By: Hannah Zhang
Millions of women fall victim to sexual assault and harassment every year. Unfortunately, signs of these types of assault have been showing up in places that one would least expect it to be: young and aspiring female soccer players are being sexually abused by men they are supposed to trust.
Three years ago, FIFA deemed Yves Jean-Bart, mastermind behind Haiti’s first qualification in the Women’s World Cup, guilty for sexual harassment and placed a life-long ban in his name.
After further investigation, events took a darker turn. The ban was reverted a few days before Haiti’s victory over Chile by a panel of arbitrators. They had decided that FIFA had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the cases.
Despite all the scandals revolving around sexual assault cases, FIFA has not been handling the cases very well. As the Washington Post stated, the way that FIFA handles the cases only discourages victims from speaking up in fear of damaging their careers and that their perpetrators may still remain in power.
And, even though FIFA promised to create a separate body dedicated to sexual assault/harassment, there was no significant progress on their part.
Other cases sexual assault in women’s soccer involve Zambian coach Bruce Mwape, who was accused of having inappropriate relationships with players. Like Jean-Bart, he also denied all allegations. His cases were dismissed and he was allowed to continue his career.
Another similar case of sexual assault is centered around Diego Guacci of Argentina. Unlike Jean-Bart, when faced with accusations, he maintained his story of being “falsely accused by women” whose allegations were ““clearly discriminatory and abusive.”
Behind the cover of joy, there stands many women who fear what might happen in the years to come. Examples include Baraya, who spoke about how she felt about how FIFA dealt with the situations. “Why would anyone try to come forward again?” Perhaps, in the near future, FIFA can find more effective ways to remove these predators from their positions of power.