A sports star is embroiled in a high-profile domestic violence incident. The star is widely condemned — perhaps suspended, perhaps prosecuted. And there are calls for reform.

Or, in the case of the Women’s National Basketball Association: not. After two engaged WNBA stars — Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and the Tulsa Shock’s Glory Johnson — were arrested after a domestic dispute Wednesday, some are asking why the WNBA has not been scrutinized as closely as the NFL, the NBA and other professional sports leagues for what may be an endemic problem.



“Intimate partner violence among LGBT couples is also a huge problem that gets considerably less attention,” Jamilah King of Take Part wrote in a piece called “Women Pro Athletes Have a Domestic Violence Problem Too.” “. . . Last summer, they announced their engagement on Instagram. But as the details of this week’s ordeal emerge, the couple also shows that intimate partner violence within same-sex relationships is a problem that must be confronted.”