Sexual Harassment and Poor Infrastructure Plague Women Athletes in Nepal's Sports Sector

Dhangadhi. In Asar (mid-June to mid-July) last year, Tekwondo coach Prithviraj Ghimire from Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City-4 was accused of raping his own 13-year-old female trainee. After the girl's parents learned of the incident, they filed a formal complaint against Ghimire at the Area Police Office, Tribhuvan Basti, Kanchanpur, on Asar 20.

Coach Ghimire is accused of repeatedly raping the girl in the Tekwondo dojo located at IBRD in Punarbas Municipality, Kanchanpur, after taking her from Dhangadhi under the pretext of training and outings.

Immediately after the incident became public, the accused fled, and the police have proceeded with the court case. The girl is currently kept in a safe house.

Activist Reena Chaudhary states that this incident presents a frightening picture of how unsafe girls are in the sports sector. The issue of making sports fields safe for children, adolescents, and adult women is not even a topic of discussion. She is a former player herself, having played in provincial-level games in the past.

“Violence against women occurs in every sector, and the sports sector, considered synonymous with discipline, is not exempt from this,” says Chaudhary. “It is extremely sad that such a heinous crime has occurred against young players who are just beginning to seek a future at the school level. If the concerned bodies do not pay attention in time, parents may become afraid to send their daughters into sports.”

The incident that has come to light is a crime of a serious nature. In Sudurpashchim, there are many examples of promising players abandoning their careers due to other abuse and exploitation within the sports sector.

Eight years ago, a volleyball player who had the potential to make the national team had to quit her sports career because she could not tolerate repeated abuse from the team manager. She did not dare to file a complaint. Instead, she left the sports sector altogether. She recounts being repeatedly harassed by the team manager, including touching her without consent, teasing her, and attempting to kiss her. Because she could not file a complaint in time, she has not been able to speak openly about this.

“At that time, I was a minor. I could not tell this to my family or file a complaint. In the end, I had to kill my dream and leave the sport,” she says. Only after leaving various sports did she tell her family and friends about this.

“Currently, only those who are playing and winning are talked about. No one listens to the stories of many players like me who were lost midway due to abuse,” she says. “Those who seek to take advantage through greed, temptation, and coercion in the sports sector are still active.”

It is her view that new players are exploited by offering temptations such as getting them selected for good teams or advancing them to higher levels during selection processes for municipal, district, and provincial level competitions organized by the government.

Janaki Bhatta, a cricket coach from Sudurpashchim Province, states that players of tender age are often unable to cope with such tendencies. She believes that coaches must be more responsible and sensitive.

“If big people give assurances like taking them to a good place, players are forced to accept wrong proposals and risk being exploited,” Bhatta says. “We occasionally warn our player sisters about this. It is unfortunate for the entire sports world when such behavior comes from individuals considered like parents.”

Players say that besides sexual abuse, verbal abuse, being belittled by calling them 'girls,' and insulting them for minor mistakes have become commonplace for them. They do not speak out against such abuse for fear of being forced out of the sport.

“If a complaint is filed, there is fear of negative behavior from the coach or federation officials upon returning to the sport, threats of character assassination, and expulsion from the team. Therefore, it is better to remain silent than to speak up,” one player says. “There is no separate body to file a complaint.”

Khusraj Dahal, spokesperson for the National Sports Council, says that if abuse occurs, a complaint can be filed with the Council's legal branch.

“We take complaints seriously. We do not take action ourselves, but we initiate action with the concerned bodies,” he says. “We suspend those involved in sports misconduct. Facilitation is being done through the legal branch of the National Sports Council in such cases.”

Activist Chaudhary emphasizes that there must be a structure for grievance redressal at the provincial, district, and local levels, not just at the center, and the resulting action must be transparent and just.

“Temporary solutions will not suffice to make the sports sector safe; a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination and abuse must be implemented,” she says. “Many players remain silent due to the fear that they might never be able to return to their sports career after filing a complaint. Furthermore, there is nowhere to file a complaint. Therefore, an independent complaint mechanism must be established in every sports body where the identity of the victim remains confidential, and where the pressure from federation officials or coaches does not apply. No infiltration should occur there; it must be secure.”

It seems necessary to establish a mechanism as mandated by law to prevent sexual and other forms of workplace harassment to make the sports sector safe and respectful for women.

The Sexual Harassment at Workplace Prevention Act, 2071 (Bikram Sambat), includes provisions such as the requirement to keep a complaint box at the workplace, appoint an officer to hear complaints, and have a process for hearing while protecting the complainant.

The second biggest shortage for women athletes in Sudurpashchim is basic infrastructure. Even the existing infrastructure is not women-friendly. At the Dhangadhi Stadium, considered the main sports center of the province and where millions have been invested, there isn't even a changing room for women athletes.

Volleyball player Sangeeta Bisht recalls last year. She was playing volleyball during the summer. Her jersey was soaked with sweat after an hour of practice. There was no safe place in the stadium to change her jersey. There are rooms under the stadium's parapet, but no separate room is designated for women. She felt very uncomfortable going into any room to change her jersey.

“That day, I wanted to change my clothes, but I couldn't. It was very troublesome,” she says. “We feel very unsafe because there is no place to bathe and change clothes after practice. We are forced to return home through the city streets in wet clothes.” According to her, the experience of using the very bad toilets afterward is also notable. The largest stadium in Sudurpashchim looks beautiful and attractive from the outside. Large parapets and covered halls have been built here by spending millions of rupees, but the condition of the toilets, which are directly related to the health of the players, is pathetic.

Currently, only two toilets inside the covered hall are somewhat usable. Even those are dilapidated. The latches on the doors do not lock, and they are so foul-smelling that one cannot even enter. The capacity of these two worn-out toilets cannot handle the pressure of hundreds of players and spectators during competitions. Both players and coaches are forced to defecate by holding their noses and stopping their breath. The toilets inside the covered hall are used by both women and men.

Martial arts player Mahima Chaudhary shares that it is very difficult for her to use such dirty toilets during her menstrual period. One day, she got her period during practice. There is no clean and safe toilet on the field, nor is there a changing room or sanitary pads needed during menstruation.

“After it became too difficult, I left practice and returned home crying,” she says. Due to the lack of a place to change sanitary pads, many female players do not come to practice for 4-5 days during their periods. This affects their game performance. “When will the concept of sanitary pads, clean toilets, and a comfortable environment during menstruation arrive in the sports sector?” Chaudhary questions.

Dhangadhi Stadium is the only provincial-level stadium in Sudurpashchim. Hundreds of male and female players of cricket, volleyball, football, martial arts, and other sports come here for daily practice. All these players are fed up with the foul-smelling toilets. Using such toilets is even more of a health risk for women athletes. The District Sports Development Committee has employed one staff member for the cleaning of the toilets and the ground. His duty time is fixed only from 10 AM to 12 PM. However, players practice early in the morning and in the evening. During those times, there is no one to look after the toilets.

On one hand, there is a severe shortage of toilets, and on the other hand, some toilets built under the parapet in front of the volleyball training center are unusable in a pathetic condition. Taps are broken, and dirt has accumulated on the floor. No one seems to pay attention to their maintenance.

Kiran Shrestha, the sub-accountant of the District Sports Committee, says they plan for reconstruction.

“It is an old building. Moreover, it happened because cement and other materials were not mixed properly. We are now preparing to reconstruct it,” he says.

When asked why women-friendly infrastructure is not being built and why toilets and changing rooms are not being built for women, the concerned bodies tend to pass the blame to each other. According to Lok Bahadur Khadka, Member Secretary of the Sudurpashchim Sports Council, the structures at Dhangadhi Stadium were built by the National Sports Council (NSC), so the province has no control. This is about the most well-equipped Dhangadhi Stadium. In other hilly districts of the province, such infrastructure does not exist at all.

“The budget comes directly from the center; we do not have the responsibility to build infrastructure. The responsibility for the maintenance and cleaning of the structures built in Dhangadhi Stadium belongs to the District Sports Development Committee,” Khadka says. He admits that the infrastructure situation in the hilly districts is even more pathetic.

Khusraj Dahal, spokesperson for the NSC, claims that future structures will be women-friendly and disabled-friendly. “Toilets and changing rooms are built in new locations. But in some places, they might have been built but are not in use,” Dahal says. “Facilities like pads are not something the infrastructure builders provide; that is a matter of management.”

Another form of discrimination faced by women athletes in sports is remuneration. They state that they feel hurt when there is a difference in salary and prize money, even though the sweat, hard work, and zeal to win for the country are equal.

Maima Thapa, a football player from Sudurpashchim, says, “In the province, women's football competitions are almost non-existent. While the winner of a national-level men's competition receives between 5 to 10 lakhs, the prize money for women's competitions is barely 50 thousand to 1 lakh. This is direct discrimination; it hurts our self-respect.”

Lalita Bohara, a martial arts player, agrees with this point. “We also play for the country; we shed the same amount of blood. But there is always discrimination in salary and match fees,” she says. “Here, opportunities are given based on connections and power rather than capability, which is causing good players to migrate.”

NSC spokesperson Dahal states that discrimination in salary and prize money is a worldwide phenomenon. “This is a worldwide rule; it has been the practice so far. Because male players and competitions have more popularity and income, the prize money is higher. Games organized by CAN or ANFA have their own rules. But in government competitions like the National Sports and President Running Shield, we provide equal allowances,” he says.