Do We Care About the Victim or the Star?

Rashanae Papiane

Recently in the National Football League (NFL), many stories have surfaced of players being accused of domestic violence. A couple of players that have been at the center of these accusations are Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens running back, and Carolina Panthers defensive end, Greg Hardy.

In Ray Rice’s case, a video was released of a disagreement he had earlier this year with his fiancée at the time. The conflict escalated to the point of Rice finding it ok to knock his fiancée unconscious, then dragging her from an elevator like a rag doll. Bystanders who saw him dragging her did not take any action to see if she was alright instead they talked to Rice who obviously made up an excuse for her being unconscious. 

By the looks of the video the excuse worked because no one even came to Janay Rice’s rescue as she finally got up and stumbled to her feet. Ray did not care enough to help his struggling fiancée after what he had done.

Back in July, Greg Hardy was found guilty of 2 counts of domestic violence. He was accused of dragging his former girlfriend by the hair throughout his home and then shouting threats at her saying he would kill her. They had broken up previously and were on again off again, so their arguments happened rather often. 

This particular argument went too far causing Hardy to get himself caught up in in a legal dispute between him and his ex girlfriend. Somehow, after being found guilty, he was still allowed to play the first week with his team, the Carolina Panthers.

It seems as if the main focus of both cases (like a lot of cases) is not geared towards the victims pain and suffering. But more towards getting the accused acquitted from all of their charges so that they can continue playing. This causes many to question what is more important in a high profile domestic violence case. Is getting justice for the victim more important or is it more important for the athletes to be able to play their next game? 

Based on how much time it took for the NFL commissioner to respond to these cases, it appears as if the main concern is for  the athletes to continue to play. Fortunately the pressures from the public caused the NFL to make the decision to take action and penalize both Hardy and Rice.

However, in the midst of all the madness, no one has ever stopped to see how either of the victims are holding up in this whirlwind of unwanted publicity and humiliation. How are they coping with their private lives being so heavily publicized? How will they move forward from this? 

Sadly, no one is asking these questions because at the end of the day, the victim is not the priority in these high profile cases. The money and status of the star is way more important, of course.