The UN report on the abuse of women and girls in sport is a wake-up call for Australia

This week, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls presented a report detailing the violence women and girls face in sport worldwide.

The report provides a global snapshot of the abuse female athletes experience, and who is most likely to perpetrate the violence, and makes recommendations on what needs to be done to promote the safety of women and girls.

Following the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, where Australia welcomed the record-breaking success of female athletes, the report should be a wake-up call for Australian sports and clubs.

Abuse of women and girls in sports

Based on more than 100 submissions and consultation with 50 people, the report concludes:

Women and girls in sport face widespread, overlapping and serious forms and manifestations of violence at all levels.

These forms of abuse include coercive control, physical violence, corporal punishment, verbal abuse, social exclusion, bullying and identity abuse.

The consequences of this violence are broad: physical injury, insomnia, fear and anxiety, decreased self-confidence, substance abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, and declines in athletic performance and participation.

These consequences can extend far beyond the athlete’s involvement in their sport.

Women and girls also experience economic violence in sports. For example, when female athletes have no control over their earnings, or when they are forced to sign exploitative contracts.

The report notes that female athletes are also more likely to experience abusive and harassing behavior in online environments. This includes sexual harassment and threats, racism, ridicule, body shaming, sexualized comments, stalking, doxing and revenge porn.

The perpetrators are diverse. They include coaches, managers, spectators, teachers, colleagues, sports lawyers, referees and medical staff.

The report describes sexual harassment and abuse as “rampant” and acknowledges high rates of sexual violence, especially in relationships between coaches and athletes.

This includes the grooming of younger athletes, where power and control dynamics, combined with abuse of trust between an adult and a child athlete, create the conditions for sexual abuse to spread.

It follows a 2023 report from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Women, which estimated that 21% of girls worldwide experienced at least one form of sexual abuse as children in sports.

Is this a problem in Australia?

Australians often take pride in the way sport brings the nation, communities and families together, but we too have a far-reaching problem in this area.

In 2021, a Swimming Australia review found that female athletes and coaches had experienced physical and mental abuse, while Gymnastics Australia’s ‘Change the Routine’ review found child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment and mistreatment of gymnasts brought the light.

More recently, a Sports Integrity Australia investigation into Australian volleyball, which revealed systemic verbal and physical abuse of athletes, led to a formal apology to former athletes.

And a 2024 Deakin University study found that 87% of Australian sportswomen had experienced harm online in the past year.

A lack of responsibility and consistency

In the traditionally male-dominated sporting culture, abusers are often unsanctioned, while those who experience abuse often leave their sport prematurely, with significant consequences for their careers, financial stability and mental and physical well-being.

There are examples where abuse by management has been minimized or ignored to protect the team’s reputation or the sporting code, and where coaches have been able to change teams without consequences.

Take, for example, the sexual abuse of young female gymnasts by American coach Larry Nassar.

The first complaint against Nassar was filed in 1997. Despite this, and the many other complaints that followed, Nassar remained in his coaching position at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University until 2015. In December 2017, he was convicted of numerous counts of sexual abuse of minors.

Results of research by sports organizations often remain confidential. For example, in 2017, the Fremantle Dockers and the AFL were criticized for their use of a ‘confidentiality agreement’ in settling a sexual harassment issue.

This impunity shows a significant lack of responsibility.

The barriers to reporting abuse in sport

There are significant barriers to reporting.

Elite female athletes may fear losing their funding and sponsorship deals if they report abuse.

In Australia, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard that child athletes are most at risk of being abused by a person in authority (such as a coach) when they are about to perform their best.

As the UN report states, it is at this point that “there is very little to be gained by exposing the abuse and too much to be lost.”

This must change.

When sporting codes put the desire to win above protection and accountability, the clear message to victims is that violence is excusable and that sporting heroes are immune from the consequences of their abuse.

Increasing awareness around the early identification of abusive behavior is critical.

The UN report found that athletes often feel uncertain and uncomfortable identifying early forms of abuse and lack information about what support is available to them if they do.

Ensuring a series of reporting pathways is also critical. There is no one-size-fits-all model.

Why Australia must take the lead

Practicing sports has great benefits. But sports environments must be safe for everyone.

Many sporting organizations and clubs have recognized the problem of abuse of women and girls in sport and have introduced respect and responsibility programmes, sexual harassment policies and clearer reporting and investigation policies.

This is a good start, but it needs to be built on.

The safety of women and girls must be a key focus of Australia’s High Performance ‘Win Well’ Strategy for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Recent initiatives and policy changes should be monitored to examine how they are working and whether they are delivering safer outcomes for women and girls in sport at all levels.

Responses to proven allegations of abuse must hold perpetrators accountable. And crucially, investigations must be independent, transparent and timely.

The UN report reminds us that “sport is a microcosm of society”.

Violence against women and children in Australia has been declared a national emergency. Ensuring the safety of women and girls in all sporting settings is a crucial part of tackling that crisis.