For female athletes, the court even feels uncertain. At Dubai Tennis Championships on February 18, professional tennis player Emma Raducanu was seen Wipe the tears After discovering his stalker on the tribun. The man was eventually thrown out and received a restriction order because of what the Dubai Police called “Fixed behavior. “But why does 22-year-old Raducanu have to deal with its second stalker in three years?” That man assessed the situation and was looking for the best moment to get closer to her, ” said Raducanus former coach Roman Kelecic. “He had a strategy that was scary.”
For female athletes it is not new (and not uncommon). 2022 received a completely different man a five -year limitation order after Go 23 miles to Raducanus home. Similarly, a man was captured in 2011 outside the Gates of Serena William’s property and accused of persecution. IN A January tictokOlympian Gabby Thomas also talked about a group of men who followed and harassed her at airports across the country. In the comments, the colleague Athletes Simone BilesThe Cocoa Gauffand Suni Lee All recalled similar scenarios.
On a wider scale, as per A study in October 2024 from ncaa, Female basketball players Get three times more threats than men’s players. Likewise at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, A study from World Athletics Found that female athletes were the target of 87 percent of all abuse online. It is clear that female athletes continue to experience a disproportionate amount of harassment. So why haven’t we figured out what to do about it?
“Female basketball players get three times more threats than men.”
Perhaps this is because people are not convinced that these threats will manifest themselves as actual violence. To that, we say, make sure Monica Seles: the former professional tennis player who was in the back during a tennis match in April 1993. According to Stalking prevention, awareness and resource center (Sparc), and persecution victims also experience significantly higher speeds of depression, anxiety, insomnia and social dysfunction. Forty -six percent of victims believe it will never be better and 67 percent fear is killed or physically injured.
Still, there is some hope in the middle of all the news. Raducanu is set to return To Indian Wells Open in March, and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) are said to be “actively working with Emma and her team” to provide adequate security, per the custodian. Britain’s Tennis Board – known as Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) – has also promised to provide “comprehensive” security events for upcoming matches in the UK. “This incident again emphasizes questions about security that all players, but female players in particular, can meet,” said LTA. “We have extensive security events at our events in the UK and hold them under constant review.”
We can’t sit and wait for threats and harassment to escalate into physical violence. The vitriol -female athletes meet is already takes a toll for their mental health . . . And obviously it is not something they can escape on court. Extra security measures are a good start, but we have to start taking threats, pursue and harassment seriously before It escalates. In the end? Women’s athletes deserve safe spaces – it’s high time we deliver.
Chandler Plante (She/her) is the assistant health and fitness editor for PS. She has over four years of experience in professional journalism, who previously worked as an editorial assistant for the magazine People and contributes to Ladygunn, Millie and Bustle Digital Group.
