic violence incidents that have been covered nationally over the past few
decades.
Following the Ray Rice
incident back in 2014, Congress urged professional sports leagues to clarify
and enforce its policies for domestic violence.
Of these professional leagues, the WNBA was not one of them.
WNBA policy regarding domestic
violence.
As of today, there are no
policies specifically regarding domestic violence. According to Sports Illustrated Legal Analyst
Michael McCann, this is a very “glaring issue” for the WNBA. While the WNBA currently lacks a domestic
violence policy, it handles these situations by following the generic conduct
policy found in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This policy simply states that participants
in this league must exhibit good citizenship and obeying the law.
Because of this, domestic
violence cases are not often covered nor looked at closely as it is in other
sports leagues such as the NBA. For
example; in the NBA, if a player is under investigation or domestic violence,
he can be placed on administrative leave.
However in the WNBA there is no policy put in place; therefore players
can not necessarily be punished until legal action has taken place.
The most recent domestic
violence case covered in the WNBA is a Washington Post article involving Los
Angles Sparks guard, Riquna Williams.
Williams was charged with burglary with assault and battery and
aggravated assault with a firearm. According
to the post, the guard was suspended for 10 games not because it was deemed
domestic violence, but because it was a violation of conduct. This specifically had to do with the fact
that there was a firearm involved.
Because of this, domestic
violence cases are not often covered nor looked at closely as it is in other
sports leagues such as the NBA. For
example; in the NBA, if a player is under investigation or domestic violence,
he can be placed on administrative leave.
However in the WNBA there is no policy put in place; therefore players
can not necessarily be punished until legal action has taken place.
Media coverage of domestic violence in
the WNBA
There have been several
domestic violence cases covered in the WNBA, but not nearly as much as other
professional sports leagues.
The most recent domestic
violence case covered in the WNBA is a Washington Post article involving Los
Angles Sparks guard, Riquna Williams.
Williams was charged with burglary with assault and battery and
aggravated assault with a firearm. According
to the post, the guard was suspended for 10 games not because it was deemed
domestic violence, but because it was a violation of conduct. This specifically had to do with the fact
that there was a firearm involved.
There are other players in
the league who have undergone domestic violence investigations but have not
endured ay type of punishment because there is no domestic violence policy in
place.
When will the WNBA formulate
such a policy in order to properly handle and prevent domestic violence?
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