The World Cup can be a dangerous time for women trapped in abusive relationships.
Abusers believe that they’re entitled to express their disappointment through violence, and when their favored team loses, many attack their girlfriends and wives.
My abuser idolized Lionel Messi—a weasel-faced Argentine who beamed when he met President Donald J. Trump at the White House—and he made me pay the price when this soccer superstar disappointed him. An embittered former athlete, my abuser fractured my arm, broke my tooth, and scarred my face.
I escaped. Some women don’t.
On July 5, a 40-year-old woman in Puebla, Mexico, lost her life to a World Cup-related femicide. When police arrived at the home of Monica Hernández and Rafael González Cruz, they found her dead.
Neighbors told detectives that González was angry that Mexico had lost to England. After the match, they heard him scream at Hernández and attack her.