A study by researchers from Deakin University has found that an overwhelming majority of elite sportswomen (nine in 10) have experienced some form of gendered online harm, including 87 per cent in the past year.
And while the mention of trolling and women in sport is often associated with high-profile athletes like Tayla Harris, results showed that women of all profiles, and across all sports, were affected.
Felicity Goodwin, who played elite-level rugby union, says she experienced both blatant sexism, and more insidious attempts to make her feel unwelcome.
“There were the stereotypical comments of ‘get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich,” she says.
“But there were also ones like ‘oh, so you like the Wallabies? Tell me the top try scorers for the last few seasons, or the last three winners of the John Eales medal.’ I can do that — but why should I have to?
“The problem was just the fact that I was female, and I had the nerve to be in that space.”
The Deakin study surveyed 138 professional and semi-professional athletes from 32 sports, with 85 per cent saying their wellbeing had been affected by online harm, while two in three felt unsafe.
The most common examples of gendered online harm were personal insults (81 per cent), hate speech (62 per cent), attempts to embarrass (60 per cent) and both general and sexual harassment (50 per cent and 39 per cent respectively).
One in four sportswomen also experienced homophobic abuse, and one in five racist abuse.
Goodwin, who last year worked as an assistant coach at the Queensland Reds, was one of those targeted by homophobia.
“Straight-identifying teammates copped it too, but more often with comments around their appearance, like ‘what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a sport like this?’
“We were probably an easy target, playing women’s team sports. Especially if you look at rugby, it’s historically a private boys’ school sport, and there’s very much an ‘old boys’ mentality to it.”
Women in sport stuck in ‘vicious cycle’
Associate professor Kim Toffoletti, one of the report’s co-authors, said the study explored the impacts of not just being the direct target of abuse, but witnessing it.
“If you’re an athlete, and you’re seeing women in high-profile positions being abused in these kinds of spaces, the message it sends is that if you succeed in your sport, you’ll be trolled, harassed, judged and shamed,” she said.
“It’s a pretty powerful way of regulating women and sending a message to them about getting back in their place.”
As Dr Toffoletti explained it, sportswomen are caught in a catch-22 situation when it comes to maintaining an online presence.
More than 97 per cent of athletes reported that it was necessary for them to maintain a social media presence, including 69 per cent who said they needed an account for work, sponsorship or their professional profile.
“They recognised a vicious cycle where their sports weren’t getting enough visibility, but when they attempted to put themselves out there — to promote themselves and their activities — they received abuse,” she said.
Making matters worse, 81 per cent said that experiencing online harm in turn affected their economic opportunities.
One in 10 also felt it necessary to close their social media accounts, while 64 per cent said they changed their online behaviour in some way, including posting less, or avoiding ‘heavy’ or politically-charged topics.
“Women felt compelled to present a palatable, pleasant online presence that didn’t disrupt or challenge the status quo,” Dr Toffoletti said.
Onus to solve online harm put on athletes, not offenders
According to Goodwin, the issue of online harm was compounded by sporting organisations and clubs putting the onus onto athletes to solve the problem.
“We have education sessions where we talk about expectations on players and their role in things, like, ‘don’t go out and antagonise people; don’t give them anything and don’t respond to them,’” she said.
“But the thing is it’s not just a me problem. I’m only replying to things that were sent to me.”
Lead researcher Dr Caitlin McGrane said this was a common theme in interviews with athletes, who were consistently told to ‘block’ and ‘ignore’ offenders, and be careful about what they posted:
“It puts the onus back on women to be defending themselves from the potential of harassment and harm, rather than stopping men from doing it in the first place,” she said.
“Basically we’re asking women to shrink themselves down, to take up less space, be less visible and not promote themselves as much, just in case.”
Athletes were also regularly encouraged to report abuse, but 80 per cent did not feel safer after doing so.
Goodwin said she reported multiple abusive posts on platforms like Facebook, but was told they did not go against community standards.
“That was despite the fact the phrasing was rather threatening and homophobic.”
It also regularly took weeks for her to receive a response.
“So my attitude is, ‘what’s reporting going to do?’”
Athletes sometimes felt harmed by their own clubs
The results of the research likewise showed that over half of those who experienced gendered online harm did not seek support for it.
Those who did overwhelmingly turned to friends and family or fellow athletes, rather than their clubs, sporting organisations or player unions.
“Some of the athletes we spoke to felt that if they raised it with their club, they were going to be seen as ‘mentally fragile’, as a complainer, or someone who couldn’t ‘hack’ it,” Dr Toffoletti said.
Alarmingly, some athletes also felt harmed by their own sporting clubs or organisations.
Respondents provided a variety of examples of this, including being excluded from group chats, misrepresented by their social media teams and lacking autonomy over what was posted about them.
Some of these posts led to body shaming, or sexist and homophobic comments about their appearance (for example being perceived as too ‘masculine’ or ‘aggressive’).
As a result, Dr McGrane said researchers came to the conclusion that gendered online harm was not just about trolling from strangers, but “a much broader range of behaviours”.
“We understand that social media teams are often under-resourced, and have a lot of pressure to put out content that gets traction,” she said.
“But what we’d like to see is cultural change within clubs, to explore the ways that we talk about women’s sport, and the way that women athletes are expected to present and perform femininity, because those things drive change in the way that women athletes get treated online.”
Culture change required to address gendered online harm
The study also made clear that diverse women experience online harm differently, including LGBTQI+ women and women of colour.
Researchers found that those sportswomen who had experienced both racist and sexist abuse, or racist and homophobic abuse, suffered greater impacts on their wellbeing.
However, they did not experience as significant an impact on their athletic performance, or economic opportunities, compared to other respondents.
“My reading of that is that for women of colour, and queer women, being denied economic opportunities, and having your sexuality and race commented on in relation to your performance is kind of par for the course,” Dr McGrane said.
“The fact is, women of colour and queer women are often denied economic opportunities in the first place.”
“What it’s telling me is that those women are absorbing the impact of online abuse on their own,” Dr Toffoletti added.
“They often don’t feel like they have the same kinds of support, or capacity to talk about it, so they carry the burden alone.”
This was compounded by the fact that sporting organisations and clubs were seen as reluctant to ‘call out’ gendered abuse online.
“This research shows what we’ve been saying was a problem; it’s evidence-based now. They can’t turn around and dismiss it, or women, any longer,” Goodwin said.
Dr Toffoletti agreed, arguing that cultural change was necessary from within sport.
“Perhaps the best way we can shift cultures of online hate and hostility is for organisations not just to back their athletes when they’re trolled, but to respect them through adequate remuneration, fair access to facilities, and marketing and promotion budgets that really celebrate women’s sport.”
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
