Merely presidents also don't take it seriously enough.

"It was not merely that Brown did not take the accusations of violence against women seriously. No one in power really did. Art Modell, the former owner of the Cleveland Browns, said in one interview, wise-guy smile in place, that Brown 'got into trouble because of, shall we say, a rough social encounter with a gal, or two, or three.'”

The cases against Brown are extensive. He often said that he has 'never been convicted of violence against women,' which is true. But almost all the cases tended to follow a script that was far too common at the time: Women, exclusively women of color, making heinous accusations against Brown, then facing all sorts of harassment and disbelief, and dropping the charges. Brown also shook his head when I asked him about this history, and he only said, 'Violence against women… shit,' as if he could not believe this still followed him so late in life. Yet the cases span the years from 1965 to 1999. It’s a remarkable stretch that cannot be written off as just an endless series of law-and-order conspiracies, coincidences, or bad luck. If we are going to tell Brown’s story, it is irresponsible to not say the names of Brenda Ayres, Eva Bohn-Chin, Debra Clark, and others."

~ David Zirin

"Jim Brown’s War Within Himself"

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/jim-brown/