1 in 7 coaches of young athletes say teams targeted by voyeurism
Around one in seven coaches of track and field athletes believe their team members, including school students, have been targeted for voyeurism, a survey by a Japanese athletics association showed Saturday, amid growing concerns in the sports world over the capturing and sharing of sexualized images.
In the survey that received responses from 555 of around 6,300 coaches, many teaching students from elementary to high schools, 75 acknowledged that their teams were surreptitiously photographed, apparently with sexual intentions, during competitions, while 18 said such incidents happened even during practice and other activities.
In some serious cases, coaches contacted the police, while in others, images posted by students on social media were later discovered on pornographic websites.
"Incidents have still not decreased, given that spectators have returned after the coronavirus pandemic," the Japan Association of Athletics Federations said.
The association sent a questionnaire in March last year to officially recognized coaches overseeing club activities of elementary, junior and senior high school students, as well as university and corporate teams.
The 75 reports of voyeurism included a case in which a video zooming in on an athlete crossing the finish line appeared for sale, and a photo of another's buttocks was taken by someone who followed them from behind, with more images from competitions appearing online as athletes gained prominence.
Asked about how they responded, 34 coaches said they reported the matter to competition organizers or consulted with them, while 13 turned to the police to act and 10 said they directly dealt with the situation at the scene.
Coaches also said voyeurism that occurred during practice and club activities involved an "an unrelated person on a practice field" or "a stranger with a camera who took photos of athletes running in a park," among others.
To avoid athletes being targeted, they said they are paying attention to athletes' sporting attire, alerting the players and their parents to the issue and restricting unrelated individuals from entering the field.
Some called for financial assistance to take countermeasures, including hiring security guards, saying they are "shorthanded."
Voyeurism targeting athletes has become increasingly serious in recent years due to the spread of social media and improvement of camera performance, with the Japanese Olympic Committee and other sporting organizations vowing efforts to eliminate such sexual harassment in a joint statement in 2020.
While a law that took effect in 2023 criminalizes the taking of voyeuristic images for sexually exploitative purposes, it does not apply to athletes wearing sportswear due to the difficulty of determining any sexual intent of the person taking the image.
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