| In the 2018 World Cup, a shocking statistic went viral. Domestic abuse rates increase by 38% when England lose a game in a major tournament. The figure was publised by a domestic violence charity, based on research done by academics at Lancaster University in 2013. The study also showed that during the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, there was a 26% rise in abuse when England won or drew a match. Police forces around the country joined the calls to 'give domestic abuse the red card' because they had also seen a rise in calls during the previous World Cup. Greater Manchester Police revealed a shocking 212 cases of domestic abuse were reported the day after England's quarter-final win over Sweden in 2018. That was more than any other day in that year, and more than 50 per cent higher than an average day. In England and Wales, around 1.9million adults aged 16-59 experienced domestic abuse in 2016/17 - 1.2million of these were women. The NSPCC also reported a 33% increase in calls to their helpline during the last World cup in 2018. Monroe met her ex when she was at school and ended up staying with him for almost ten years - having a baby girl and getting married in that time. As a schoolgirl the abuse didn't start straight away, but after a few months he started forcing her to give him her pocket money so that he could buy drugs. As the years went on, it spiralled and she suffered many forms of domestic violence including, control, emotional, financial, physical and sexual abuse - but all of this seemed to be made worse for her when her ex-husband watched football. In an interview in 2018, she told PlymouthLive: "It was quite difficult for me, but most nights we'd have the football on. He used to buy beer and then it would be the football. Me and the little one used to have to stay out the way because we couldn't interrupt or I knew his mood would be bad if they lost. "It sounds really stupid but that's how it was for us. If they won he would probably disappear, go out and carry on drinking, or he'd be alright. "But if they lost, it was horrible, it sounds really silly but when somebody is that passionate about football and they're abusive anyway, it's not a good combination especially with alcohol too." Monroe added that there are many triggers to domestic abuse "but football is probably one of the biggest ones". The World Cup also coincides with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign that kicks off on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until December 10, Human Rights Day. |
