The club has admitted being in contact with Evans following his conviction.
Ched Evans is set to be released from prison in October after serving half his five-year jail sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room.
His former club Sheffield United are now rumoured to be considering re-signing the 25-year-old, a move that has provoked a considerable backlash.
Over 60,000 people have signed an online petition addressed to the club’s chairman Kevin McCabe urging the club not to take Evans back.
The petition states: “Ched Evans was convicted of rape. It was a process of justice. To even consider reinstating him as a player at the same club is a deep insult to the woman who was raped and to all women like her who have suffered at the hands of a rapist.”
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"For the male leaders of the club to endorse him and 'welcome him back' is an absolute humiliation to all women who expect the men who commit gross acts of violence against women to pay for what they have done and part of that is relinquishing the celebrity they attained, and in this case used as a tool to facilitate the violence.
The clear message to young boys and men is that you will be forgiven for this crime. Women will not be believed when they accuse you of that crime even if a court believes them.
The message given is that men who commit such atrocious crimes will suffer only a small penance whilst the women they attack suffer for the rest of their lives. Sheffield United Football Club must not reinforce that message.
United have denied reports that manager Nigel Clough has personally been to visit Evans in prison.
However, the club did admit to The Star back in April that it had been in contact with the player “as part of its ongoing policy of providing a duty of care to former employees and their families”.
Kate Russell, the director of Rape Crisis England & Wales, told Sky News that while the charity supported the right of a convicted criminal to return to employment after serving their sentence, the club should think carefully about the message it would send to immediately re-employ Evans.
"If they choose to do that, which is their right, we urge them to seriously consider the impact that will have on huge numbers of their supporters and we urge them to make a very strong statement condemning sexual violence, condemning violence against women and girls and making it clear that misogyny, sexism, violence and sexual violence in particular won't be tolerated within football,” she added.
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from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1usaB7D
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