Sexual assault bombshell the AFL didn’t want you to see: Leaked report finds female umpires have quit after shameful abuse by boys’ club of male officials
- Leaked report shows female umpires were sexually harassed and insulted
- AFL allegedly did not want to publish the report, which was leaked to NewsCorp
- As of 2019, female umpires accounted for just 2.9 percent of AFL umpires
- The AFL is looking to address a worrying shortage of umpires at grassroots level
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Female umpires across Australia have quit football after being sexually harassed and insulted by their male counterparts, players and fans according to a new report.
Complaints contained in the ‘Girls and women in Australian football umpiring: Understanding registration, participation and retention’ report also include claims of female umpires being sexual assaulted and subject to lewd comments as well as being forced to change with their male colleagues.
The 62-page document, which was obtained by NewsCorp, contains accounts from 26 female umpire and one non-binary umpire across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and ACT.
Eleni Glouftsis became the first woman to officiate an AFL game in Round 9 last season
According to NewsCorp, the AFL did not want the report to be made public.
‘I used to receive messages of nudes that other umpires would send to me,’ one of the umpires told the report.
‘And umpires during games would inappropriately touch me, like when we’re umpiring together and things like that.
‘That’s what made me quit.’
Glouftsis has been a trailblazer but only 2.9 percent of AFL umpires are women
Another female umpire said she ‘openly overheard a group of guys talking about my boobs at training one night’.
In response to NewsCorp’s report, the AFL said in a statement: ‘The report has been a valuable resource for our team in prioritising the key initiatives to accelerate the growth in women and girls taking on umpiring roles’.
However, it did not explain why it allegedly did not want the report to see the light of day.
The AFL identified a lack of umpires as a major issue for footy at grassroots level and last year it funded a research into the shortage of female umpiring, which was conducted by The University of Sydney and published in August.
As of 2019, female umpires accounted for 2.9 percent of AFL umpires and 10.8 percent on a national level.
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