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Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion played each other in the Women’s FA Cup
BBC conducted survey with more than 500 elite British women sports stars
One-Minute Read
The Week Staff
Monday, August 10, 2020 - 1:06pm
A study by BBC Sport has revealed that almost a third of elite British sportswomen have received online abuse by trolls on social media channels.
See related
Football’s ‘wake-up call’ after rise in racist and abusive incidents Online abuse: Five things we learnt about trolling Comments on appearance and sexist remarks were a regular theme in answers from respondents who participated in the BBC Elite British Sportswomen’s Survey.
One respondent said she considered quitting her sport after “horrific” online abuse following a poor performance while another was told she is “not really British” after receiving comments on Twitter. Following a fall a female jockey was told by a man that he “hoped the horse was ok and not you”.
Darts player Deta Hedman revealed that she had suffered racial abuse and was told “hope you die of cancer”.
The survey was sent out to 1, 068 women in 39 different sports and received 537 responses. It is the third time the BBC has conducted the study - previous editions were in 2015 and 2013.
In response to the survey BBC Sport has also announced a new policy to tackle hate speech across its platforms.
Reactions to the survey
Tammy Parlour, chief executive of the Women’s Sport Trust
“We have seen a lot of positive momentum in women’s sport over the last five years, but this is a stark reminder that there is still so much more to be done. It’s crucial to see these results as symptoms of the wider system, understand what is creating this environment, and address the underlying causes.”
Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport
“The past few years have seen fantastic progress with women's sport starting to get the profile it deserves. I was sent an image of a club crest full of ironing boards and told this was the team I should play for. However, it is absolutely unacceptable that this visibility has been matched by a rise in online abuse of our sports stars. We have set out world-leading plans that will make online platforms safer for users, and we will continue to engage with providers to see what more can be done.”
The survey in numbers
160 (30%): have been trolled on social media (up from 14% in 2015)
86% (460): earn less than £30, 000 per year from sport
36% (191): do not feel supported by their club/governing body to have a baby and continue to compete
20% (109): experienced or witnessed racism in their sport
65% (347): experienced sexism in their sport but only 10% (51) reported it
78%: are conscious of their body image
UK News
https://www.theweek.co.uk/womens-sport/107759/bbc-sport-survey-sportswomen-social-media-trolls