Jan. 17 2024
Source Page: Sexual abuse in Scottish football: FOI reviewFound: Sexual abuse in Scottish football: FOI review
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) sexism, (b) misogyny and (c) abuse in football.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There is no place for sexism, misogyny or abuse of any kind in sport, including football, and it is vital that football authorities continue to work together to tackle it.The Government welcomes the ongoing work of the relevant football leagues, the FA, and organisations such as Women in Football and Kick it Out in challenging discrimination and breaking down inequalities between the sexes.
Following a bombardment of abuse directed towards female sports broadcasters, footballers and other athletes on social media, I wrote to X and Meta to understand whether they are aware of any abuse towards women in sport on their services which violates their policies, and, if so, what action they have been taking to address it. Both X and Meta have now responded to my letter setting out the action they are taking including enforcement, reporting processes and safety settings.
We continue to liaise closely with all the police and football authorities about their work to tackle discrimination. This includes actions targeted at and around football grounds, such as improving reporting systems, providing better training and support for referees and stewards, and improving the quality of CCTV around stadia.
Fans can also be charged with a Football Banning Order and fined if found to use derogatory language at football games, with the possibility of more severe sentences if it has been recorded as a hate crime. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been working with the FA, Premier League and English Football League to determine what evidence is required to charge an incident as a hate crime.
Correspondence Mar. 19 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: correspondence to Meta and X on 17 January to understand what action they have been taking to address abuse
Correspondence Feb. 06 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: The composition of the up coming Women’s Football Review implementation group 3.
Mentions:
1: Gosal, Pam (Con - West Scotland) My proposed domestic abuse prevention bill would offer more support to domestic abuse victims. - Speech Link
2: Greene, Jamie (Con - West Scotland) Pyrotechnics and flares are still being used at football games, and it seems that few arrests have been - Speech Link
3: Brown, Siobhian (SNP - Ayr) From meetings at the Criminal Justice Committee, I remember that Jamie Greene was interested in football - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Macpherson, Ben (SNP - Edinburgh Northern and Leith) and the human condition, including hatred, abuse, violence, division, misogyny, racism and sectarianism - Speech Link
2: Dornan, James (SNP - Glasgow Cathcart) beautiful game in Scotland, from sectarianism and racism to the horrific and far-too-widespread historical abuse - Speech Link
3: Simpson, Graham (Con - Central Scotland) Football League, the Scottish Women’s Football League and the Scottish Professional Football League - Speech Link
4: Mackay, Gillian (Green - Central Scotland) In recent months, we have seen a sustained amount of abuse towards women commentators and pundits. - Speech Link
Apr. 03 2024
Source Page: Nearly 100,000 drug tests carried out to tackle root causes of drug driven crimeFound: nearly 100,000 drug tests on suspects, whose behaviour was believed to have been driven by their drug abuse
Report Mar. 05 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: These issues are at the intersection between health-related issues for girls, bullying, and abuse.
Oct. 27 2023
Source Page: Overwhelming support for Online Safety Act as rules making UK the safest place in the world to be online become lawFound: to reduce harm to women and girls online, which is a step in the right direction for tackling this abuse
Feb. 20 2024
Source Page: Minister Andrew's speech at the Women & Girls in Sport ConferenceFound: EUROs helped make 2022 a landmark year for women’s sport, with the country winning its first major football