Sexual harassment at workplace a study of sports women in Punjab

Abstract

Sexual harassment at workplace is not a new concept. Sports have often been conceptualized as a male-dominated culture, with various forms of discrimination against female athletes, including sexual harassment from coaches and male athletes. In present research both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to get multidimensional view about the problem under scrutiny. The Research design for the present study was partially exploratory and partially descriptive. The Research design for the present study was partially exploratory and partially descriptive. Punjab state is divided into three major regions Majha, Doaba and Malwa. Therefore, Majha followed by Amritsar, Jalandhar followed by Doaba and Malwa followed by Ludhiana. 210 sportswomen playing in the different sports Academies were selected by using purposive sampling. Since the sampling frame was not available, 70 sportswomen from each district were interviewed. To get an in-depth understanding of the problem, 10 case studies of sportswomen who faced sexual harassment at work place were taken. Snowball technique was used to collect these case studies. Following were objectives of the study. To assess the level of participation of sportswomen in different games in selected three districts of Punjab, To examine the relationship between sportswomen and their co-sportsmen, coaches, support staff and officials, To highlight the extent and causes of sexual harassment faced by sportswomen in different sports, To identify the perpetrators of sexual harassment of sports women, To explore the consequences of sexual harassment on the sportswomen s personal as well professional life, To analyze the coping mechanisms used by sportswomen to handle the problem of sexual harassment, To explore the awareness of the respondents regarding the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and to avow the recommendations to deal with the problem of sexual harassment. newline