#DefendTheGame: end gender-based violence in sports
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, SUPPORTER, an EU-funded project dedicated to promoting gender equality in sports with a focus on gender-based violence, is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the prevalence of violence against women in sports.
Violence against women remains one of the most pervasive human rights challenges worldwide, with 1 in 3 women becoming victims of violence (WHO, 2024). In sports, women face high risks, combined with ineffective or non-existent prevention and response mechanisms.
Understanding violence in sports
Violence against women and girls in sports takes many forms, affecting athletes, coaches, referees, and fans. From grassroots to elite levels, women face disproportionate risks.
Forms of violence in sport
- Physical violence: Acts of kicking, beating, pushing, slapping, and hitting.
- Sexual violence: Unwanted sexual acts, harassment, or assaults, both online and offline.
- Psychological violence: Abusive behaviors such as controlling, coercion, verbal abuse, and blackmail.
- Economic violence: Acts that cause financial harm, including restricting access to resources or opportunities.
- Sexual harassment: Unwanted behaviors of a sexual nature, such as touching, comments, stalking, or sharing sexual content.
- Online violence: Cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and the non-consensual sharing of sexual images or text.
Key statistics on violence in sports
- Sexual abuse: 21% of women in sports experienced sexual abuse as children, nearly double the rate of male athletes – almost double the rate of male athletes. ( UNESCO, 2023)
- Online abuse: 87% of abusive posts during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics targeted female athletes, with most being sexualised (World Athletics, 2021)
- Physical harm: 31.8% of female athletes reported being subjected to excessive physical training as punishment. (Care, 2021),
- Emotional/psychological violence: Between 2%–80% of athletes reported experiencing emotional/psychological violence in sports. ( European Journal for Sport and Society, 2021)
How can you join?
Join us in the movement to DefendTheGame:
🥇 Pass it on: share this campaign to spread the word
🥈Be a champion: use DefendTheGame to amplify awareness
🥉Start the play: spark conversations about safer spaces for all genders in sports
References:
- https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386121
- https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-athletes-tokyo-olympic-games
- https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/3343_unwomen_unesco_vawg_handbook_6a_singlepage.pdf
- https://files.cargocollective.com/c520687/World-Players_CARE-Report-2021-.pdf
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women#:~:text=Estimates%20published%20by%20WHO%20indicate,sexual%20violence%20in%20their%20lifetime.
- https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/7971883/experiences_children_sport_main_report_wdf85014.pdf
- https://unizg.academia.edu/KsenijaBosnar
- https://www.tiesibsargs.lv/wp-content/uploads/migrate_2022/content/legacy/Vardarbiba_pret_berniem_Petijums_2015.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213415003646?via%3Dihub
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/16138171.2021.2003057
Featured image: AI generated