Nearly half of female football fans suffer sexist abuse at matches
Most fans have never reported the abuse to authorities, a study by Kick It Out has found
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Close to half of female football fans in England and Wales have personally experienced sexist or misogynistic abuse at matches but most have never reported it to authorities, a new study by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out revealed on Wednesday.
Wolf-whistling, being questioned about their knowledge of the rules and persistent badgering were some of the forms of sexist behaviour experienced by the 1,502 people surveyed, of whom 7% said they had been touched inappropriately, 3% were victims of physical violence and 2% sexually assaulted or harassed.
Although the research showed sexism was still a significant issue for female match-goers, as well as for non-binary fans, 77% said they felt safe attending matches and four in 10 stated their experiences had been improving over time.
But ethnic minorities, members of the LGBTQ community, those with disabilities and younger people were more likely to feel unsafe and experience sexism in a soccer setting, the research said.
The vast majority of those surveyed, 85%, said they had never reported the abuse, mostly because they didn’t think it would make a difference.
“Football needs to step up to ensure sexism is taken seriously and that women feel safe and confident to report discrimination,” said Hollie Varney, from Kick It Out. “We’ve seen reports of sexism to Kick It Out increase significantly in recent seasons.”
The research has also highlighted the use of sexist language, with 53% of respondents saying they had experienced or witnessed women being told that they should be elsewhere, such as “back in the kitchen”.
Using the research data, Kick It Out has launched a campaign to ensure women fans know sexist abuse is discrimination and can be reported, and to show male fans how they can challenge those behaviours when they see them.
Reports of sexism in soccer go beyond fans’ experiences. In 2014, a female employee exposed sexist emails Premier League former chief executive Richard Scudamore sent to friends, forcing him to apologise.
In 2018, the Football Association was forced to apologise after it was accused of sexism for sharing a picture on X of the England women’s soccer team with the caption: “Scrub up well, don’t they?”
In Spain, former footbball federation chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial for his unsolicited kiss of women’s national team player Jenni Hermoso in August last year. For players and fans, this proved that despite progress in the women’s game more structural change was needed.
Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments