How Sexual Harassment & Abuse Towards Female Sportsperson Has Long Existed

Sexual abuse in sports has been reported time and again by female athletes in the past. The very fact that these athletes have had to themselves bear the consequences of speaking out tells us that the rot runs deeper than we think. The recent photo of US Soccer players coming together in the sixth minute for a silent protest against systematic abuse in the Women's Soccer League demonstrates how prevalent it is. The silent protest speaks volumes about the cause for the safety of female athletes in sports, and that is minimal hope athletes can hold onto to get justice and witness their perpetrators being held accountable. A decade ago, some Indian National Hockey team athletes allegedly accused their head coach of sexual harassment, leading to an enquiry after which the coach submitted his resignation. Why are we not addressing the elephant in the room?

Recently, the United States Soccer Federation's commissioned report revealed how coaches were found guilty of sexual misconduct and emotional and verbal abuse in the National Women's Soccer League. In 2020, when the documentary Athlete A surfaced about the culture of abuse carried out for years in the USA Gymnastics, it told a larger story of the toxicity in sports and the inadequate support system in place for female athletes.

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Sexual abuse and female sportsperson

Sadly, the sports world stands recognised as the breeding ground for sexual assault for multiple reasons. The idealisation of masculinity, sheer male dominance, and the unequal treatment given to female athletes are factors that perpetuate misogyny. The Larry Nassar case, which shook the Gymnastics world serves as a weighty reminder today that young girls who are training in full functional professional environments aspiring to make a mark as athletes, face harassment, abuse and incessant mental torture at the hands of the very people they trust in the first place.

The dynamics that coaches and athletes share offer a look into a larger perspective of power in sports. Most coaches are older men holding good experience and records, the power dynamic automatically makes them superior to the athletes, who come from diverse backgrounds hoping to make a mark in a critically competitive world. Exploitation comes in various forms, sometimes difficult to comprehend, the athletes bear the brunt of their position of vulnerability and lack of power to raise a voice, if need be, against the very coaches that mentor and train them.

Cases in India

In June this year, a top female cyclist in the country filed a complaint with the Sports Authority of India allegedly accusing the team's coach of 'inappropriate behaviour'. The cyclist, in an email, claimed to the authorities that the coach forced her to share a room with him under the pretext of accommodation being made available on a twin-sharing basis.

In 2014, a female gymnast complained against a coach and fellow male gymnast, accusing them of making vulgar remarks about her clothes and passing indecent comments during a practice session at a national camp in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the two accused further went on to participate in the Asian Games. Of course, it's important to verify every complaint regardless of the athlete's gender, but it's even more important to follow through with the review and enquiry promised without loopholes. Are Indian sports authorities successfully creating that environment?

In January 2014, when five girls training at the SAI centre in Haryana complained against their coach for groping and kissing them on the pretext of World Kiss Day, the Panchayat intervened and got the complaint withdrawn. The SAI carried out an investigation and found the coach guilty after three years. What's appalling is that the coach, who retired by the time he was found guilty, had been earlier accused of sexual misconduct multiple times in the past - a fact the investigative teams chose to overlook.

The stories of female athletes facing abuse are endless. The repercussions that the accused have had to face are only a handful.

Cases globally

In 2021, players of the Venezuela national football team allegedly accused their coach of sexual harassment. According to reports, around 24 players signed a letter accusing their former coach of physical and psychological abuse during training. The letter also claims how the players were threatened to remain quiet and, therefore, suffered from immense trauma looking at their perpetrator stand in from of them without facing any trial.

In another startling news surfacing from the US, a report, released on Monday, that investigates severe abuse claims in the Women's Soccer League revealed how systematic abuse has prevailed in the very fabric of the country's soccer league. The report reveals that the US Soccer Federation, leaders at the National Women's Soccer League, several wonders, executives and coaches across teams failed to act on hundreds of persistent complaints made by players against coaches and mentors over several years. 

Sheer lack of accountability leads to Sexual Harassment and Abuse

In 2021, when Olympian and World Champion Gymnast Simone Biles revealed that she was one of the hundreds of women that Larry Nasser had abused, she conveyed how the trauma destroyed her internally witnessing that the authorities she trusted were completely complacent in not holding Nassar accountable. In 2021, Biles blasted the gymnast officials and the FBI, telling Congress how the two most prestigious departments turned a blind eye to the claims against Nassar, which demoralised the survivors and affected their personal lives and sporting journeys unimaginably.

Sexual Harassment and abuse is deeply rooted because the culture of making players silent through threats, manipulations, and outright displays of power has been long-standing for ages.

As per the verified data assembled from a right-to-information application, it was discovered that in the decade between 2010-2020 around 45 sexual harassment complaints were made to the Sports Authority of India, out of which 29 complaints were against coaches. The data revealed that only five coaches were penalised with a pay reduction, one was suspended and two coaches faced termination. Data revealed that of the 56 national sports federations, only a handful have legit internal complaint committees to investigate matters of sexual harassment.

Necessary trials, reviews and actions are never taken at the correct timeline and instead go on for years only adding to the trauma the athletes face every day learning that the individuals who have abused them are left off the hook.

Instances of a misogynistic system in place and the authority of wrong display of power have been long part of the sports organisations across the world, and while female athletes are shining bright and proudly representing their countries globally, it becomes a primary commitment to establish a system in a place where they feel safe, see and heard - loud and clear.

The views expressed are the author's own.