GRSJ224/Rape Culture in Canadian University Sport

Rape Culture

Rape culture is an environment that condones male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is conceived as sexy and promotes the physical and emotional abuse against women as the norm. Behaviours that reflect this intolerable culture range from sexual remarks to non-consensual touching to rape itself ^[1].

Rape culture is a culture that affects all women either directly or indirectly. Whether it is feeling unsafe while walking alone at night, or being a victim of rape, our society is tainted with a culture that disregards women’s rights and safety.

"University Sport is an Institutional Hot Spot of Sexual Violence"

Elite male athletes are often granted celebrity status and privilege on their campuses, which may lead to a sense of impunity and sexual entitlement. Results of a review conducted in 2017 of media reports of sexual violence on Canadian university campuses in the past 10 years indicate that 23% involved are university athletes as perpetrators. Given that about 1% - 3% of the university student population is composed of athletes, these statistics show that the number of alleged university athletes is largely out of proportion, deeming that university sport is a “hot spot” for sexual violence.

Endorsed Rape Culture in Canadian University Sport

U Sports is the national sport organization that governs university sport in Canada

The three main forms of sexual violence in Canadian university sport are athlete-perpetrated sexual violence against women, gang rapes committed by athletes against women, and athlete-on-athlete sexual violence in the course of hazing rituals. These are not the only forms of sexual violence but seem to be the most prevalent in Canadian university sport. There are certain factors which contribute to this statistical finding that student-athletes have a significantly higher rate of performing acts of sexual violence than the average university student.

Patriarchal Environment

Authors argue that, “Sexual harassment and sexual assault are particularly likely to occur in tightly knit competitive male groups (e.g. military units, gangs, college fraternities, sport) that bind men emotionally to one another and contribute to their seeing sex relations from a position of power and status”. Many values and standards within the institution of sport rely heavily on power dynamics and a potentially dangerous form of masculine identity that relies on violence. Male athletes are encouraged to aspire towards identities that emanate toughness, strength, power and dominance.

While performing in given sports, like hockey, football, and rugby etc. it is encouraged to be aggressive and sometimes violent against the opponent, to send messages to the other teams, and gain an identity that other teams should fear. By encouraging an aggressive and young risk-taker in male athletes, it may influence and carry over to their social environments, which may increase an athlete’s actions to perform acts of sexual violence. In this type of institution, hypermasculinity and an intense group identity may hinder moral and ethical decision making, and this may be intrerpreted as the endorsing of rape culture as a result.

The Desire to Fit in

A component of displaying masculinity in sport has evolved into being willing to engage in sexual acts in front of teammates and participate in group violations of women's and rookie athlete’s bodies. One Canadian university hockey player gives detailed information about his experience of being involved in the gang rape of a woman in an interview with Laura Robinson (1998):

[He] told me about an initiation where they had to have sex with this one girl in a hotel room … she told them to stop it. They were hurting her. [He] knew she didn’t want it. There were eight guys altogether. He didn’t want to do it, because he knew he was about to rape a girl, and he knew he wasn’t a rapist. But he knew what the team would do to him if he didn’t rape her, so he did. (p. 122)

This quote gives insight into the dynamics of sexual violence and sport, where some athletes commit to and support rape culture to maintain masculine status and a place on their team.

Most recent news in U Sport, where a high esteemed track coach is track coach is accused of sexual harassment, and the university was aware of previous complaints from athletes about this coachStory here.

Language Choice

Coaches, sports clubs, and university administrators who ignore or cover up incidents, and model inappropriate behaviourand language are just as responsible for endorsing a rape culture within their institutions. Language plays a serious role in influencing the associations between sex, violence and sport. During gameplay, it is often that “chirping” the other team often involves comments that are sexually violent towards players, and sometimes these comments imply sexual violence against women.

Members of the Saint Mary's University Huskie’s football team were caught tweeting messages that that were misogynistic and nasty, such as, “b*tch get on yo knees,” “See a girl who’s feeling down? Feel her up,” “That b*tch bit me last night. Hope you’re dead in a ditch, you scum.” Other posts included slurs about women. These players were later suspended for their tweets. These tweets are an example of how some sport cultures can evolve into environments were this type of language and behaviour is percieved to be okay. The players tweeted these for their peers to see and disregarded the endorsement of rape culture they were committing.

Individuals often defend themselves, saying this type of behaviour is unacceptable, but they continue to still say misogynistic and repulsive phrases. Even if some individuals do not think they endorse rape culture, if they chose to use inappropriate language their words are still promoting this unacceptable culture. As individuals we must take it upon ourselves to be conscious about the effect our choice of language can have on promoting certain beliefs and ideologies.