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The Dark Side of Sports- Violence Against Women at The Olympics
(August 04, 2012)The Dark Side of Sports- Violence Against Women at The Olympics
By Natalie Ntim
I live in East London, and although the opening ceremony was beautiful and entertaining, I’ve found it difficult to get excited about the Olympics themselves.
LOCOG, the Olympics organisers, have done very little to convince me that they mean it when they say that they care about what happens to the people living and working around the Olympic venues (or in other words, those least likely to be able to afford a ticket).
This is particularly true for women, who are at increased risk of experiencing violence at large scale sporting events. And yet, LOCOG haven’t done much to tackle violence against women in the run up to and during the Olympics, one of the biggest sporting events there is.
The variety of ways in which women are at a higher risk of violence is extensive – and shocking. A large body of research has shown that male athletes, from university to professional level, are more likely to commit acts of violence against women than other men.
The influx of people at major international supporting events creates an environment where there is a greater market for paid sex, leading to an increase in trafficking and all the things that go with it, such as sexual exploitation and assault.
Women have also raised concerns about the increased risk of domestic violence during sporting events, fuelled by a combination of heightened aggression from watching or participating in competitive sport and drinking more alcohol than usual. Finally, women athletes themselves are at risk of abuse from their coaches, either through emotionally and physically violent coaching methods or sexual harrassment and exploitation.
So you’d think that all this evidence would be enough to push LOCOG into action right? Well, not exactly. The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition had been meeting with LOCOG for most of last year, asking them to inform all visitors to the Games, including competitors, about violence againt women and girls and of the increased risk.
LOCOG agreed to do this, as well as including contact details for helplines and local women’s organisations who could support women who had experienced violence. But LOCOG pulled out just before the information packs went to print, and it was only because of further negotiations with EVAW that they finally agreed to keep some information in the packs. What they did include – a vague paragraph about violence against women and one phone number to victim support – was definitely not what they had promised to do last year.
Campaigners are worried that LOCOG bailed on their agreement because they saw violence against women and girls as too negative and depressing for the public. This kind of approach is really unhelpful and LOCOG have missed out on the perfect opportunity to lead by example in tackling violence against women at major sporting events.
So far, so frustrating. But, women’s organisations in Newham, collaborating with the council and local police, have taken matters into their own hands and set up a Domestic Violence Hub in Stratford. Open during the Olympic Period, the Hub will support women who experience any form of violence, including sexual harrassment, emotional abuse and stalking.
I don’t know how they got the cash to do this, but in the current climate it can’t have been easy. So to LOCOG and Seb Coe, I say the Olympics haven’t inspired me at all, but the strength of women survivors of violence – and the work of the organisations that support them – always will.
For more information on research about sporting events and violence against women, please click here.