We Need to Talk About Rape and Sexual Assault (in Football)

I would like to preface this piece by saying I have never experienced rape, sexual assault or domestic violence first-hand, nor can I understand what being a victim is like. The lengths of my contact with the crime are female friends and people close to me that have been affected by sexual assault. However, I felt that it was important to speak about football’s failings in dealing with the subject. If you are someone that has been affected or know someone that has been, here is a link to a support service. You can also Direct Message me on Twitter (@calcio_danny) and I’ll do anything I can to help.

Recently I watched the 2011 film “We Need to Talk About Kevin” — which inspired the title for this piece. The movie explores a relationship between a mother, Eva (played by Tilda Swinton) and her son, Kevin (played by Ezra Miller). We know from early on that when he was fifteen Kevin becomes a school shooter, and the movie explores Eva’s life both pre and post-event. She struggles to connect with Kevin from birth to young adulthood, and despite noticing a violent and sociopathic streak in her son throughout his growing up, does very little about it. That’s where we can draw a parallel between football and its relationship with rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.

Football, for the most part, is a microcosm of the society it exists within. There are charitable people and selfish people, there are good people and there are bad people. It is influenced and deals with the issues in the larger society — racism and homophobia, to name just two. One of the main areas where men’s football keeps failing is rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Men’s football has an inherent problem with respecting women.

This isn’t a problem with a certain league or a certain club. It is a widespread issue that football hypocritically claims to be dealing with.

Serie A has ‘Give Violence Against Women the Red Card’ week, in which players wear red marks on their faces. Yet the same league has been home to players accused of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence in recent years. Happy to parade them around for profit.

Olympique Lyonnais in France is home to the greatest woman's team of all time. Yet it had no qualms about signing Jerome Boateng for the men’s team last summer, despite him being convicted of domestic abuse against his ex-wife in a court of law.

The Premier League takes “an absolute stand against domestic violence and sexual-based violence”. Yet one player continued to play for Manchester City for months despite them having the knowledge that he’d been accused numerous times of rape and sexual assault.

Just recently in Scottish Football, David Goodwillie was signed by Raith Rovers and continues to play for Clyde F.C., despite being found guilty of rape in a civil court (and conveniently declared bankruptcy in order to not pay the victim damages).

Football clubs are constantly placing a large number of fans and staff in difficult positions. How many Lyon fans can fully put their heart into supporting a club that openly employs someone that abused a woman? Yves Bissouma was cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused of sexual assault, but when Spurs completed the signing this wasn’t public knowledge. That again, put a large section of the fanbase in an uncomfortable situation.

At a time when clubs are investing heavily in women’s football, and actively encouraging young girls to be interested in the sport, there is still clearly a lack of respect towards women — if there are competitive or financial gains to be made. It’s difficult to believe football is actually interested in attracting this market for nothing more than a quick buck when they are constantly failing women and anyone with a slight moral conscience.

This brings me to another problem — fandom and tribalism. It’s something that runs so deep in sport, and with football — as the world's biggest — it’s heightened. It brings out the best in us, but it can also bring out the very worst. When the news broke recently about a Premier League footballer in North London being arrested on suspicion of rape, the tribalism kicked in.

The replies may have been turned off, but the quote tweets featured a recurring theme — Tottenham fans hoping it was an Arsenal player and Arsenal fans hoping it was a Tottenham player. There were very few actually concerned with the act that had taken place. Instead, it became either an opportunity to point score against a fierce rival or a guessing game on who the culprit could be. Maybe this was a result of the internet as a whole, but the lack of humanity involved in the general discussion was disheartening, to say the least.

Then there’s the victim-blaming. One particular case comes to mind, with a young English striker accused of some horrific domestic abuse last year. Every so often a rumour pops up that he’s coming back to the professional game, with a barrage of support and fans celebrating his return — usually with comments on how he’s innocent or that it’s the victim's fault. How many of the accounts you see supporting the abuser or hurling abuse towards the victim are just edgy kids on the internet is beside the point — there is a loud enough minority to have a voice and influence people around them.

This brings me back to We Need to Talk About Kevin. Football knows it has these issues — they’re entirely evident. Certain clubs may do more to hire the right people and educate the young men that are getting money thrown at them, but the overarching theme throughout the game isn’t that. Much like Eva with Kevin — football doesn’t do enough to discourage the behaviour. There are campaigns but ultimately they are meaningless without real, proper change (actions will always speak louder than words).

Unfortunately at this moment in time, football won’t address the issue until it hurts the profit lines — no matter what the level. In the case of Raith Rovers and David Goodwillie, the club backed down on the signing despite widespread criticism (including from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon) until season ticket holders started calling up to cancel, and players in the women’s team resigned. This example is a perfect representation of everything wrong with football’s relationship with sexual and gender-based crimes.

Without action, education and an awareness that the culture is rotten throughout all levels of football, there will always be an issue. You won’t be able to stop every single bad act from ever happening, but you can educate young men on how to behave, you can educate fans on how to conduct themselves, and you can conduct yourself in a way that shows you’re not putting profit lines over morals. It’s tiring being a football fan and being asked to be put in a difficult position, it’s even more tiring seeing that another footballer has committed a disgusting act. Change needs to happen from top to bottom in the game. It needs to happen now.