Yesterday, NRL superstar Semi Radradra was accused of assaulting his ex-partner over a period of eight months.
Perina Ting reportedly applied for an apprehended violence order (AVO) against the Parramatta Eels player, giving a statement to police to that effect on Tuesday night.
Even so, Radradra, who is currently on personal leave in his native Fiji, has been allowed by the NRL to continue playing, which, at least for journalist Erin Molan, is a sign the league is still not taking violence against women seriously.
“If this is proven to be true, and our game does not take an incredibly tough, strong stance against this, then we are condoning domestic violence,” she said on the NRL Footy Show last night in a powerful piece-to-camera.
“We are saying to every kid, every teenager, every man out there that it is OK to be violent against women.”
Molan prefaced her speech by saying that, of course, Semi should be afforded the presumption of innocence, but at the same time she couldn’t stay silent on the issue.
“We cannot support White Ribbon as a code and we cannot support domestic violence awareness, raise money for all these great causes if we’re not going to walk the walk,” she said.
“It has to stop. It’s enough.”
Recently, the NRL was set a precedent by allowing Shaun Kenny-Dowall to continue playing while facing domestic violence charges in court, though these were later dropped.
“The victims of domestic violence live with the impact of being hurt physically for the rest of their lives,” she continued.
“It is not… it doesn’t matter if you’re a superstar, or you’re on big money or you’re a really big deal. It is not OK, ever.”
Molan’s call to action was met with applause by the audience and her fellow panellists and widely praised on social media.
Putting a hand on her arm in support, co-host of the show Paul Vauti echoed Molan’s sentiments.
“I can’t understand, I couldn’t think of anything worse in the world than a man raising arms against a woman. It defies belief. Well said,” he said.
Top Comments
Yay Erin - good on her for calling it. The NRL seem to forget the fact that by condoning DV they are alienating a huge segment of their fan base - namely women and children. If they want to be perceived as family entertainment, they should then act like they have a vested interest in their fans. This also goes for the historically pathetic and slow way they often handle appalling behaviour of players around excessive alcohol use, drug abuse, violence, sexual assaults, offensive behaviour etc.
Good job, Erin.