British boxer apologises for video showing how to hit women
A British boxer has apologised after a video emerged of him giving advice to men on how to attack their female partners if argument ensues during the coronavirus lockdown.
In a clip reportedly circulated on WhatsApp, 30-year-old Billy Joe Saunders could be seen giving tips to men on how to react if “your old woman is giving you mouth” and “she’s coming at you, spitting a bit of venom in your face”.
The WBO super middleweight champion used a punchbag to demonstrate how to “hit her on the chin” and then “finish her off”.
Following widespread backlash, Saunders apologised if he “offended any women”.
“I would never condone domestic violence and if I saw a man touch a woman I would smash him to pieces myself,” he wrote on a Twitter post.
“I have a Daughter and if a man laid a finger on her it would be end well.”
Saunders’ Twitter account has since been deleted.
The new coronavirus has been increasingly used as a form of abuse against family violence victims, the ABC reported.
According to Liz Thomas, chief executive of Victorian social services organisation Wayss, she had received six reports in the past week of men using the virus to threaten and coerce women.
“It’s a real form of abuse we have not experienced before,” she told the outlet.
“Perpetrators have actually used COVID-19 as a form of abuse, telling their partner that they have the virus therefore they can’t leave the house.
“Inviting people into the house where the woman is self-isolating, saying that the visitor has COVID-19 and he's going to infect them.”
Thomas said people at risk “are now more vulnerable than ever”.