6 Ways to Tackle Online Abuse Against Women Athletes
In 2001, I moved from my home country of Canada to Sanbon, a small suburb of Seoul, to teach English. For about a year, I muddled my way through learning the culture and language.
I tried to fit in, but I always felt like I stuck out. Then came the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
It was a great party. For a huge sports fan, you can’t get much better than the football World Cup. That Saturday afternoon, South Korea beat Spain in a shootout 5-3 in a nil- nil match, and the crowd went wild. Dae-han-min-gook! Dae-han-min-gook! I chanted and sang and danced with strangers all the way back to my village.
Of course, the party was only getting started in Sanbon. I spent the night celebrating in the streets with my opa and oni, and my landlord Shin Sun Hoon. We spoke the language of pride, joy, and bad dance moves.
I was included. And finally, I belonged. But that wasn’t even the best part.
As the tournament progressed, I saw a change in the confidence and self-esteem of the whole country. I felt the pride of my students and neighbours grow, all of us in our Be The Reds t-shirts, cheering on the team through the quarters, semis and 3rd place final. They were included on the world stage.
While sport grows a sense of belonging across diverse cultures and identities, online abuse destroys it.
Sadly sportswomen–especially those with intersectional identities–are at greater risk of being targeted by online trolls. In a recent analysis of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships for example, the most trolled female athlete received 3.5X more identity attacks compared to the most trolled male athlete.
Not only does online abuse impact athlete performance and mental health, and make the online space less diverse and inclusive, but it fuels a negative cycle of toxicity around women’s sport more broadly by reinforcing systematic issues like sexism.
Of course, this isn’t “new news”. However, while there is awareness of the problem of online abuse and its effects on women in sport, there is less understanding of how to tackle the issue. So let’s outline the 6 ways we can own this issue in order to overcome it.
Recognize the issue.
We must recognize this is an issue in women's sport, and commit to addressing the problem. Form a working group, or integrate the process within certain departments or roles. This could include asking athletes about their experience with online abuse, creating safeguarding policies, or training social media managers on how to deal with toxicity.
2. Track abuse and harassment on your/your athletes’ social channels.
You can’t fix what you can’t measure, so you need to track your accounts and quantify the problem. Organizations need to find out who’s receiving the hate, who needs support and what overall sentiment your community has.
3. Share your findings to understand industry trends.
Share your findings and possible next steps with your athletes and stakeholders. Work with media and partners to educate the public about the impact on athletes, fans and the game. Sometimes people forget that their favourite famous athlete is a person too - the onus is on the organization to remind them.
4. Moderate toxicity to counteract hate, and be an active bystander.
Clean up your community by moderating the hate as it comes in. Hide, block and delete comments that don’t match your community standards. It is important to remember that real “fans” don’t post prejudiced messages, and allowing toxicity to go unchecked can appear like your organization agrees with the sentiment.
5. Report bad actors to the platforms, and make mental health reporting simple.
Create a simple pathway for athletes to report their mental health status with you and your mental health partners. Report trolls to platforms on behalf of your team.
6. Team up with others with the same mission of improving online culture.
Build a network of supporters who believe in what you’re doing and want to be active bystanders. Encourage them to speak up, support the athletes and call people in.
Involve all your partners and stakeholders including athletes, sport bodies, sponsors, fans and media. Collaborate on ideas to build a more positive online environment.
Today, professional athletes and their fans, teams and communities face an unprecedented epidemic of online abuse, particularly women. To grow and sustain women’s sport, we need to combat online abuse.
Next year, Aotearoa New Zealand is co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup. I now live in Tāmaki Makarau Auckland, and I hope to dance in my community’s streets with my family, friends and neighbours.
And while we celebrate the beautiful game, I hope I can rest easy, knowing that we’re doing everything we can to create positive, inclusive digital communities where fans can engage with their heroes, and where my daughter, if she chooses to fulfil my dream of her becoming a professional tennis star, will be safe at work on social media in 2032.
Written by Areto Labs co-founder and Chief Product Officer Jacqueline Comer
