A Study on the Reasons and Problems of Sexual Abuses on American Female Athletes

RU Beining

Abstract： The seriousness and prevalence of sexual abuses in the sports world are problems that the American society cannot ignore， which is not only an infringement on the fundamental human rights of the victims， but also a desecration of Olympic sportsmanship. Sexual abuse of female athletes results from the interaction of personal factors and situational factors. The personal factors are characterized by "power oppression" with the abuser in the dominant position and "submission to power" with the victim in the subordinate position. The abuser， due to his substantial and unquestionable power gained by rich professional knowledge， experience， access to resources， and decision-making power， oppresses the victim， who is relatively vulnerable and takes complete control over her through the "seduction" process of selection， control and desensitization，" so that the victim does not know， does not dare or is unable to resist. In recent years， frequent sexual abuse scandals in the U.S. sports world have caused strong public dissatisfaction with the sports governing bodies. In response， the U.S. Congress has promulgated two new acts to prevent， combat， and punish sexual abuses in sports. One aims to strengthen the supervision over sports organizations， that is， to explicitly require the United States Olympic Committee and individual sports associations to assume more legal responsibilities in the protection of athletes' safety while enhancing the supervision and accountability system over the United States Olympic Committee and individual sports associations by the U.S. Congress. The other is to establish the U.S. Center for SafeSport， which bears the responsibilities that include， inter alia， the provision of education and training courses，the maintenance of a centralized disciplinary database， and the receipt， investigation， and resolution of reports. Although the U. S. Congress has attempted to change the current situation of negligence in the prevention and treatment of sexual abuses， it has always been difficult to eradicate them in the U. S. sports world. The situational factors mainly lie in the U.S. sports organizational structure that features "shirking the responsibilities" and the sports culture that "prioritizes commercial interests over human rights". The U.S. sports governance model is structurally flawed in protecting the safety of athletes， allowing sports governing bodies at all levels to shirk their responsibilities. This has led institutions at all levels to focus on winning gold medals and soliciting sponsorships， creating the sports culture of "winning medals at the expense of other values." In this culture， athletes have no real right to speak and are regarded as labor for exploitation in the pursuit of "winning at all costs." The high degree of autonomy of U.S. sports organizations and the blind pursuit of commercial interests are highly conducive to power abuses and connivance， making athletes a vulnerable group to sexual abuses. Therefore， the highly autonomous model of sports governance in the U.S. requires public power to keep it in check， and the passive push for reform within the sports world and limited accountability and oversight by Congress is just a drop in the bucket. In conclusion， the U.S. still has a long way to go in the prevention and resolution of sexual abuse in sports.

KEY WORDS： female athletes; sexual abuses; power domination; legal guarantee; sports governance