Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

3.7 Sexual harassment among female athletes in the Czech Republic
Kari Fasting, Trine Thoresen and Nadia Knorre
Background
In this chapter we will present results extracted from a larger study of female
athletes in the Czech Republic. Since the gender order in a society may influence
women’s participation and experiences in sport, in this introduction we will present
some statistics about the gender order in Czech Republic as well as some of their
legislation concerning equal rights and sexual harassment. We think it is important
that the results of the study are interpreted and understood relative to this
information.
The Czech Republic of today is a very young state, founded in 1993. From
1948 until ‘the velvet revolution’ in 1989 it was a totalitarian communist state under
the Soviet Union. In this period the emancipation of women became a part of the
political doctrine. This is perhaps the most significant reason why many people today
do not feel the urge to pursue equal opportunities for girls and women. Research
shows conclusively that women and men do not have equal opportunities either in
sport or in society at large, yet still many believe that the opportunities are equal. For
example, the unemployment rate among women is 40% higher than among men, and
women’s’ salaries average only 73% of men’s, in spite of the fact that women have
as much education as men. 1The representation of women in the Czech Parliament is
only 17% and in the higher levels of government it is no more than 12%. These
statistics are much lower than most European countries, and the gender distribution
in leadership in politics is naturally also mirrored in the sport organizations. Only 8%
of the members in the executive committees in the different Czech sport federations
are women. 2
In the Czech Republic, protection against discrimination based on sex is
provided by various laws, but a specific gender equity law is not yet in place. 3 In
2004, however, an amendment to the labour code took legal effect. This new
amendment states that sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal. It brings the
Labour Code into line with that of other EU nations.
Every year between 30 and 40 children in the Czech Republic die because of
physical violence. Violence against women is looked upon as a natural and common
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