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In response to a series of high-profile cases of sexual abuse of athletes in the 1990s, sport organizations across several nations engaged in policy development intended to introduce preventive measures and processes to address athlete maltreatment. In 1996, Sport Canada – the funding body for national sport organizations (NSOs) – stipulated that such funding was to be contingent upon each NSO having a harassment policy and trained, arm’s-length harassment officers who would address complaints. Some 17 years have passed since these requirements were mandated, and it is timely to address the current status of these policies. The purpose of this study therefore was to examine the extent to which the policies of sport organizations meet the requirements stipulated by Sport Canada. A review of a sample of sport organizations revealed that 86% of national and 71% of provincial (Ontario) sport organizations had accessible harassment policies. In many, however, critical information, such as a detailed complaint process, or articulation of the rights of the complainant and respondent was missing. Although all of the national and provincial organizations’ policies included references to a harassment officer, only 10% and 14%, respectively, actually had harassment officers; furthermore, none of these were at arm’s length to the organization. The results clearly indicate that Canada is falling far short of the requirements initially stipulated by Sport Canada for athlete protection. Recommendations are made for having a centralized pool of trained harassment officers and an approach to policies and practices that reflect a broader ‘ethic of care’ approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sexual harassment of university female athletes in Kenya. The specific aspects of sexual harassment assessed were perpetrators, frequency, location and time, forms or types, reactions of the respondents and physical complaints experienced by sexually harassed female athletes. Data were collected using questionnaires from 339 university female athletes who were participating at a university sport tournament in 2013.Results showed that 64.4% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment incidences and the major perpetuators were spectators with sexual harassment occurring mostly in the playing fields. The most common forms of sexual harassment were sexually offensive looks, comments and unwanted comments on attractiveness in public. The female athlete's reactions to sexual harassment were staying away from the perpetuators, telling them off and talking to somebody they trusted. Their physical complaints after the episodes of sexual harassment were headaches, fatigue and insomnia. Female athletes need to be advised on diverse measures to mitigate the effects of sexual harassment in universities. Universities also need to generate and implement specific sexual harassment policies which are applicable in sport settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is often assumed that the prevalence of sexual harassment is different in different sports, the assumption has not been empirically tested. This study considers whether the experience of sexual harassment varies by sport. The female elite athletes (N = 553) in the study participated in 56 different sport disciplines. These were grouped as: 1) team or individual sports; 2) extent to which clothing required for competition is revealing; 3) gender structure (male- or female- dominated membership statistics); and 4) gender culture (masculine, gender-neutral or feminine). The data show that sexual harassment occurs in every sport group. Female elite athletes who participated in `masculine' sports appear to experience more harassment than women in the other groups. We conclude that, when it comes to female athletes' experiences of sexual harassment, sport type matters far less than sport participation per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the participation of youth in competitive sport has increased. This has led to the occurrence of many psychiatric problems in youth. This study investigates the 1) Over-training syndrome, 2) Female athlete triad, 3) Hyperventilation syndrome, 4) Psychological development of younger athletes, 5) Sexual harassment in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the significance of sports in human development. The author reveals that sport involvement and the formal recognition of sport as a fundamental human right results to the achievement of a peak performance state. Moreover, sports administrators facilitate the personal growth and development of the athletes. However, he emphasized the occurrence of sexual harassment and sexual abuse, not only in women but in sportsmen as well. He reveals that sportsmen experience the abuse of hazing and initiation rituals rooted in sexual identity challenges. Moreover, sportsmen also report sexual victimization. He recommends mechanisms to preserve the safety of sport participants from sexual harassment including creation of public policy in sports and training of sport administrators.

The article presents a review of essays including "Spoilsports: Understanding and preventing sexual exploitation in sport," "The Dome of Silence: Sexual harassment and abuse in sport," and "Sexual Harassment in Sports: Issues, impact, and challenges." The author declares that the three essays provide empirical evidences of sexual abuse in sport especially in women. It reveals that sexual exploitation involves discrimination, harassment and abuse. The essays question the role attribution that cultures confer on coaches. They emphasize the necessity of effective implementation of policies concerning sexual abuse in sport.

Definitions of sexual harassment in sport are more problematic than in other social settings, as sport naturally requires more physical contact, and traditionally legitimizes male domination. This study examines perceptions of what is considered sexual harassment of female athletes by male coaches, treating them as cultural phenomena related to gender and to the society in which it is examined. The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine which coach behaviors are perceived as sexual harassment by student-athletes in Israel; (2) to examine whether these perceptions are similar to, or different from, perceptions of Israeli coaches on the one hand, and American student-athletes on the other hand; (3) to assess the harassment incidence in the lives of Israeli student-athletes. The survey sample included 301 female students and 75 coaches from the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences and from the Coaching School at the Wingate Institute, Israel. Participants answered a 27-item questionnaire (adapted from Volkwein et al., 1997), describing various coach behaviors, marking to what degree they perceive each behavior as potential harassment. In addition, student-athletes were asked to mark how often they experienced such behaviors, and to report whether or not they were personally harassed. A factor analysis of the 27 items identified four factors: verbal or physical advances, non-instructional/potentially threatening behavior, sexist behavior, and instruction-related behavior. Statistically significant differences were found between coaches and female student-athletes in the degree of severity in which they relate to the behaviors in the first factor. Israeli student-athletes have stricter standards compared to American students in their perceptions of sexual harassment in sport. Harassment experiences related to sport were reported by 14 percent of the respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of sexual harassment among women athletes coached by men in the male-dominated world of elite sport. Drawing on interviews with 32 female athletes, we focus on the women's own interpretations of the behaviours they encounter, and locate their experiences of sexual harassment within the broader context of gender harassment and discrimination which shapes much of their experience in sport. We consider the possibility of challenging sexual harassment in sport by changing the terms of women's participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]