Rihanna and Chris Brown

CNN in a late breaking story is reporting that Rihanna and Chris Brown were involved in at least two incidents of domestic violence prior to the assault on February 8.

CNN obtained Brown’s probation report after the sentencing hearing earlier today:

The first incident occurred in Europe about three months before the present offense.  The victim [Rihanna] and the defendant [Brown] were involved in a verbal dispute and the victim slapped the defendant.  He responded by shoving her into a wall.

The other incident took place in January during their trip to Barbados, Rihanna’s home country:

The defendant [Brown] and the victim [Rihanna] were visiting Barbados and were driving a Range Rover loaned to them by a local dealership.  They had an argument inside the car.  The defendant exited and broke the front driver and passenger side windows in the car.

CNN’s latest report on the case also includes details of the order of protection:

Schnegg also put a restraining order in place, requiring Brown to stay 50 yards away from Rihanna, 10 yards if the two are at the same industry event.  The judge issued a strict warning to Brown not to violate the order, which remains in place until 2014.

Bravo, Judge Schnegg!  It’s good to see a judge comprehend the seriousness of this pattern of domestic violence.  Sadly, too many of our country’s judiciary are clueless about the dynamics of domestic violence.  As I know all too well, some engage in domestic violence themselves.  When a perpetrator appears before them, they see themselves.  The guy gets a pass.

Every couple, from time to time, will disagree.  A man who has respect for a woman, however, will not resort to physical violence to exert control and to intimidate the woman he claims he loves into submission.

It takes a lot of force to smash in windows on a Range Rover.  And, on February 8, Chris Brown came close to killing Rihanna.  Why?  She caught him cheating on her.

The good that has come out of this story is that it has broken down the wall of silence on dating abuse.  Sadly, it has also surfaced many myths and misunderstandings about the dynamics of violence against women.  It also surfaced the pervasive misogyny that entitles men to respond with deadly force to beat women into submission.

Thanks, CNN for an excellent job in reporting this story.