Prevalence of Molestation among Male Coaches towards Female Athletes in Different Sports at Public Sector Universities Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

This study investigated the perception of respondents towards the prevalence of molesting behavior among male coaches in respect of female athletes in different games at public sector universities in Sindh province. The study was mixed-method (survey and semi-structured interview) The Purposive sampling method was employed for the collection of the required data. Female athletes who competed at the intercollegiate, intervarsity, provincial and national level of public universities of Sindh province were subject of this study. The self-inventory and adapted questionnaire on sports-specific touch and behavior versus unwanted intimacy from coaches developed by Vanden Auweele (2006) Vanden Auweele et al (2008) was administrated for data collection. There were 85 female athletes from 20 public universities who participated in the survey. The result of the study revealed that there is a significant prevalence of molesting behavior among male coaches towards female athletes in different sports at public universities of Sindh province due to the coach’s power, authority, decision making position, the threat of rejection on the refusal of sexual cooperation, the ready availability of inexperienced female athletes and lack of implication of policies regarding sexual misconducts in public sector universities.