Sexual Harassment, Abuse, And Assault Experienced And Reported By Female Athletes In India And Pakistan

Abstract

PURPOSE: The “#MeToo Movement” has brought sexual harassment, abuse, and assault experienced by females to the forefront of society, particularly in the workplace. Within the athletic realm, females have also reported such experiences, often referred to as the maltreatment of athletes. While maltreatment has been reported for decades, in recent years victim’s voices have been amplified - particularly in the USA. Yet, for various political and social reasons, the maltreatment of female athletes in countries around the world remains poorly understood. In this study female athletes from India and Pakistan were asked to report their experiences of sexual maltreatment by their coaches. METHODS: Female student-athletes with male coaches participated in this study (N = 395; India = 180, Pakistan = 215). The athletes represented a large variety of sports (>26). Participants (M age = 20.57+2.59; M years of athletic experience = 2.73+1.49) completed the Auweele et al. (2008) Sport-Specific Touch and Behaviour Versus Unwanted Intimacy from Coaches measure. Each item was rated by the athletes on a 6-point Likert scale. Three composite dependent variables were assessed: “Unwanted Sexual Behavior” (14 items, Cronbach α = .91), “Physical and Verbal Behavior with a Sexual Undertone” (5 items, Cronbach α = .72), and “Sexist and Discriminatory Behavior” (3 items, Cronbach α = .77). Data were analyzed using a 2 (Country) by 2 (Type of Sport: Individual vs. Team) MANCOVA, with age as a covariate. RESULTS: Main effect differences for all three variables were observed for Country (p<.001, η2 = .30), with no differences observed for Type of Sport or the interaction effect (p>.05). Each between country variable differed significantly (p<.001) with η2 values ranging from .05-.30. The athletes from Pakistan reported experiencing maltreatment from their coaches more so than the athletes from India. CONCLUSION: Female athletes from both countries reported experiencing a wide range of sexual maltreatment issues at the hands of their coaches. The issues ranged from being told sexist jokes, to having the front side of their body massaged, to sexual encounters. The females athletes in Pakistan experienced such incidences more so than did those in India.