Sexual harassment highlighted in the sports world
Sexual harassment is unfortunately still a very prevelant issue to this day. By definition, it is nonconsensual sexual remarks or physical advances in a professional or social situation, including catcalls, nonconsensual photos, inappropriate touches and even discussing sexual stories and fantasies. Regardless of gender identity, millions of people suffer through this every year. According to Huffpost, someone from suffers sexual harassment every 92 seconds in the U.S. alone. This adds up to over 570 people every day.
Sexualization is very prevalent in sports. In fact, in a study done by Springerlink, an online database of science journals, over 54 percent of the elite athletes they surveyed had suffered some form of sexual violence during their life time — around 21 percent were a severe incident. There are many reasons why athletes might be sexualized. Some claim it’s because of the outfits, many which are tight and some might even say skimpy. Others might attribute it to their athletic body types — many being thinner or muscular. In general, the culmination of these two reasons — along with many others — cause athletes to be more sexualized and more likely to be harassed. Student athlete for the Girls’ Golf Team, Ophelia Harvey (’27) has something to say about this issue.
“I believe that female athletes get sexualized because they are being watched and judged constantly and people believe that women are not as good or as capable as men, and that is a horrible way to view women in and out of sports,” Harvey says.
On Aug. 28, a sexual harassment case arose in professional women’s soccer when sexual harassment allegations were charged after Jenni Hermoso, a player for the Spanish Women’s National Soccer Team and the Mexican club Pachuca, was sexually harassed. The perpetrator was Luis Rubiales, the now former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, who had forcibly kissed Hermoso after the team won against England in the Women’s World Cup Final. He stepped down after being suspended from his work after all 23 players of the Spain women’s team, as well as some men on the male team, boycotted due to the incident. Hermoso spoke on Twitter about how she felt a few days after the kiss.
Art by Audrey Strauss
"I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part.” Hermoso said.
This is not an isolated incident. In 2016, the US Women’s Gymnastics Team suffered from a sexual harassment case as well. Rachael Denhollander, an ex-gymnast, filed a report against Larry Nassar, the team's doctor. After the report was filed, over 265 women came forward and claimed that Nassar had assaulted them as well. Nassar had been assaulting women for nearly 14 years under the pretense of giving medical treatment. Many of his victims were minors. He is now in prison serving multiple offenses. In a statement for the court in her lawsuit against Nassar, Denhollander answers her famous question, “How much is a little girl worth”.
“I submit to you that these children are worth everything. Worth every protection the law can offer. Worth the maximum sentence.” Denhollander said.
Athletes struggle with the spotlight and the scrutiny of society. When people are viewed to be perfect, they tend to become more dehumanized, which makes people like Nassar or Rubiales feel as if they can sexually assault or harass them without feeling truly guilty. Although few incidents get to be as high profile as these two, this issue is far too common in the sports world, and it won’t change unless sport federations make definite strides against this behavior.
But, change is still on the horizon. Hermoso and the girl’s soccer team continue their boycott, hoping to get “real structure changes”. Many soccer teams, both male and female, showed support for Hermoso at their matches — by holding shirts, wearing wristbands or carrying banners with ‘Contigo Jenni’, which translates to ‘With you Jenni’, written on them. This is not the first time the sports world has come together to support a victim. In fact, it happened even with Denhollander and her case against Nassar. During the case, a standing ovation was held after her introduction in Frankfort, as well as a few comments from Sen. Wil Schroder — who said that Denhollander is the voice for the people. In her memoir, “What Is a Girl Worth?”, Denhollander describes what she is facing for the future.
“So much work remains.” Denhollander said. “So much evil to fight. So much healing to reach for. So many wounded to love.”