Sexual harassment in Ultimate: Conversations worth having about "Safe Sport"

[Marlise Richter]

Dear Peeps

(Background note as a reminder: This list currently connects about 180 people who support the growth of female Ultimate athletes in South Africa.  It is not a very busy group, so please encourage other people in particular to join.  They can do so here:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sa-disc-ladies

I am writing to give some feedback on important conversations and initiatives that have happened on sexual harassment in Cape Town, and that I believe should happen in all Ultimate Clubs everywhere in the world.

I copy the email I sent to the World Flying Disc Federation Women-in-Sport Commission on which I serve below, where we are also spearheading policy-changes and supporting the creating of a Safeguarding Officer position.

I would like to suggest that people read through below - and this Skyd article - and consider starting conversations about sexual harassment, bullying and power,  in all teams that they play in.  This is an important conversation that women should have with other women, women and men together, and men with men, and to make sure that people who wish to speak out, are supported, and that there are processes in place to deal with unacceptable behaviour.  Importantly, we need to openly challenge unacceptable behaviour within our teams, and to have educational resources available about consent and respect.

:-)

M

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Marlise Richter <marlise...@gmail.com>
Date: 28 May 2018 at 19:56
Subject: Sexual harassment and "Safe Sport" - lessons learnt from Cape Town, potentially generalisable

A very intense and important conversation has been unfolding on sexual harassment in our mixed Ultimate community in Cape Town, which I would like to relay here as I believe it is a discussion that should take place in all Ultimate communities, if it isn't already.

Following correspondence I posted in this Forum 3 weeks ago asking for some suggestions on how to such open a discussion, I sent a simple message to a mailing list that connects +- 60 female Ultimate players in Cape Town (mainly used for our Women's Division season to organise games), with the following text:

Hi ladies

I am having a number of conversations about sexual harassment lately - not just through my work (I am at an organisation called Sonke Gender Justice that focuses on GBV and gender equality) - but also through the World Flying Disc Federation’s ‘Women in Sport Commission’ where we are discussing measures we could implement to ensure ‘Safe Sport’ (let me know if you want some of the IOC materials).

I believe self-reflection and conversations about “any unwanted and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, non-verbal or physical” (the definition of sexual harassment) are very important and should be had in all the spaces that we occupy. 

I wanted to open the discussion here and ask for people’s input on the following:

1) Does Ultimate feel like a safe sport?

2) What would you do if you are sexually harassed by a team mate, an opponent or anyone involved with Ultimate?  Are there sufficient sources of support available?

3) What could we as female Ultimate players do to help create an environment of Zero Tolerance towards harassment?

Lastly, I liked this #HuckYes campaign by Upwind Ultimate

https://www.upwindultimate.com/huckyes/

🙂

M

The responses we received were daunting (participants had the option to send a message to the Group, or send it to me, where I would then re-post anonymnously to the Group).  

The majority of participants responded that they experience Ultimate as a safe and constructive space.  

Chillingly, there were some respondents – both anonymous and who chose to be identified  – who relayed traumatic experiences of sexual harassment within the Ultimate community, and in one instance, that of sexual assault.

This lead to broader discussion within Mixed Teams, and a request to the Cape Town Flying Disc Association (CTFDA) to deal with the issue as part of an institutional response.  CTFDA's email to the community is copied below, fyi.

I certainly was unprepared for the responses I received, as I believed - certainly naively - that Ultimate is magically exempt from some of the power differentials and inappropriate (and criminal) behaviour that characterise some of the other spaces we occupy.   As a small and in many ways informal sport in South Africa, we don't yet have the policy responses or structures in place to deal with sexual harassment, and some of the respondents noted their isolation and their frustration of not knowing where to go with their complaints.

This is in the process of being remedied because our Association is taking great leadership on the matter, and we are fortunate to be able to draw on other Associations - in this instance that of Western Australian Disc Association - to help us with policy responses.

My misc thoughts to this Commission following this experience is 

* Suggesting that other members start similar conversations within their communities, if it isn't happening already (be sure you have allies, and resources available to refer appropriately)

* Happy to work with Elena on a WFDF policy 

* Strongly supportive of a WFDF Safeguarding Officer and I would like to recommend that we help advertise the creation of such a position strongly

* Encourage all national, regional and local Associations to have anti-sexual  harassment and child protection policies in place.

:-)

M

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: CTFDA Admin <hello...@gmail.com>
Date: 28 May 2018 at 18:43
Subject: [CT Ultimate] Anti-harassment and pro-consent in Cape Town Ultimate.
To: CapeTown <cape-town...@googlegroups.com>

Dear Cape Town Flying Disc Community,

At a time when instances of harassment, sexual harassment and bullying are finding an increasingly safe and supportive platform to be aired, a discussion on issues of sexual harassment and safety in the Cape Town ultimate community was recently initiated in a small group.

It came to the fore that several instances have occurred in the Cape Town Ultimate sphere that have resulted in players feeling unsafe, harassed or sexually harassed.

While some of you may have been involved in these discussions, and others may have been introduced to the topic by a teammate, we appreciate that some may only be hearing this for the first time.

CTFDA condemns any form of harassment, including sexual harassment or bullying in our community and are working to address issues raised as well as to forge a proactive, pro-consent and respectful way forward.

We feel it is important for us, as the Cape Town Ultimate community, to turn inwardly as a community who embodies honesty, mutual respect and equity, and that we assess how we increase awareness, accountability and support to ensure the safety and inclusion of all players in our community.

The below excerpt from the Western Australian Flying Disc Association Anti-Harassment policy provides a useful definition of harassment:

“Harassment consists of offensive, abusive, belittling or threatening behaviour directed at a person or people because of a particular characteristic of that person or people (including the person or person’s level of empowerment relative to the harasser).  The behaviour must be unwelcome and the sort of behaviour a reasonable person would recognise as unwelcome.”

Unfortunately in practice it is not always possible to neatly categorise particular forms of behaviour as harassment.  This becomes increasingly difficult when dealing with sport and recreation. Complex issues such as appropriate physical contact and ‘verbal motivation’ are fraught with subtleties that require further investigation.  

Behaviour constituting harassment can take many different forms and may be explicit or implicit, physical, verbal or non-verbal.  Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Abusive behaviour aimed at intimidating someone in a less powerful position

• Jokes or comments directed at a person’s body, looks, age, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability
• Unwelcome remarks including teasing, name calling or insults
• Innuendo, suggestive remarks or taunting
• Homophobic comments and / or behaviours
• Uninvited touching, kissing, embracing, massaging
• Staring, leering, ogling
• Smutty jokes and comments
• Persistent or intrusive questions about people’s private lives
• Repeated invitations to go out, especially after prior refusal
• Sexual propositions
• The use of promises or threats to coerce someone into sexual activity
• The creation of a hostile or sexually permeated environment by constant inappropriate references to sexual matters, the display of sexually explicit material (posters, cartoons, graffiti) or by the use of offensive email, faxes, letters or notes

• Sexual insults, taunts, name-calling

Jokes and behaviour which are genuinely enjoyed and consented to by everyone present are not harassment.  Sexual interaction or flirtation that is based on mutual attraction or friendship, and which is consensual or invited, is not sexual harassment.

While CTFDA does not currently have clear guidance on the issues of harassment, the committee is taking steps to ensure future safety and respect of all players in our community. To this end we are taking the following actions:

1. CTFDA are drafting an Anti-harassment policy that will be drawn largely from that of the WA Ultimate Anti-Harassment Policy (http://www.waultimate.com/component/content/article/2-pages/71-anti-harassment).
   While all CTFDA members are bound by the Code of Conduct, we feel the content therein is not sufficiently explicit in dealing with issues of harassment and are thus working to create a formal Anti-harassment Policy. 
   
   
   We would like to welcome input and comments on the above policy by Wed 6 June 2018 to aid in drafting of the CTFDA policy. We will also be soliciting legal advice before opening a final draft for commenting and ratification. 
   
   
   This will not be ready to be voted on at the AGM and a special meeting after consultation processes have occurred will be called. We would ideally like to invite a professional to give formal input on harassment, sexual harassment and consent and to have a facilitated discussion on these issues in our community. More information on this will be communicated if deemed feasible. 
   
   
   We will also be including Child Protection Measures into the policy or as a stand-alone policy as we are a sport that is increasingly encouraging minors into our sport and community.

2. CTFDA would like to give the community a chance to engage, reflect on the matter and share thoughts anonymously through the below survey to guide further actions taken by CTFDA. Although the timing is short, please aid us in sharing your thoughts by Wed 6 June 2018 so that we can provide feedback at the AGM on 9 June 2018
   [url removed]

3. CTFDA will be raising the issue and need for awareness and formal policy development with other ultimate associations and affiliations, both to draw upon pre-existing resources and to facilitate similar actions where appropriate.

We would like to encourage all teams and players to engage in proactive and supportive discussions in this regard as we move forward to create a culture of consent and respect in Cape Town Ultimate.

The following resources may be of use for further information:

http://shukumisa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Sexual-Harassment-English.pdf

https://www.upwindultimate.com/huckyes/

If anybody would like to comment or communicate further or would like to request assistance in dealing with a previous experience. Please contact the CTFDA Chair [Taryn Morris]  at chair...@gmail.com. If you would like your communication to remain confidential please indicate this in your email.

On behalf of the CTFDA committee,

Taryn Morris

CTFDA Chair