ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of the practices that sports organizations would prefer the general public not to know about because they have failed to deal with them effectively. Concentrating on instances of harassment and discrimination, the chapter will commence with an exploration of sexual discrimination in sport and consider the circumstances in which the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, s.44 (which legitimates discriminatory practices) are applicable. It will also discuss hostile environment sexual harassment (Cummins v. Kingstonian Football Club)l and instances of rape and sexual abuse perpetrated by those in positions of trust (R. v. Hickson). 2 Additionally, the chapter briefly considers the Lyme Bay canoe tragedy, where former employees of the leisure centre had informed the centre's management of their concerns but their warnings went unheeded. It will be argued that if proper provision had been made for employees to raise their concerns with individuals who did not have a vested interest in the running of the centre, the Lyme Bay tragedy could have been avoided.
