[Daily Blog reposts] Violent douchebag demands he face no consequences for being a violent douchebag

This post was originally published at The Daily Blog on 13 June 2013.

[content note: violence against women, domestic violence]

Wait, sorry, I’m completely mischaracterizing that story, what I meant to say was

A leading Waikato scholar and opera singer is fighting to clear his name after admitting assaulting his ex-girlfriend three times.

… because that’s how the Waikato Times chose to frame a story about a violent thug who

… grabbed his victim by her clothing and threw her into a chair. He then threw a bag at her and slapped her.

Later that month he choked her.

The last and most violent incident – in October 2011 – saw Douglas grab the woman by the throat, leaving her struggling to move or breath. Her glasses were broken in the attack.

I’m assuming that use of the word “victim” in the first quoted sentence is a terrible oversight on their part, since apparently the real victim here is a scumbag who thinks $500 is decent reparation for abusing his partner and just cannot handle the idea that

for the rest of his life he has to apply for a visa every time he travels

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, Y’ALL, HE HAS TO APPLY FOR A VISA.

TALENTED YOUNG MEN DO NOT APPLY FOR VISAS.

THAT SHIT IS FOR REAL CRIMINALS.

Not talented young men who choke people and have bright futures.

Guess what, Chase Douglas, 23?  When you’re an abusive piece of shit, your life should be harder.  You should have to declare that crap and if declaring the facts of your abuse gets in the way of your star-spangled career, you fucking cope with it.

What kind of message do we send to victims of intimate partner violence, who are overwhelmingly women, especially women of colour, trans women, and women with disabilities, if a dude who throws his partner around and chokes her on multiple occasions gets to walk away scot-free?

Why the fuck do you think we have such low reporting rates for this kind of violence?

Fuck, let’s just be glad he’s not an All Black.  The case would have been discharged already amidst a tearful press conference and Dame Susan Devoy labelling him a hero.