Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

The results show that 30% of the students have experienced sexual
harassment from men in sport. There was however large differences between
the countries. Only 20% among the Norwegian students, compared to 35% in
Czech Republic and 32% in Greece had experienced one or more of the
forms of sexual harassment mentioned above. x When asked about the forms
of sexually harassing behaviours experienced from men inside sport,
unwanted sexual glances, etc. was the form that the students reported
experiencing the most (20 %), followed by ridicule (15 %) and unwanted
physical contact (14 %). More specifically when looking at differences by
country, there were no statistical differences among them concerning the
students’ experiences with ridicule. However, the two other forms of sexual
harassment did yield significant differences between countries. It was the
Czech students who reported experiencing the most of unwanted sexual
glances, etc. by men from in sport, and the Greek female students who
experienced the most of unwanted physical contact by men in sport.
Norwegian students had experienced the least on all three forms. xi
Other analysis from the same study has revealed that 19% of these
female students have been harassed by their coaches. It seemed that those
who had experienced sexual harassment from a coach also had experienced
more authoritarian coaching. xii
Reflections
One point that should be made based on some of the results presented
above is that there is no reason to conclude that sport is worse than other
arenas. Sexual harassment is a societal problem so it occurs in sport but it
does not seem to occur there more often than in other settings.
Another reflection is that these results should have consequences for
the development of policies and procedures for the prevention of sexual
harassment and abuse, and for the education of coaches and athletes, as well
as sport psychology consultants and other support personnel. The last
reflection to be made is the lack of studies on children’s experiences of
violence in sport. In Norway we have many studies on children in sport, but
none have focused on sexual harassment and abuse. We therefore need
studies both quantitatively and qualitatively about young people’s and
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