The Tragic Reality of Abuse

About a week ago, shocking news broke, shattering the image that many people had of one of America’s leading men. Reports that Chris Brown had turned himself on the charge of domestic abuse and criminal threats spread like wildfire. Chris Brown turned himself in at 6:30 pm Sunday Night of Feb. 8th. At about the same time, people tuned into to America’s biggest music event were shocked when the announcer said that Rihanna would not be in attendance for her performance that night. This led viewers to believe that Rihanna, Chris Brown’s girlfriend, was the alleged victim of his “abuse”. Within about two hours there were over 3,000 various articles published about the event and about Chris Brown.

This news stunned America because Chris Brown’s image centers on being the nice and funny guy. After all, he is only nineteen years old. He is one of the few singers and performers in that genre of music that parents were okay with. What will this do for his career? After his performance at the VMA’s in 2008, people deemed him the next “potential Michael Jackson”. His package of a great voice and outstanding dance moves may not be enough to save his reputation after an incident like this.
The American Bar Association and the Commission of Domestic Abuse says that “Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States”. The statistic of 1.3 million women is an enormous number and it is scary that this is in fact true. Domestic Abuse is a problem in our country that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately abuse within couples happens every day and because of Chris Brown and Rihanna’s fame, their case is going to receive an enormous amount of press.

Another tragic detail in the story is the fact that Chris Brown had opened up about the history of violence in his family early in 2007. His mother was a victim of domestic abuse and for someone to witness such a horrible thing and to then repeat it is horrible. Esta Soler, president of the Family Violence Prevention Fund says that “If you grow up with violence, you learn that behavior”. Domestic abuse is a cycle and it is something that is often times repeated. Another factor common to most abuse cases is that Chris Brown and Rihanna fall into the common age group for domestic abuse. Although abuse is common in couples over the age of 30, the most common age for the first instance of abuse is between the ages of 20 and 24. Chris Brown is 19 and Rihanna is 20, placing them in the range where signs of an abusive relationship would first show.

The Commission of Domestic Abuse states that “African-American women experience significantly more domestic violence than White women in the age group of 20-24.” Overnight, Chris Brown fell from one of America’s most famous and talented performers to a statistic for domestic abuse. He is in the appropriate age range; he grew up amongst domestic abuse only to repeat the cycle on the woman he loved. It is still unclear what happened and being a huge fan of his I must admit that to hear this is very disappointing.

He is already suffering the tragic results of his actions. Wrigley Gum announced the suspension of his advertisement for their gum, dancing and singing to his major hit “Forever”. He also had to withdraw from the NBA all star weekend on Feb. 14th. Chris Brown had the potential for greatness and something like this could ruin him. Domestic Abuse is something that doesn’t fall into the category of a “slip up”. This is a really big deal and many people may never look at him the same. He will be going to court on March 5th, and fans along with the rest of the world can only sit by and wait to hear how this unfolds. Abuse happens in couples both famous and not and it is something that needs to be prevented. For more information on abuse and what to look for visit the American Bar Associations website: http://www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html.

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E. O’Neil