Gender and physical education, physical activity and sport (PEPAS) policy brief.

Abstract

Online gender-based violence (GBV) can include sexually explicit language, unpleasant remarks or social criticism connected to gender, gendered-microaggressions, sexual allusions, exaggerated rape and murder threats, and stalking. Violent interactions may be text or image-based and can target individuals directly and/or those closest to them. The disproportionate levels of GBV that women and girls experience online is a major societal concern (Kavanagh, Litchfield & Osborne, 2019; Fenton, Ahmed, Hardey, Boardman & Kavanagh, 2024). Online GBV in sport curtails the rights of women and girls, impacts on their liberty, and poses a significant threat to their health, safety and wellbeing. The aim of this policy briefing is to: • Share the research perspective on online gender-based violence against women and girls in sport and to make recommendations for global sporting organisations, online platforms, and governments who have a moral obligation to foster safer online communities. Our research identifies that online violence against women and girls in sport: • Perpetuates widespread sexism, misogyny, and narratives of hatred of women; • Disparages, humiliates, threatens, and/or hyper-sexualises women athletes; • Reinforces and promotes gendered hierarchies and belittles professional skills; • Explicitly threatens the physical safety of targets and/or those closest to them, radiating beyond the recipient; • Can result in the silencing and removal of women and girls from online spaces. Key features of online GBV in sport 1. The high-profile nature of sport and fan-related behaviour increases the risk of women athletes being a recipient of violence and increases tolerance for violent discourse. 2. It is not only elite women who are targets of online violence, the risks extend to women and girls competing across sport and its levels. 3. It can result in embodied harm to recipients. 4. Violent interactions online not only directly impact recipients but also can harm observers or bystanders.