‘Think it’s funny’: Big issue with response to GWS Giants players’ joke

The reaction to the GWS Giants’ ill-fated end of season party has exposed a glaring issue with our national sense of humour.

COMMENT

The response to the GWS Giants’ ill-fated end of season players’ party has exposed an ongoing issue with our national sense of humour.

Details of the September 18 function – replete with an alleged laundry list of distasteful and offensive costumes and “highly inappropriate” performances that were inspired by the theme ‘Troubled Couples’ – came to light this week following an anonymous tip-off to the Giants.

One now-infamous skit reportedly included a blow-up sex doll and a player dressed as former NRL footballer Jarryd Hayne. Rape charges against the 36-year-old were dropped in June, bringing an end to an almost six-year legal battle that included three trials and two convictions.

An AFL Integrity investigation into the function is ongoing. Reports suggest as many as eight players are facing bans of at least two matches unless they can plead down their sanctions.

Both the league and the Giants have stated they will wait until the investigation is finalised to comment on the matter further (though the latter acknowledged on Wednesday that “the allegations are distressing and entirely contrary to the club’s values and policies”).

There were some too impatient to refrain from weighing in. As the situation unfolded, social media swiftly filled with (predominantly) men who were “struggling to see a problem” with what a select number of Giants players had allegedly done.

The rumoured punishment did not fit the crime, they suggested. The AFL was “seriously overstepping its mark” and had “lost its damn mind”. The goings-on of a “private event” were none of the public’s business. And why, they wondered, did nobody have a sense of humour anymore?

It seems the most obvious takeaway from this incident has also been the hardest for some people to grasp: you shouldn’t have to explain to grown men that joking about sexual assault isn’t funny.

An end of season players party for the GWS Giants on September 18 is being investigated by AFL Integrity. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“Private function or not, if you can’t see the issue with professional footballers making light of the fact that another professional footballer spent time in prison for allegedly violently raping a woman you should reflect on that,” Australian sports presenter and journalist, Lavender Baj, wrote in a thread on X.

“Regardless of Hayne now walking free, dressing up as him knowing the context surrounding him and his prison sentence is making a mockery of rape victims and reminds women of the all too painful truth that you very likely won’t get justice if your alleged abuser can kick a footy.

“I’ve lost count of how many times women have been dragged through hell when they’ve come forward with allegations of sex crimes and gendered violence involving Australian sportsmen. If these men think it’s a funny dress up costume we should probably re-evaluate their position.”

Per The Daily Telegraph, another player came dressed as basketballer Josh Giddey. The 22-year-old Australian, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, was investigated by the NBA earlier this year for an alleged off-court indiscretion, of which he was ultimately cleared.

There are also reports of a sketch involving Sean “Diddy” Combs, the American music mogul currently in prison over charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The 54-year-old has denied all allegations against him.

One player allegedly dressed as Australian NBA star Josh Giddey … Picture: Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP

… another came as former NRL player Jarryd Hayne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift

As Baj concluded: “I don’t want to see another woman in sport round or hand holding circle against gendered violence in Australian sport until at least one code has the guts to actually do something to fix the actual issue because it all means nothing when players do this sh*t for a laugh.”

ABC sports reporter Marnie Vinall also pointed to the AFL’s Round 8 activation – when players, coaches and umpires before all nine matches came together in the centre of the ground and formed a circle to pay tribute to the women who have lost their lives to gendered violence.

At the time, many suggested the league’s gesture was a hollow one, given more tangible steps to combat Australia’s epidemic of violence against women had not been introduced.

“There is obviously still a lot to come out about this (Giants) incident but the comments on this alone show why so many women were sceptical about the moment of silence … earlier this year – and how much work there is still to do in this area,” Vinall said on Wednesday night.

Sydney Swans and GWS Giants players, coaches and umpires form a circle as a show of support against gender based violence before their round eight AFL match on May 4. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Ahead of the aforementioned minute’s silence in May, Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly addressed the entire Giants men’s playing group, executive and board, where she spoke “extensively” about the role that men – particularly those with the kind of platform afforded to elite footballers – play in contributing to the discussion around gendered violence.

Certainly when Ms Kinnersly urged the playing group to be the ones to stand up and speak, “to challenge each other and not accept language that’s disrespectful and sexist”, this was not what she had in mind.

Speaking to news.com.au on Thursday, Ms Kinnersly stressed that “we are not across the detail of what is alleged to have taken place”.

“But any kind of behaviour including jokes that are sexist or about sexual violence are not harmless,” she continued.

“They normalise harmful attitudes toward women, minimise violence and reinforce harmful stereotypes. They contribute to a culture where violence against women is accepted and thrives.”

The ‘voices and behaviours’ of male sporting stars ‘are powerful in helping deliver real world change to reduce and end violence against women’. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The “voices and behaviours” of sporting codes, and in particular male sporting stars, Ms Kinnersly said, “are powerful in helping deliver real world change to reduce and end violence against women”.

“We would encourage those players who instigated or witnessed the behaviour to reflect on the equality and respect training they received earlier this year from Our Watch and consider how they can apply that to both their professional and private lives,” she added.

The investigations and response of both the AFL and Giants should be commended, Ms Kinnersly said.

“Their actions show the cultural change and progress that has taken place within the AFL leadership, where respect for women and each other is prioritised.”