Journey Center Response to Cleveland Browns' Signing of Deshaun Watson

Journey Center for Safety and Healing supports survivors of abuse and we believe victims. We are deeply disappointed that the Cleveland Browns disregarded the allegations of sexual assault and still-pending civil litigation against Deshaun Watson.

While these allegations were not examples of intimate partner violence, they did constitute violence against women. 

Violence such as this is happening in every part of our society, including high profile professional sports. When people are in positions of power or have resources and influence over others, the record shows far too often that they are not held accountable.

Thin, purple border. Blue and yellow boxes in opposite corner with “.
Text: We believe victims and exist as an agency to stand with them.

The absence of criminal charges does not mean that offenses have not occurred and victims have not been impacted. For nearly a half century, Journey has been supporting victims of domestic violence and child abuse. We see how unusual it is for false charges to arise. Researchers have found that the percentage of women who make up stories of abuse is in single digits.

The perception is that if someone is talented, famous, or powerful behavior will be overlooked or dismissed, has a chilling effect on hundreds of thousands of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking survivors everywhere. Many will hear “nobody will believe you, nobody will care, and what happened to you isn’t important” and will choose to remain silent.

 We believe victims and we exist as an agency to stand with them.
That is and always remain our bottom line.