Harassment And Abuse In Sports

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Harassment and abuse are considered breaches of human rights and occur in all countries. According to Encyclopedia of Psychology, sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims who are not able to give consent. Most of victims and perpetrators know each other. In sport, women athletes are more frequent victims of harassment and abuse than men athletes. Many women athletes drop out of sport rather than continue being subjected to the constant harassment and abuse. They endure the sexual attention of their male coaches or peers because of fear, desire for athletic reward, low self-esteem and ignorance of who to turn to for help. Typically, abused athletes keep quiet because they fear that they will be accused of consenting or just make up a story. Recent studies by Women Sport International indicate that sexual harassment and abuse is just as much a problem in sport as it is elsewhere in society. Many sports organisations do not have adequate mechanisms in place to help protect frightened athletes and to exclude harassers and abusers. . It is not true when some people think that if the victim did not resist it does not count as abuse. This thought totally wrong and hurtful because it will makes the victims difficult to speak out and more likely to blame themselves. The examples of sexual abuse are rough sexual activity, rape and forcible sodomy either oral or anal sex. Sexual harassment may be verbal, non