A survey conducted for Int'l Women’s Day revealed that "more than twice as many women in football claim to have been sexually harassed and almost three times as many to have been denied access on gender grounds than two years ago," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Published by Women in Football, the second major study of the issues facing females working in the game "paints a shocking picture at the lack of progress made since the inaugural survey" was carried out in '14. The findings two years ago revealed 7% of women in football claimed to have "been victims of sexual harassment" and another 7% to have "been barred from certain areas on the basis of their gender." Those figures "soared" to 15% and 19%, respectively, in the latest survey of 505 female players, coaches, match officials, administrators, doctors, physios, lawyers, agents, and media, PR and sponsorship professionals. The survey also found that almost half of respondents "had been victims of sexism, while almost two-thirds had experienced sexist banter or jokes in the workplace." Anonymous comments from respondents included: "Sexist incidents occur daily due to the culture of the environment we work in" and "there are far too many sexist incidents to describe. It's endemic" (TELEGRAPH, 3/8). In London, David Conn reported the survey "sounds the alarm with football reeling from the former Sunderland and England winger Adam Johnson’s conviction last week for sexual activity with a child and grooming." Its publication also "coincides with the latest stage of the legal case for constructive dismissal being fought by the former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro," which includes a claim she was discriminated against by the club’s then manager, José Mourinho, when she was demoted from first-team duties. A spokesperson for Women in Football said, "It is difficult to think of many other industries which experience such cases, and have half of the women working in it saying they experience sexism, yet the football authorities are still not doing enough to address it." The survey cited anecdotal experiences with some saying women "feared for their jobs and careers if they complained and had no confidence in reporting sexist discrimination or abuse to their bosses, believing they would tend to protect the man perpetrating the abuse rather than take action" (GUARDIAN, 3/7).
