Contact: Rebecca Stewart
Telephone: 513-479-3335
Email: info@saveservices.org
Recent Incidents Reveal Growing Problem of Domestic Violence among Females
WASHINGTON / July 24, 2019 – Recent incidents highlight the growing problem of domestic violence and sexual assault instigated by females. Two of the incidents, reported last week, involve female professional basketball players.
On July 16, the Washington Post reported that the WNBA had suspended Los Angeles Sparks guard Riquna Williams for 10 games for a domestic violence incident. Williams was arrested in April and charged on felony charges of aggravated assault of an ex-girlfriend. According to a police report, Williams hit her former partner on the head and used a gun to threaten a man who attempted to stop the assault (1).
Three days later, the Seattle Times reported that WNBA Seattle Storm player Natasha Howard was the victim of domestic violence incidents involving her wife, Jacqueline Howard. According to court documents, Jacqueline stabbed Natasha in the back, causing her to be hospitalized for several days (2).
These two incidents spotlight the long-hidden problem of lesbian same-sex violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control, lesbian couples experience high rates of partner violence: 65.7% of women, compared to 40.0% of men, in same-sex relationships have experienced domestic violence during their lifetimes (3).
In June, Pratigya Thakur was charged with raping her female roommate at Susquehanna University. The alleged victim told police she awoke to find Thakur “on top of her straddling her” before placing her hands on her roommate’s breasts. Thakur then started to molest her, the alleged victim told police (4).
SAVE calls on violence reduction programs to address the emerging problem of female-initiated abuse.
Citations:
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/07/17/wnba-player-suspended-games-after-domestic-violence-arrest/?utm_term=.410bf7345e12
- https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/storms-natasha-howard-denies-domestic-abuse-allegations-accuses-wife-of-stabbing-her-and-taking-nearly-600000/?fbclid=IwAR36iIcygD0BOnp8L9VdSGawcwi7BEU2XnTFRvW6q8rnuuHVVye4XGryFkU
- https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf . Tables 6 and 7.
- https://nypost.com/2019/06/14/co-ed-charged-with-raping-female-roommate-at-susquehanna-university/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site+buttons&utm_campaign=site+buttons&fbclid=IwAR3JaMBkxnvaCtPIXP55P1wY3FDssO4CRNsrX9jtcI1ODKrA7IPY1_Iaous
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is working to protect all victims of domestic violence and sexual assault: www.saveservices.org