Documentation of Rape Culture in Hockey

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

What I find worst of all is there seems to be a culture of covering this stuff up. Hockey Canada seems to think that is part of their role.

What other job would see their bosses covering up for their employees' crimes?

I certainly don't think that's unique to professional hockey.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I would love to see the stats ...

hockey vs football vs basketball vs baseball

is it sports in general? sports that have large salaries?

or is it proportionate to society in general?

If hockey has a specific problem more than a) all other sports and / or b) general society then they need to look at it.

Someone with nothing better to do will be right on it I’m sure.

Then they’ll call you names for asking for it.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

We know of a few: The Catholic Church, the Sourthern Baptist Conference and Hollywood screen guilds immediately come to mind.

What company!

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I certainly don't think that's unique to professional hockey.

Why is this distinction of uniqueness so important to you and several others? Sure, it's not unique to Hockey. There's plenty of evidence in Football, for example. But Hockey is a unique cultural touchpoint in Canada, one that many of our children are involved in from a young age through to adult years. If THAT specific culture is one of many where sexual assault/rape is trivialized among other negative elements, then that is a problem we as Canadians should be addressing. That is what we are talking about here. We are not talking about how this is only a problem for hockey players- not sure why anyone would talk about that or why it would matter.

[OptimalTates]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I would love to see the stats ...

hockey vs football vs basketball vs baseball

is it sports in general? sports that have large salaries?

or is it proportionate to society in general?

If hockey has a specific problem more than a) all other sports and / or b) general society then they need to look at it.

Not that you could get anywhere close to real stats but even if you got like X% of hockey players vs Y% of basketball players being accused/charged/convicted, what would it mean?

As noted, generally (emphasis on generally), hockey players are certainly from a demographic that is more privileged compared to those other sports and society in general. Just comes with the territory of a game that has a higher barrier of entry. Not to mention the places that most hockey players are from are some of the best in the world.

Now what does that mean? Does it give them access to better fixers to keep things under wraps, better lawyers to avoid convictions and/or settlements with NDAs, better education to learn about consent, more stable home life or goes the opposite direction and provides them with more entitlement and privilege to not take "no" as an answer. Does it mean hockey (or whatever sport that the stats show is highest) attracts terrible people? Is it Hockey Canada as an organization that spills down to the lower levels in NA while Swedish hockey is fine? You could have a field day with a whole bunch of unanswerable questions related to society and the age old question of nature vs nurture.

But then you could also get into health effects of the contact sports. If hockey and football had higher rates could it be CTE? CTE is notable for causing impulse control. And then what does that mean on our perception of the justice system. Our actions are based on just a bunch of electrical signals in the brain and in an alternate world where Aaron Hernandez played baseball over football, is he still a "piece of #### murderer who deserved to rot" or could he have remained a productive member of society if his brain wasn't mush.

[Northendzone]

I was disappointed to see Scott stevens name on that list

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Why is this distinction of uniqueness so important to you and several others? Sure, it's not unique to Hockey. There's plenty of evidence in Football, for example. But Hockey is a unique cultural touchpoint in Canada, one that many of our children are involved in from a young age through to adult years. If THAT specific culture is one of many where sexual assault/rape is trivialized among other negative elements, then that is a problem we as Canadians should be addressing. That is what we are talking about here. We are not talking about how this is only a problem for hockey players- not sure why anyone would talk about that or why it would matter.

I was responding to the question seemingly incredulously asking in what other job a boss would cover stuff like this up. That's all.

Personally though, as a Canadian I don't feel any more responsibility for addressing rape culture in hockey than I do for addressing rape culture in other parts of life. I have almost zero connection to hockey in my life apart from this board and watching a few games on TV each year, and the issue is important outside of hockey too, so I see a broader conversation about the issues as valuable.

[Roof-Daddy]

Wow is Sheldon Souray ever a piece of human garbage

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

We know of a few: The Catholic Church, the Sourthern Baptist Conference and Hollywood screen guilds immediately come to mind.

Then Hockey Canada needs to be held to account like those other organizations have.

If being a high end hockey player in Canada results in a greater likelihood to get caught up in sexual assaults, then Hockey Canada should be doing more to combat the lifestyle that leads to this end. They should have mandatory sessions that players need to go through that really outlines the impact of sexual assault and why it is wrong. They should be pushing a culture that says standing up for the weak and defenseless is more important than protecting the strong criminal - even if it is your buddy. Hockey should provide independent hotlines for reporting abuse.

I am not sure what things would be most effective, but they need figure it out and do those things.