By Saffron McKee

The ban on alcohol consumption during Scottish football games has persuaded
more men to watch the matches from the comfort of their own homes. With
unlimited access to their favourite alcoholic beverages. Men are widely known to
get in disputes with the law after they have attended a match. The Spain V
Scotland game is happening tonight in Seville. There will be thousands of
enthused fans at the game.

The sport is incredibly competitive but when a man’s favourite team plays this can
lead to a very tense environment. Most men hype themselves up before the
match by consuming alcohol to enjoy it more. When the match is over, they are
either angry or happy about the result. Both usually mean more alcohol intake.
Women end up feeling the brunt of the men’s emotions in their households.
Studies show drinking is part of the culture of this sport.

Football games have now become a major burden to women’s emotional states.
Watching a sport with your partner should not feel like a life-or-death situation.
The hostile home environment that football games create is unsafe for women.
Many men begin with emotionally manipulating their partners before it turns into
physical harm. There are plenty of emotional conflicts during a football match.
Many men feel they are owed the right to act aggressively or speak demeaningly to
their partners during these moments of a game. Many men are known to behave
violently repeatedly during a big football match.

The research on this issue showed that not enough is being done to protect
women in these households. Glasgow police had been targeting offenders with a
known history of domestic violence ahead of big games in a bid to tackle the
problem. More than 2,000 offenders were arrested. This was over ten years ago.
Since this effort I haven’t found any sources that show that our law is
safeguarding vulnerable women. There is certainly a long road ahead still.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8557504.stm

Studies have proved that women are vulnerable to men during the buildup of the
football game and the aftermath. The abuse of women was prevalent during the
World Cup which had lots of human rights issues being brought up in the media.
But this topic is still scarcely reported on. When England lost a World Cup game,
incidents of domestic violence increased significantly.

Domestic violence and emotional partner abuse are typically against women. It is
considered a major health problem and an infringement of women’s rights not
only nationwide but worldwide. This toxic culture needs to shift. There must be
more focus on the heroism and community of sport within our society to see a
vital change in these statistics and the laws that are in place.