Wendy Tuohy: Image-based sexual abuse is detestable, no matter the gender

WOMEN sharing sexual images of male players are as contemptible as the men who spread similar candid pictures of women, writes Wendy Tuohy.

Swan in his playing days with Collingwood. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

I STARTED the week with a column suggesting, based on a series of scandals around treatment of women by AFL men, the league needs to put respect and responsibility into practice.

But it must also be said that women circulating non-consensual sexual images of male players is contemptible.

If we are to condemn the player who non-consensually shares a picture of a topless girl with his Premiership medal around her neck on social media, we must condemn a woman sharing sexual imagery of a male player as loudly.

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Former on-field champion Dane Swan works with kids in footy clinics. Picture: Anna Rogers

Nathan Broad was rightly castigated and punished for sharing the topless image last year.

Now a woman who allegedly shared a sex tape of Dane Swan should be held just as strictly to account.

Yes, a young woman unused to dealing with the spotlight (namely the girl in the medal shot) is likely a more emotionally vulnerable target than a famous and successful male footy champion, Swan.

But reputational damage is reputational damage and breaking laws about what is now known as “image-based abuse” is despicable no matter the gender or status of the victim.

Swan stands to be financially impacted, possibly seriously, by this footage going all over social media, it could affect his post-playing career now he is relying on his personal brand.

He works with kids in footy clinics; the risk of him suffering from this is real.

What is extremely frustrating to those of us who devote time to arguing for authentically respectful treatment of women — because it is in everyone’s interests — is when women go about demolishing empathy for that cause.

If we want sexual harassment allegations the likes of which brought down a Lord Mayor of Melbourne and have today resulted in him being requested to come to present to the Health Department to respond, we must treat other allegations of sexual misconduct just as firmly.

The person who has allegedly shared non-consensual sexual footage of Dane Swan has damaged far more than her own standing among people who know who she is, and the former football player has now made an official police complaint.

Dane Swan is relying on his personal brand in his post-playing career. Picture: Tricia Watkinson.

By distributing the video, she will have impacted the goodwill of people flexible and open-minded enough to acknowledge that what is permissible in the treatment of women around footy, and generally, has changed.

If what is alleged is true, it is tacky, and quite frankly, infuriatingly dumb behaviour.

I hope anyone silly enough to consider similar illegal activity is comprehensively dissuaded by the anger being generated by this.

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