Sport is about sportsmanship and fair play. However not everyone involved with sports, as a player, official or coach, upholds the high principles of sport. Women players have to contend with many transgressions since they are sometimes subjected to molestation, sexual discrimination and harassment.
In recent years, several high-profile cases have caught the attention of the public wherein male officials were charged with molesting or assaulting female trainees in various sports.
Two women football players of Himachal Pradesh filed an FIR accusing an AIFF official named Deepak Sharma of drunken behaviour and assault. Following this, he was taken into custody by the Goa police since the incident occurred in Goa. The tyranny of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh upon the women wrestlers was another example of sexual harassment that India’s top women athletes have to face.
Previous cases
In 2016, the Kerala High Court had passed an order that the termination of a sports coach was a just and fair punishment for a coach who was guilty of misdemeanor against women players. A division bench of the KHC upheld the termination of Rajan David, a basketball coach of the state’s sports council who had filed an appeal against his termination.
Last year a POCSO court sentenced a football coach of Himachal Pradesh to 20 years imprisonment for raping a girl in his team. Earlier this year in Mumbai a badminton coach was sentenced to five years in jail for molestation of a 10-year-old girl trainee.
Guidelines must be formed
These cases are only the tip of the iceberg. Many other crimes have gone unpunished because the women were afraid to speak out. All these examples highlight the fact that it is of utmost importance and urgency that the Sports Ministry and all the sports bodies come together to lay down guidelines about the way in which women’s sport must be run.
India has produced many women champions who have brought glory to the country. It would be disgraceful if predatory officials are allowed to get away with their crimes against women athletes. It would deter promising and talented girls from coming up in sport. Their parents too would hesitate to send their children to participate in games if their safety is not assured.
Women such as P.T. Usha, Sania Mirza, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, Mithali Raj, Nikhat Zareen and many other women athletes have enhanced India’s prestige in the world. India needs more women to take up sport and shine on the sports fields. This can happen only if the safety and comfort of our women players are given due importance and unruly elements are kept away from the scene.
What can be done?
One way is to find more women coaches to take charge of developing women’s sports. While there is no guarantee that every woman coach would be blameless, nevertheless it is likely that at least the chances of sexual misconduct would be reduced.
But the problem is that there are very few top level women coaches in all the different sports in India. Sport continues to be a male dominated activity. Coaches, physiotherapists, trainers and support staff are almost always men. Women who seek to make a career in these fields, and specialise in sports, are very few. So it is important to bring more women into these areas like sports coaching and support staff.
Sports academies for girls
Secondly, should there be sports academies exclusively for women athletes?
This is a question that needs to be debated upon. Again, in order for such an idea to be implemented, there would be a need to bring in highly qualified and experienced staff to run such academies. But if it could be brought into existence, both girls and their parents would probably find the sports environment safer and more productive.
As the very first step, sports bodies in India must be urged to implement stricter background checks on those who are in charge of women’s sports. Rules and laws have to be formulated to prevent instances of abuse. Until some significant steps are taken, this issue will remain a major concern for women athletes. Clearly there is a great need for vigilance and accountability in the sports scenario in India.
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