A large and troubling iceberg: sexism and misogyny in women’s work as sport coaches

Abstract

In the wake of a number of high profile cases, sport organisations in Canada, are taking abuse and harassment in sport more seriously. For the most part, recent initiatives have addressed the harms faced by athletes. This paper considers the harassment experienced by Canadian women coaches. The study is based on data from two focus groups (n = 4 and n = 5) held with women basketball and volleyball coaches. The coaches described a range of common experiences that would be classified as harassment under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Focusing here on the harassment perpetuated by male referees, we argue that such incidents stem from systemic issues in sport and in the broader culture. Our evidence suggests that misogyny and sexism need to be explicitly addressed in safe sport policies and in programmes designed to address the diminishing numbers of women in coaching.

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