NASSS 2018 Conference - Vancouver

In 2014, the Ray Rice assault videos took something that typically happens behind closed doors and put it out in the open to be talked about. Since then, there have been a handful of domestic violence cases in sport that have garnered national attention, such as Greg Hardy, Josh Brown, Ezekiel Elliot, Danry Vásquez, Aldon Smith, and Steven Wright, to name just a few. This session invites papers that draw upon diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological foundations in examining sport and domestic violence. Potential topics may include, but are not limited to: media representations of domestic violence in sport; social, cultural, and political implications of domestic violence in sport; fans negotiating their identity in light of athlete domestic violence; the culture of sports as a contributing factor in athlete domestic violence; and/or ways in which domestic violence in sport intersects with gender, race, class, and other power relations and identities.

Session: Sport and Domestic Violence: The Truth Behind Closed Doors
“#WhyIStayed three years and $30 million”: Sport and domestic violence in the context of hashtag activism
In September 2014, TMZ released security footage of NFL Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice physically assaulting his then fiancé, Janay. The public reaction was swift, including legacy media outlets questioning why Janay, who had married Ray by that point, would stay in an abusive relationship. Media responses included victim blaming, the reproduction of myths regarding domestic violence, and overall ignorance regarding the barriers that victims/survivors must overcome to leave. In response, survivor Bev Gooden tweeted the reasons why she stayed in an abusive relationship, using the hashtag #WhyIStayed. The hashtag went viral, with many victims/survivors sharing their experiences and explaining the reasons why they stayed or left. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of over 50,000 tweets using the hashtag, #WhyIStayed, as well as interviews with individuals who participated in the hashtag, we interrogate the potentials of social media to amplify voices often marginalized or silenced in legacy media, the criminal justice system, and advocacy venues. In doing so, we examine the role sports play as a catalyst to wider social conversations regarding social problems that have been culturally stigmatized, and the implications for broader understandings of domestic violence in sport.