Researching sexual exploitation in sport: A female athlete perspective Mr. Kumbar Mantesh Bharamanna*, Dr. B Gajanana Prabhu**, Dr. Hoovanna Sakhpal*** *Research Scholar, Singhania University, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. **Assistant Professor in Physical Education, Kuvempu University, Shimoga. ***Assistant Professor in Physical Education, School of Physical Education, Karnataka State Women's University, Bijapur. Online published on 3 November, 2012. Abstract Sport has held a special place for its supposed virtues and its potential as a tool of economic and social development. The special status of sport has also protected it from critical scrutiny and meant that social inequalities and other problems, such as sexual harassment and abuse, have all-too-often been ignored or tacitly condoned. The social problem of sexual exploitation in sport has been constructed differently, at different times, by different stakeholders, with different agendas. Sexual abuse was recognized as a social problem for society some ten years before it came to the attention of researchers and administrators in sport. There is an emerging body of knowledge that now underpins both harassment free sport and child protection policy initiatives. Reactions to research work on sexual abuse in sport were far from welcoming. Only since the start of the moral panic over child sexual exploitation in sport, and with the help of pro-feminist accounts by men in sport, have such practices been exposed and public tolerance decreased in many of the countries. Sexual harassment in India is also regarded as a serious issue which has always been not reported due to social stigmas. Research studies quoting incidents of sexual harassment on female athletes in India are cited in the present review. Various dimensions of protecting female athletes from sexual exploitation in sport are discussed and recommendations for minimizing the risk of sexual exploitations are made. Top Keywords Female athlete, Sexual exploitation, harassment, abuse, sport. Top |