TW: domestic violence

Cases of domestic violence rise by 38 per cent when England lose in the Euros or World Cup. Cases continue to rise when England win or draw by 26 per cent. This year, due to the prevailing force of social media, domestic abuse jokes are all over Tiktok.

So what’s the problem?

These domestic violence ‘joke’ videos receive thousands and thousands of likes, with new videos being made everyday. What’s even worse, is that the comment section of these videos are deeply problematic. Men are actively showing support for abusing ‘the missus’ or their children.

Disclaimer:

It’s important to make clear that alcohol is a major contributor to the complicated relationship between sport and abuse. Therefore, people use football as an excuse for domestic abuse, and when fueled by alcohol, cases rise.

Italy’s triumph over England in the finals was watched by an audience of 31 million viewers in the UK. This figure combines those watching on BBC One (25M) and ITV (6M).

This figure is one of the highest ratings in British broadcasting history, according to BARB figures. Without considering online viewing data, the Euro final beat the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony which had 27M and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s COVID lockdown address (28M).

Clearly, the final was one of the most anticipated and watched moment on TV this year. This unfortunately means that, more than likely, more people were abused on 11^th July, as a result of England losing to Italy.

As a result of the Euros final and the lead-up to the final, people (the vast majority of which are men) have taken to the social media platform, Tiktok, to express their views.

These ‘views’ are repetitive jokes about domestic violence towards ‘the missus’ or their children. Some of these posts include threats such as what would happen to ‘the missus’ if they didn’t buy the right alcoholic beverage.

Other threats include what would happen if ‘the missus’ turned the TV off, to another channel, or to ‘Love Island’ which was showing at the same time as the final.

Comments on these Tiktok posts:

One user commented: “When the missus forgets the stellas I forget the law and the right lads”. This comment had over 3,000 likes.

Another user commented: “Tell em geeza”

The creator of this specific Tiktok video replied back with, “the misses tryed to turn the England game off had to show her who’s boss”.

Another user replied to these comments stating “Like a prime Tyson fury…right hook left hook goodnight”.

One user responded by stating: “I know this is supposed to be a joke but domestic violence rates genuinely increases by 38% after England lose a game”.

One user responded to this comment with “Yes but the wife should prepare me a Stella at half time”.

All these comments incorporate emojis of the English flag, followed by emojis of beer, a single emoji of a woman, followed by a fist facing towards the emoji of a woman.

This TikTok post currently has 19.4K likes. The caption of the post says ‘When the wife gets lippy because I sparked [presumably misspelled and they meant spanked] our 5 year old son out for asking for a france kit…(that’s the little traitor on the floor).

The creator has also used the hashtag: “#stupidbiatchhaditcoming“. The creator refers to the two bodies on the floor of a boxing ring, with a defiant male winner standing above them.

One user commented: “Make the wife make ya some propa English grub for ya dinner lad England”.

The creator of this Tiktok responded with, “I can’t mate she’s in a coma”.

These Tiktok posts that are ‘jokes’ about domestic abuse seek to glamorize domestic violence.

These posts and comments are accompanied with unsavoury videos which are being used for amusement and to gain likes.

This is not to say that domestic violence happens only when the football is one, it happens all year round, but football is part of this ongoing relationship with domestic abuse.

Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge (a charity that tackles domestic violence) comments:

“It is a choice a perpetrator makes, stemming from power and control, from gender inequality, which misogyny and patriarchy helps perpetuate…while it’s clear football doesn’t cause domestic abuse, like the lockdowns, these tournaments can aggravate pre-existing behaviours.”

A spokesperson for TikTok said “We have removed these videos from our platform for violating our Community Guidelines.

Our Community Guidelines make clear what content is allowed on TikTok, and we encourage our guidelines our through a combination of technology and human moderation.”

Within a minute of being on Tiktok and searching the platform with the hashtags “#euros #stella”, I found hundreds of videos making jokes about domestic violence.

These videos ranged from having a couple of hundred likes to a couple of thousand. This is not to discredit TikTok and their action of removing videos, however, there is nothing to prevent users re-uploading or creating more similar videos.

Davison states further:

“Videos being shared on TikTok showing violence and connecting football with domestic abuse are both dangerous and wholly inappropriate. How can we ever achieve gender equality if violence against women is trivialised, as a form of light entertainment, and shared on social media as some sort of male ‘banter’?”

If you’re worried you, or someone you know, may be experiencing domestic abuse, please see the information below:

Refuge: 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline that offers support for women:

0808 2000 247

Respect: The free Respect Men’s Advice Line offers support for men:

0808 801 0327

Galop: Free National LGBTQ+ Domestic Abuse Helpline offers support for LGBTQ+ people:

0800 999 5428

Respect: Free Respect Phoneline offers support for both men and women who are harming their partners and families:

0808 802 4040

NSPCC: The free NSPCC helpline offers support for anyone worried about a child:

0808 800 5000