On Monday I was called by Talk Sport radio to chat about the rise in domestic abuse over the world cup period in November to December 2022.
Sadly, during the last World Cup in 2018, NCDV received an 18% increase in domestic abuse referrals and on some days we saw considerably higher peaks.
Much research was done prior to the 2018 world cup with one academic institution calculating that domestic abuse increased by between 26% and 38% if England lose.
What increase did NCDV see during the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar?
None.
That’s right, no increase whatsoever: in fact, the usual seasonal decrease in the run up to Christmas was the same as every year.
So, what’s happening, or rather not happening, perhaps? Here are my own thoughts: –
- Alcohol is a key factor in domestic abuse. With the times of many Qatar matches being outside normal drinking hours alcohol may have played far less of a role.
- Winter football is not conducive to standing in a pub garden watching a big screen, so the alcohol fueled groups of people simply didn’t materialise.
- Much of the press was full of fans not being able to drink at the venue, did that also have a knock on effect, dampening the usual frenzy?
There are many individuals, organisations, not for profits and charities working tirelessly in this sector to help make domestic abuse socially unacceptable could this be a small sign that we are all starting to make a difference?
All I can say with certainty is that fewer people appear to have suffered abuse in England during a world cup than in previous years. Now that is good news.
Mark Groves
CEO