Cate Campbell reveals terrifying rape threat after exposing social media abuse directed at athletes

Olympic champion Cate Campbell has been subjected to a terrifying rape threat - and now authorities have been called on to extend their powers and find the culprit.

• Campbell: The most public shaming I’ve ever had

Warning: This story discusses the threat of sexual assault.

Cate Campbell has revealed a frightening late night phone call threatening her with rape after she posted an article on her social media account for Insight Sport detailing athletes’ battle with online trolling.

Campbell detailed her experience in a live television interview with The Today Show on Wednesday morning, just three days after her exclusive column for Insight Sport raised concerns about the abuse athletes face.

“I had a scary experience just the other day, I released an article talking about the online abuse that I had received and that night I received a phone call at 1am,” she said.

“[The caller] left a message saying that if I didn’t pick up the f---ing phone they were going to f---ing rape me.

“I think that that experience isn’t unique to me, it’s not unique to many female figures online and the scary thing is how threatened I felt about it and that my personal safety was in danger.”

Campbell received the chilling phone call late at night, but said it was not a unique experience for high-profile athletes. Picture: Getty

Social media abuse has been the focus of a Code Sports Investigation this week as several of Australia’s leading men’s and women’s athletes detailed their own horrific stories about the torment they face in the digital world from anonymous bullies.

But for Campbell to receive such aggressive threats directly to her mobile phone in the middle of the night is a major concern.

It is unclear if Campbell has made a police complaint about the phone call while Swimming Australia has been contacted for comment.

Campbell reiterated her strong stance in the column that simply telling athletes to turn off social media was not the answer.

“For those people who say, ‘Just get off social media’. You are victim blaming,” she added.

“Just as we think that women should be able to walk home at night, women should be able to exist safely on social media.

“So, if you’re pointing this out, you’re victim blaming and you are part of the problem because you are pointing at the victim and not the perpetrators.

“It’s not fixing the problem.”

Campbell has this week led a News Corp campaign exposing some of the social media abuse she and other Australian athletes receive. Picture David Clark

The shocking development has renewed calls for authorities to take action to protect athletes.

A former Australian intelligence officer and homeland security expert has called for the cops to step in to catch, then name and shame perpetrators.

Under existing laws, police can only investigate cases if a formal complaint is made but former counter-terrorism expert Shane Britten said authorities had the technological tricks available to figure out who was responsible.

“The police need someone to make a complaint to act, but this is the sort of thing that I really strongly believe has to be chased down to a resolution where that person needs to be held to account,” Britten said.

“If this has happened by mobile phone, then someone has registered that mobile phone somewhere so there‘s going to be a record of who owns it.

“There‘s investigative methods to find out because we leave traces of our mobile numbers all across the internet and we’ve done some of that work in supporting athletes who have copped similar abuse in the past.”

Campbell is a decorated Olympian, and a four-time goal medal winner. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Britten, who is also the CEO of Crime Stoppers International and Founder of SocialProtect, said the saddest part about the abuse Campbell received was that it’s a common experience for athletes.

In a distressing warning of just how toxic online hate speech has become, Britten revealed that female athletes were now being subjected to weekly online rape threats and he’s called for authorities and sporting officials to do more to support athletes.

“It‘s outrageous because it not only highlights how serious it is but it also highlights that this is not going away,” Britten said. “This is not the sort of thing that you can just expect to disappear.

“The very brave people who are putting their hands up and saying this is a problem when they get that sort of reaction, it‘s absolutely disgusting and unfortunately it doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Originally published as Cate Campbell reveals terrifying rape threat after exposing social media abuse directed at athletes