Abstract
This paper is the first part of a study that investigated the issue of sexual harassment in university sports in Ghana. Specifically this paper sought to find out female university athletes’ views on knowledge of sexual harassment and their experiences of it. Descriptive survey research design was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select One Hundred and Sixty-Seven (167) female respondents for the study. The instrument used in gathering data was a questionnaire titled “Questionnaire on Sexual Harassment Against Female University Athletes in Ghana (QSHAFUAGH)” structured and developed by the researchers. The QSHAFUAGH was validated by two jurors in the field of physical education and sport, from Ghana and Nigeria and was tested for reliability using Split-half method. A reliability correlation coefficient of .91r was obtained from the reliability testing. In all, one research question and two research hypotheses were formulated, answered and tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. Data collected were analyzed using percentages and chi-square (x2) statistical method. The findings from the study showed that; sexual harassment against female university athletes is relatively high in Ghana; female university athletes are highly knowledgeable on what constitutes sexual harassment; and the mass media is the leading source of information on sexual harassment among female athletes. Based on these findings, the study recommends that: the focus of sexual harassment education should shift from knowledge to empowerment; management of the various universities should provide the right environment, avenues or channels for female athletes to report acts of harassment perpetrated against them in the course of their participation in sports on campus without fear of victimization; and some sanctions should be instituted by management of the various universities and GUSA on perpetrators of sexual harassment against female university athletes. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n3p121
Highlights
Morley (2011) argued that sexual harassment in educational institutions, like other forms of gender violence, is an attack on the mind as well as the body which has the potential of interfering with a student’s academic performance and completion, and his/her life itself
The population comprised all 167 female student-athletes who participated in the 2015 Mini Ghana Universities Sports Association (Mini-GUSA) Games competition held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi
Since the calculated chi-square value is greater than the critical value, the null hypothesis which stated that knowledge level of female university athletes in Ghana on sexual harassment will not be significantly high, is rejected
Summary
Morley (2011) argued that sexual harassment in educational institutions, like other forms of gender violence, is an attack on the mind as well as the body which has the potential of interfering with a student’s academic performance and completion, and his/her life itself. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of the United States of America in 1980 defined sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This constitutes sexual harassment when the conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. The EEOC (1980) stated that the Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves actual or threatening use of rewards or punishment from an organizationally dominant person to gain sexual favours from a subordinate. Hostile environment does not necessarily involve formal hierarchical relationships and encompasses a broader spectrum of the behaviours such as making lewd remarks, using demeaning languages exhibiting sexual photographs or posters and circulating sexual rumours about a person (Oladepo & Brieger, 2000)
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