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How prominent is rape culture in the sports industry?

Emily Hocking

SN: 6432761

You see so many cases in the news where big sports stars are being accused of rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, or sexual misconduct and why is this? Are we just seeing more of it due to the athletes’ high profiles? Is there a higher rate of sexual violence in the sports industry? Where does this problem of the prominence of sexual violence in the sports industry stem from?

The social problem of rape culture in the sports industry is one that stems back to the ideals of the ‘male athlete’. Fasting et al. suggest “since men, masculinity and traditional male values heavily dominate most sport organisations this raises the question of whether sports is a particularly risky location for sexual harassment” (2008, p. 2). Rape culture in the sports industry is displayed so often in the media through cases of high-profile athletes. Athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Mike Tyson’s sexual assault cases flooded the media due to their high profiles.

An area of the sports industry in which accusations of sexual violence are very publicly displayed is through football. I know that personally, living in Australia, most of the sexual assault allegations that are reported on through the news and social media are in the sports industry and against AFL or NRL players. Flood and Dyson (2007, p. 37) justify this presence of sexual assault allegations against Australian football players in Australia, stating “Allegations of sexual assault and harassment by rugby league and Australian Football League (AFL) players in 2004 and 2005 put the link between sports and violence against women firmly on the public agenda.” Jarryd Hayne, an ex-rugby star, Adam Heuskes, ex AFL player, all you need to do is search rape and Australian football in the same google search and their names appear. Can this social problem be linked to the ‘brotherhood’ present in sporting teams such as football teams? Regarding college football, Luther (2016) states “Many of these cases involve multiple players. In all, approximately 40 percent of the cases I’ve studied are gang rape allegations involving multiple players. If you add in cases where teammates are witnesses or later accomplices in harassing the woman who reported the violence, that number creeps up to close to 50 percent. This is incredibly high compared to what is known about gang rapes in the overall population.” This links to the idea of brotherhood influencing sexual violence in sport. In football, a team sport, the idea of ‘brotherhood’ is pushed on players by coaches in a ploy to enforce teamwork. Flood and Dyson (2007, p. 41) validate this stating male bonding in sport can be a risk factor for women due to “the codes of mateship and loyalty in tightly knit male groups”. Flood and Dyson (2007, p. 41) consider this loyalty to be dangerous as it may be put above personal integrity. Another contributing factor to this social problem is the fact that organisations are set up to protect the player at the cost of the victim. Armstrong et al. (2018, p. 102) states “organizations often facilitate sexual violence, actively deny allegations, cover up misconduct, and/or punish victims for reporting”.

I believe a prime example of rape culture in the sports industry is through Alen Hadzic and the 2021 Olympics. Alen Hadzic, despite being accused of at least three accounts of sexual assault, was still allowed to represent America at the Olympics and his only conditions were that he was not allowed to stay at the Olympic Village or practice with female teammates, and flew on a separate plane to other athletes, however, he still tried to overrule these conditions. So where is the line? Why was female Olympian Sha’Carri Richardson disqualified for testing positive for marijuana yet American allows a man under investigation for at least three accusations of sexual assault represent them at the Olympics? This is an example of how the accused is being protected by the organisation. Sacks and Segura (2021) report that a teammate said “he’s been protected again and again” regarding Hadzic, demonstrating how the organisation in this case protected the accused instead of the victim. Sacks and Segura also state how other athletes within the Olympic fencing team recognised how “sexual abuse, harassment and male entitlement runs deep within the sports culture”.

So how can sociology explain this social problem? It all leads back to toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity and the ideals surrounding the ‘male athlete’ have impacted rape culture within the sports industry. Toxic masculinity is based on the idea of male dominance and rape and sexual assault is a way in which males assert their dominance. Haider (2016, p. 558) suggests “if violence is constitutive of masculinity, then violence becomes the mode by which one asserts one’s masculinity”. This touches on the ideal of toxic masculinity that to be a man you must be violent and tough. Sexual violence within the sports industry can then be seen to be a result of these men trying to assert their dominance and prove their masculinity through violence. Messner’s (1990) analysis on masculinity and violence within the sports industry concludes that “a number of feminist analyses have suggested that one of the key elements in the elevation of the male-body-as-superior is the use (or threat) of violence” (p. 204). This whole ‘males as dominant’ idea leads back to the archetypal ‘male athlete’ stigma. At a young age you are taught that boys are better than girls at sport and grew up being shown a predominantly male dominated idea of sport on the television (how often did you see women’s NRL, or AFL compared to men’s NRL or AFL on tv?). This brought forward the idea that the male athlete is more dominant than the female athlete to everyone from a young age. Flood and Dyson (2007, p. 41) also suggest that ‘groupie culture’ can shape the way athletes view women and consent as these ‘groupies’ search for the sexual company of the athletes and due to the behaviour of these women they may shape the idea that all women want them.

And how am I personally implicated in this social problem? Well, at times I have been one to assume that when a big sport star is accused of sexual assault that the woman may be falsely accusing the athlete for money or status. This assumption, I believe, has been brought on both by the opinion of society around me as well as the stigma of victim blaming. I believe this also stems back to Flood and Dyson’s (2007, p. 41) idea of ‘groupie culture’ and where I have seen the way these sports stars are talked about online. The representation of these women in the media, I believe, has also influenced me to believe they may be falsely accusing the athlete of sexual assault.

The big question is how can we create more equal relations with those who are less or not supported by systems? The main way is by removing the stigma of victim blaming and shaming – especially in cases that involve high profile athletes. Bruggen and Grubb (2014, p. 3) state that “reporting rates to the police are exceptionally low and few perpetrators are successfully prosecuted.” These low reporting rates and low rates of prosecution would contribute to the fact less victims are reporting their rape as they are not seeing good results for others and fear for what would happen if they were to report. Victim blaming being used as the main defence of athletes in rape cases is a large reason as to why women are hesitant to come forward. Within sport, victim shaming can occur through the assumption that any girl would want to have sex with a high-profile athlete and therefore the victims must be falsely accusing to get publicity or money. Removing this idea would make victims feel more comfortable coming forward. Better protection for these women when accusing a high-profile athlete is also essential due to the way organisations are set up to protect the accused over the victim. Overall, the main way women will be supported by systems is through removing the concept of toxic masculinity from the sports industry, something that will take a lot of time and effort, but overtime can be accomplished.

References

Armstrong, E, Gleckman-Krut, M & Johnson, L 2018, ‘Silence, Power, and Inequality: An Intersectional Approach to Sexual Violence’, Annual Review of Sociology, pp. 99-122.

Fasting, K, Brackenridge, C & Walseth, K 2008, ‘Consequences of sexual harassment in sport for female athletes’, Journal of Sexual Aggression, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 37-48.

Flood, M & Dyson, S 2007, ‘Sport, athletes, and violence against women’, Academia, pp. 37-46.

Haider, S 2016, ‘The Shooting in Orlando, Terrorism or Toxic Masculinity (or Both?)’, Sage Journals, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 555-565.

Luther, J 2016, ‘Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape’, Not Even Past, viewed 14 September 2021, <https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/82971/Unsportsmanlike%20Conduct_%20College%20Football%20and%20the%20Politics%20of%20Rape%20-%20Not%20Even%20Past.pdf?sequence=2>

Messner, Michael 1990, ‘When bodies are weapons: Masculinity and violence in Sport’, Sage Publications, viewed 14 September 2021, <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Messner3/publication/233101368_When_bodies_are_weapons/links/565b199308aefe619b242915/When-bodies-are-weapons.pdf>

Sacks, B & Segura, M 2021, ‘”Protected Again and Again”: How A Fencer Made It To The Tokyo Olympics Despite Sexual Assault Allegations’, Buzzfeed News, viewed 15 September 2021, <https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/olympics-fencers-safesport-abuse>

Van Der Bruggen, M & Grubb, A.R 2014, ‘A review of the literature relating to rape, victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases’, Aggression and Violent Behaviour, vol. 19, no. 5.