soulvacancy asked: I enjoy your blog and was happy to see your commentary regarding Loïc Remy.

TW:  rape, sexual assault

Thanks very much for saying so, appreciate that.

I think Remy’s arrest and the response from fans could be an article in itself.  Indeed, a wider article looking at football supporters’ reactions to players being arrested (and in many cases, charged) for sexual assault would be relevant, particularly how team allegiance seems to play a massive role in it.  The split reactions from Sheffield United fans over Ched Evans comes to mind as does the reaction to Marlon King at different clubs.  Asides from a lot of fans essentially replicating the fucking depressing societal norm of victim blaming and in many cases wholesale rejecting the fundamental truth that sexual assault is never the fault of the victim, it’s crazy to see how those opinions shift depending on who supports who.  

I know it’s not rocket science to suggest that fans give their own players a bit more slack and look at things through rose-tinted glasses.  But victim blaming, over-stressing the apologist “innocent until proven guilty” argument into the ground and so on is still, to me, far far more prevalent in cases of sexual assault - in comparison to the reaction of accusations of racism or non-sexually related violent behaviour.  When a player is accused of getting into a brawl, of being too hungover to train, of being abusive to fans - the instant reaction is bile, regardless.  But when a player faces an accusation of sexual assault, a lot of fans shift their perspectives to apparent wise old sages, extolling others to wait until “justice takes its course”, stressing that it’s an allegation or, at worse, claiming that the accuser is nothing more than an attention seeker.  It is utterly inconsistent and speaks volumes about where many, many people see the gravity of certain offences.  It seems, time after time, that sexual assault is seen as a low priority - and that’s wrong.

To put it in context, I remember there being rumours of a new violent incident involving Joey Barton on a night out - a club brawl of some sort (that proved to be false).  The majority of the QPR fan reaction on the message boards I go on were on the lines of him being a thug and that he shouldn’t be welcome at the club.  With the Remy arrest, the general tone I have seen is either to take the piss, to focus on his sell-on value or to “wait and see”.  Which I think says an awful lot about where many peoples’ moral compasses are set up.  Talking to a mate who supports the Blades, there’s a massive comparison to be drawn between the general reaction of their fans to Chris Morgan’s violent behaviour compared to the reactions to the conviction of Ched Evans for rape.  http://chedmandela.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/20120713-140506.jpg?w=575   <- That perhaps being one of the most depressing pictures i’ve ever seen.