Did Rihanna do everything she could have done, to stay safe from a dangerous man?

Facts: On the night of February 8, 2009, Chris Brown, the boyfriend of pop star Rihanna, aka Robin Rihanna Fenty, got into a fight with the female singer, in a rented Lamborghini, on the way to the Grammy Awards. The fight started when Rihanna expressed concerns about possible infidelity in the relationship, upon seeing text messages on her boyfriend’s phone from another woman who Chris had a sexual relationship with in the past.


He was accused of punching Rihanna in the eye and mouth, causing her to bleed and spatter blood all over the
vehicle’s interior, biting her multiple times, and slamming her head into various parts of the car, as well as
punching her in her hands, arms, and legs, causing raised contusions ranging in size from 1” and 2”. He also threatened to kill her, after she made attempts (or gave the impression she was trying to) to call for help, to her personal assistant. Generally speaking, these accusations, combined with the physical evidence that Rihanna was badly beaten, added up to Chris Brown attempting to inflict great bodily harm on his girlfriend Rihanna, as well as making criminal threats to her.

He was arrested that night, and was released on $50,000 bond. At his arraignment, he
pled not guilty, but when the state offered him a deal of five years worth of probation with a batterer’s intervention program and community service, he pled guilty. Rihanna originally accepted a no contact order against Chris, but later decided to get back together with him, and requested that the order for no contact, as well as the charges be dropped. Rihanna’s father did not seem angry about the altercation, but said he did not know how to react. He said "Justice can never be served in this situation.

He can't feel the pain she felt … Let justice prevail." Rihanna was originally granted the no contact
order, and later had to be included in the order, to stay away from him, for her own safety, which was also dropped, when Rihanna made the decision to go back to him, and give the relationship another chance. At this time, she requested that a no contact order be invalidated, or not be added to the court documents.

Chris Brown was later denied a visa entry to the UK, on the grounds of him having serious criminal
offenses, causing him to have to cancel tour locations for upcoming shows.

Law: Chris Brown had no known criminal history prior to this event. Here is a complete PDF listing of all publicly released documents related to the Chris Brown/ Rihanna case, as released by CNN in 2009, which include the police affidavit and search warrants to check phone records, in order to create a timeline. http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/05/brown.warrant.pdf Any other public court records can be accessed, with a fee, at the Los Angeles County public criminal division website, which is: https://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/onlineservices/criminalIndex/index.asp, or by going in person to the criminal division of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and requesting records, for a fee.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of all women killed in the United States, (1, 181 in 2005) about one-third are killed by an intimate partner. That adds up to about three women being killed every day, at the hands of an abuser with whom she had a close personal relationship with.

Analysis: At 19 year of age,Chris Brown made more than just a simple, childish mistake. He beat his girlfriend, making him a very dangerous person. His decisions to cheat, lie, and beat on his girlfriend (whether that was Rihanna or any other woman, for that matter) were ones he has gained notoriety for. Regardless of whether he gets these charges expunged once he has taken care of everything he is ordered to do, his name will live infamy, for a textbook case of domestic battery. Chris is an adult, and as long as he expects to be treated like an adult by his friends, family, and colleagues, he will also be treated the same by any court system. His apologies may sound sincere, but this is a person who will most likely end up beating up on a lot of women throughout his life. This just happens to be the first time he has done it, and gotten charged for his actions. Domestic Violence can turn deadly in a heartbeat, and Rihanna was smart to call for help, and to tell police what happened.

Advice: Chris Brown had no business beating up his girlfriend, and is now facing the prospect of never being able to tour in certain countries around the world, as a result. This will inevitably cause him to lose a large fan base, and in turn, a good chunk of income. Well, he made his bed, and now he will have to sleep in it. There simply is no excuse for violence. I hope that he changes, and develops into a real man someday. A real man would never hit a woman.

Rihanna may have had some indication prior to this event, that her boyfriend was an abuser. Either way, after the fact, she did not follow through on her promises to keep herself safe. That night, the pain and heartbreak she experienced was tremendous. She filed a police report, and told them what happened, but still ended up going back to her abuser. She even went so far as to fight for his right to make contact with her. Normally this doesn’t make sense, but every battered woman who stays with their abuser has some reason to justify their continued willing participation in the relationship.
 
I don’t want to speculate too much on this, but her father’s reaction may have played a role, as well as the length of time in the relationship. Hope is a dangerous thing to cling to, after someone threatens to kill a person, and beats them senseless. The “good times” are what battered women choose to recall about the relationship, and sometimes they don’t see that no matter how far apart the “bad times” were, or how slight those abusive moments are, it seems that the hope is that the good times will simply outweigh the bad.

Often times, women with this sort of mindset end up getting killed by their former boyfriend or spouse. Rihanna should have trusted her original instincts, whenever she had them, and followed through with them, enforcing her boundaries with Chris. Being beat up, does not make her “beaten”. She should stand tall as an emotionally independent woman, and leave this man forever. Instead, all she is doing is preparing herself for more beatings in the future, which will no doubt be kept behind closed doors from now on.

For more information on Domestic Violence, or if you or someone you care about is in an abusive
relationship- even If that is “just” verbal abuse, please call the National Domestic Violence hotline. They can give callers help with getting out safely, and even help to provide a safe home, counseling and meals for free, while a Domestic violence survivor gets back on her feet, and regains her independence. Life is too important to not make the call. The number is: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)