Accusations of domestic violence continue to plague professional athletes. In recent months, the NFL's Ray Rice and, more recently, Junior Galette; NASCAR's Kurt Busch is currently responding to domestic violence accusations; now the Los Angeles Kings' Slava Voynov has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL as he awaits trial in March. He was arrested in October of 2014 and a judge has recently affirmed that there is enough evidence to proceed to trial despite the protestations of the alleged victim in the case. Marta Varlamova, Voynov's wife, has argued that her husband should not be charged for her injuries, ESPN reports.
Police reports and court documents reveal that police suspect Varlamova was chocked, punched and thrown into a television set on the night of October 20. She required eight stitches over one of her eyes. Her claims that the injuries were accidental may become more crucial in the coming months as Voynov is required at a pre-trial hearing in late January.
Whether or not this incident proves to be an example of domestic violence, the recent spate of accusations involving professional athletes should be a reminder of the wider problem across all segments of society. Domestic violence is an epidemic and the law enforcement response is certainly inadequate for dealing with the underlying causes of the epidemic. Law enforcement is only one tool in what needs to be a societal response.