We can only hope that such a rise in the sport locally also brings respect for the women who participate in it, as well as the female fans who watch from the sidelines.
Following the fight yesterday, journalist Tegan George tweeted about what she experienced in the stands. “Never have I or my sports loving girl friends been so badly abused or sexually harassed. Went on for hours.”
The tweet included a video of a man sticking his middle finger up at the women, telling them to “fuck off”, among other things. Asked if he speaks to all women the way he was speaking to them, the man replied, “No, only C**ts like you.”
The tweet has been retweeted hundreds of times. Some have asked Tegan why she didn’t report the behaviour to security. She replied, “Because people around us told us, ‘what did you expect from a boxing match and we just wanted to watch the fight’.”
Tegan was at the fight with two female friends. One of the trio told Fairfax media the men behind them were “racist and vulgar”, and that they were heckled as soon as they sat down. She sad the level of harassment was different to the ‘tits and arse’ comments many women are familiar with.
Channel 10 reporter Clare Barnes also tweeted about the incident.
I can honestly say I’ve never experienced something so disgusting. It was so confronting to see first hand that this still happens today. https://t.co/QbAwOo3aZO
— Clare Barnes (@ClareBarnes_10) July 2, 2017
Massive thanks to the two police officers who removed them from the stadium @QPSmedia @tegangeorge https://t.co/8cd8RC3C21
— Clare Barnes (@ClareBarnes_10) July 2, 2017
Hello mate, sadly it is difficult to explain to you the magnitude of how wrong this is but very confident team Tiggy G will make it clear.
— Geoff Breusch (@gbreusch) July 2, 2017
Disgusting…how embarrassing for his mother.
— made4media (@_made4media) July 2, 2017
Good grief. So sorry you guys had to endure that. Completely appalling. Thanks for reporting it. Much respect.
— Jessica Rudd (@Jess_Rudd) July 2, 2017