Female Indian wrestlers accuse coaches, federation chief of sexual harassment
- A protest led by acclaimed wrestler Vinesh Phogat was called off after federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh agreed to step down
- Public opinion has been divided, especially given how female Indian wrestlers often have to fight societal, gender stereotypes and sexual harassment
Vinesh Phogat, the first female Indian wrestler to win gold in the Commonwealth and Asian Games, said that although she herself had not been targeted, the sexual exploitation of the 10-20 women had been going on for a decade.
Not only were complaints ignored, she said, women were threatened with death if they spoke out.
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Male and female wrestlers who began the sit-in on Wednesday ended it on Saturday after sports minister Anurag Singh Thakur said wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh “will step aside and help in carrying out the probe” which would be completed in four weeks.
Singh, who is also an MP of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has denied the allegations.
“There has been no incident of sexual harassment. If such a thing has happened, then I will hang myself,” he said.
Sports commentators have noted that most officials in charge of a sport in India are typically closely affiliated with the government of the day.
Phogat, 28, also the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships, is also a critic of sexist attitudes that female wrestlers often face in a male-dominated sport.
“During our sit-in, I am getting calls all the time from girls all over India with the same complaints,” she told This Week In Asia. “That’s why more and more wrestlers are turning up every day.”
Phogat comes from a family of wrestlers from Haryana in north India. Her five sisters are also wrestlers. When their father died, their uncle, a former wrestler, raised them and taught them how to wrestle.
The girls grew up in a traditional society where women were expected only to cook and tend to the cattle, and eventually fought their way out of poverty with their wrestling careers.
Their story is not unusual. Many Indian sportsmen and women share similar backgrounds and often take up sports as a way out of poverty.
Public opinion over the accusations have been divided, especially given how female Indian wrestlers manage to do well in the sport while fighting societal and gender stereotypes and sexual harassment.
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“Politicians and federation heads who bathe in the reflected glory of these athletes when they bring back medals but shamelessly shield the accused when a woman raises her voice, must be made answerable,” wrote volleyball player Jagmati Sangwan in a column for The Indian Express.
But Phogat feels vulnerable even as she speaks up for those “who were unable to take on powerful people”. “I have spoken today and I don’t know if I will be alive tomorrow,” she said.
The wrestlers have also politely asked opposition politicians to leave when they turned up at the protest site in a show of support, refusing to politicise the protest.
“This is a protest to save the future of the sport and the future of women wrestlers. This is not about politics,” said male wrestler Bajrang Punia.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
