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Survey on Experiences of Misogyny and Sexism within Debating

V.2 September 2013

Survey and Qualitative Analysis by Rebecca Meredith Quantitative Analysis by Clara Spera Additional Analysis Editing by Matt Hazell

SURVEY ON EXPERIENCES OF MISOGYNY AND SEXISM WITHIN DEBATING Data Compiled May 2013

Contents Introduction Incidences of Sexual Assault Objectification and Sexualisation Speaking or Judging Style Sexual Relationships Debating Topics Socials Equity Misandry Suggestions by Respondents on Dealing with Sexism Personal Stories Quantitative Analysis 2 6 7 9 11

13 15 17 19 20 22 27

INTRODUCTION The first thing Id like to stress is that this report is by no means a comprehensive overview of misogyny in debating. It undoubtedly fails to pinpoint numerous subtleties which surround misogyny, and we were faced with multiple constraints including time, expertise and resources. However, the report does aim to highlight some of the broad challenges facing the debating circuit in terms of tackling misogyny and to bring attention to the personal experiences of debaters who have experienced sexual harassment, ridicule or belittlement through sexist or misogynistic behaviour. The findings of the report were discussed at the Oxford Womens Open on May 11th, and thereafter I hope it will be used to ignite further discussion into methods of alleviating the issues which have been highlighted by the survey. A Brief Summary of the Main Findings: We had 201 respondents, of which 127 identified themselves as female, 72 identified themselves as male and 3 identified themselves outwith a binary gender description. The report is split into 9 sections. These have been formed around the main issues which respondents raised in the survey.

The first section deals with what the authors of this report deem to be sexual assault or harassment groping, sexual harassment or non-consensual physical intimacy. There were 11 reported incidents of this type. The second section discusses sexism based around dress, physical appearance and attractiveness. There were 59 separate reported incidents of this type. The third section will deal with speaking style and references to the rhetorical style of female debaters with reference to their sex. There were 48 separate incidents of this type recorded. The fourth section will deal with the propensity for sexist comments or behaviour to arise which targets a female debaters sex life; of which there were 47 incidents. The fifth section will refer to debating topics and sexism; of which there were 34 descriptions. The sixth section will examine the social aspect of debating, including social groupings and female freshers. There were 48 references to this type of behaviour in the report. The seventh section of the report looks specifically at the issue of equity and the lack of reporting of sexism when it occurs. This was
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a concern highlighted by 38 respondents. The eighth section deals with claims of misandry from male respondents, of which there were 5 reports. The ninth section of the report will look at suggested methods of tackling sexism as suggested by the surveys respondents. The final section will be a breakdown of the purely quantitative data in the survey.

It should be noted that 15 of the incidents described occurred at Schools competitions or within World Schools teams. This should be brought to the attention of schools coaches or managers of world schools teams. We have compiled each section using quotes from respondents who were happy to have their stories publically detailed. We have removed any names from these quotes and the location of the IV, Open or international competition at which the incident took place. Space for further quotes has been added at the end of the report. 61.42% of female respondents stated they had experienced sexism/misogyny at debating tournaments. 47.2% of females responded affirmatively to the question asking whether they had experienced speakers, judges or audience members making reference to their appearance in debates. 41.23% of all respondents felt that misogyny and sexism had remained at the same level over time, neither improving nor worsening. Some of the stories highlighted are truly shocking, and all are concerning and thought-provoking. A quote from one respondent included the statement: When I was reposting this survey on the university facebook group, I hesitated because I did not want to be laid into by the boys defending themselves with essay-length comments trying to convince me how what I feel is not important. Many respondents reporting being scared to speak out. 80% of the women who reported having experienced or witnessed sexism or misogyny in debating stated that they did not report it. Every incident described here is important: it forms a pattern of what sexism in debating looks like and the way in which it alienates female debaters at all levels. One aspect of particular importance, especially in the run-up to Euros and Worlds, is section seven of the report which examines perceptions of equity policy. There were an alarming number of respondents who reporting various failings concerning equity policy at previous debating tournaments. Out of the 20% of women who did report the sexism they experienced only 3% expressed satisfaction with how the equity teams of the various competitions dealt with their complaint. An alarming number of respondents reported that they did not really understand what equity was, when it was suitable to make an equity complaint, or that equity was taken seriously
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by CA teams or Equity teams at tournaments. I have defined 11 incidents reported by respondents as sexual assault or physical harassment. These are dealt with in Section 1. Around three quarters of these incidents are defined as criminal assault under British law. All of these incidents occurred during socials after competitions, or at crash after tournaments. They raise serious questions over ensuring that equity policy is adhered to at socials and throughout the entire duration of competitions. A further issue surrounding socials has been reports from fresher female debaters. This is dealt with in section 6 and there were 48 reports of this nature. Some of the most distressing reports of this type have concerned claims that some female freshers have felt targeted by older debaters through excessive sharking, have heard older male debaters in their society discuss how to pass them around or have been told that they have only won debates because older males wanted to sleep with them. 4 respondents reported that they left debating permanently or for a brief period due to this treatment. One of the most shocking quotes referring to socials was the following, which detailed a conversation overhead by an Australian debater at a British IV: The majority of it wasn't actually within the debates, but in the socials...in a conversation that my team mate and I overheard at the ---- IV, a group of boys were advised by some older debaters that the way to get women on organisational committees for tournaments was to 'fuck the fresher girls so they feel obligated to come back and help'. This is just one example of the kind of sexist, outdated attitudes that we came across in both tournaments. The largest number of incidents in any category was category 2 reference to female speakers through sexual language or by appearance. There were 59 incidents of this nature reported. Major areas of similarity included reference to chest size, claims that a female speaker was dressed sluttily in order to win debates, or reference to rape or a female speakers sex life in order to gain laughs in finals. An interesting area of response was from female judges who report being shut out or ignored during judging decisions, with other judges making comments about their appearance during judging discussions. This is an area which CAs should seriously take note of. Some of the most common reports were claims by female judges and speakers that they had been told they only broke or won debates because they were promiscuous or dressed provocatively. Wed like to highlight that we understanding the shortcomings of this type of research a GoogleDoc method, though useful for our purposes and the constraints of time and other resources, falls foul of many of the proscribed methods of social research. We would be unable to stop respondents filling in the survey more than once, and I fear our quantitative data may have fallen victim to responses which aimed to mock the report. However, the data we have gleaned will hopefully shed some light on misogyny within debating, which, on the basis of the number of separate incidents described by respondents, seems to be more widespread than first realised.
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Id also like to point out that this report is really a drop in the ocean nor is misogyny the only issue which needs investigation. Jennie Hope has recently rightly pointed out the pervasive use of the word mental during debates and the assigned connotations, while investigations into possible biases against ESL speakers is also a major avenue for which research could be useful. We have avoided making our own concrete recommendations before the discussion at Oxford Women's; though in the last section of the report we have included respondents' suggestions. Id like to thank Clara Spera, who conducted the breakdown of the quantitative data which makes up the ninth section of the report (a hugely time consuming task), Matt Hazell for editing the graphics and formatting of this report, Freddy Powell, who co-created the Google Doc survey, as well as Sam Block, Bob Nimmo, Marlena Valles and Jennie Hope who offered advice in the making of the survey. Huge thanks must also go to the organisers of Oxford Women's, who gave up huge amounts of time to discuss this report and possible methods of dealing with the problems it identifies. Particular thanks must go to David Wigley whose extreme dedication was only surpassed by his immense patience while I juggled final exams and compiling the report. Overall, I hope this report can be used as a stepping stone to further work and investigation into removing misogyny from the debating circuit. The number of respondents to this survey suggests that it is not a problem isolated to a few rogue cases, but rather a more subtle and pervasive issue. Some of the experiences which have been detailed in this report are upsetting and shocking; while the silence around them and lack of a proper reporting system to equity teams at competitions is unacceptable. The 7 problem areas identified in this report - Incidences of Sexual Assault, Objectification and Sexualisation, Speaking or Judging Style, Sexual Relationships, Debating Topics, Socials and Equity - are areas which future CA teams and equity officers will hopefully work hard to eradicate. Rebecca Meredith July 2013

INCIDENCES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT During crash at a --------, there was a mini-party in the president's room (can't remember exactly what it's called but the place where the CA team crashed). About 15 people ended up sleeping in that room after the mini-party, including one guy who waited until the women had fallen asleep and started touching them. At the time I thought I had imagined it because I had been drinking and was woken up by him, but later I spoke to 2 of the other women in the room (there had only been 5 women at the mini-party) and they said the same thing had happened to them. Over the course of the week, several extremely well know 'senior' male debaters attempted to grope me at the socials At -------- I was again at a mini-party of about 15 - 20 people in a hotel room. One of the guys at that party put his hand up my skirt and pinched my thigh. This was witnessed by ----------- from ------- whose room it was. He asked the guy who pinched me (who was also from --------) to leave the party but also told me it would be dealt with and asked me not to tell anyone else Last year, about six months into debating, I was very involved and we were hosting a high profile guest. This attracted a lot of faculty members to the audince, while having drinks after the event I was sexually harrased by a member of faculty. I had my hair pulled by him, he tried to look up my skirt, asked me lots of questions about lesbian sex knowing I was gay and made me feel awful. I was appalled and upset, but when I went to the Auditor of the union, I was told to keep quiet, and not to make a fuss. The rest of committee agreed with him. At --------, a senior male debater groped me at a social. I told him I wanted him to stop and he became aggressive and said that he didnt usually get turned down.

OBJECTIFICATION AND SEXUALISATION i) Suggestions that provocative clothing would win a woman a debate:

As a (very very junior) judge at a large two-day schools competition (~2002), repeated jokes were made by much more senior (male) judges about using the attractiveness, skirt length etc of female teams to break ties or come to decisions when otherwise stuck. I heard one all-male team say a woman they were up against was trying to lure the judges by wearing a short skirt, but I didn't feel comfortable in calling them out because I was a novice at my first competition and was wearing a short-ish skirt as well. At ----- worlds, a judge told me after the debate that my skirt was distractingly short. when I pointed out that it wasn't that short, and it was hot weather, he said that I should dress like that more often to get high speaks. Most upsetting to myself have been the suggestion that my partner and I should "dress like sluts" and "flirt our way to a win" in order to be successful. I have also been informed that some of my achievements have been because of my appearance, rather than because of my skill. I was coerced into wearing make-up, jewelry, and high heels to practices and competitions by my coaches and teammates because I was told that no one would take me seriously if I did not act more femininely. This was particularly frustrating because male debaters on my team have won tournaments in basketball shorts and tank tops, but I was told I needed to be very feminine and well dressed to travel and to win. ii) Reference to a Womans Dress or Appearance to Gain Audience Laughs in Finals

During the final of a major UK IV (~2003), a member of the audience (quietly) entered the chamber mid-speach one speaker in the final. I can't remember the wording but the speaker effectively suggested that she was asking to be raped dressing the way she did. 2003 ----- finals comments were made regarding rape victims "asking for it" by their choice in clothing, and then a comment was made regarding our particular outfits... We did not formally complained because there was so much support and laughter from the "audience" we felt bad enough being singled out, we didn't want to make a big deal. iii) Reference to a womans appearance in debates:

---- Schools 2011/2012: I gave a POI and the speaker (a boy from ----) said "Sit down, Barbie."
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I was taking part at the ---- as part of an all-female team, after finishing my speech the first boy opposing began his speech by saying "Many thanks to 'Debating Barbie' for her input". There were one or two uncomfortable looks but audible laughter and sniggering from the audience. I held it together until the end of the debate when I ran to the women's toilets and burst into tears. When I re-entered the room where everyone was waiting for the result I overheard the same boys commenting on the fact I'd clearly been upset by their 'joke' and concluding that 'This is why women shouldn't be allowed to debate, they take themselves so seriously and just cry whenever something doesn't go their way'. iv) Sexual comments to women in debates:

I was very offended when a wing judge, about the 7th or 8th round, gave me almost no feedback except that no one truly understood the motion, and "don't wear a top with such cleavage when you already don't understand what you're supposed to say, we can't possibly try to listen to you" The worst was in a debate about the reclamation of the word 'slut'. Every time a girl POIed (and the debate was about half woman so fairly often) it became a joke to say 'she's just bitter cos she's a slut' or something equally hilarious. A chair judge at the ----- 2012 told two women that if they made out, they'd get the win. I stood up to give a POI and he said something to the effect of "I will take your point wench"

SPEAKING OR JUDGING STYLE Respondents reported experiencing misogyny while speaking or judging which can be categorised into 3 main areas. Firstly, assumptions that they would not understand hard topics such as economics, war or science. Secondly, the belittling of speeches or judging using gendered language, and lastly, dismissive behaviour towards women on judging panels. i) Suggestions that hard topics about certain issues would sound more rhetorically convincing coming from a man

The judge, while praising the content, gave remarks about how "whiny-sounding" my partner's manner was. He said that way of speaking would be better sounding if it came from me since I'm a man. It wouldn't be convincing for a woman to do so. At a ----- competition a few years back my, female, partner was told, in feedback, to "calm down and speak slower because as a woman you sound hysterical otherwise". ii) Belittling of womens speeches or judging input through gendered language

----- 2008 - when speaking with a male partner a high-ranking Oxford judge said that we were such a great team because he made such strong arguments and I "summed them up so prettily". Male opponent described my speeches as flowery I was in a semi final round in varsity, and I was the only female. I had just finished giving the member of government speech, when the opposition member gave his thank yous and told the audience, while smirking that I sounded like his little sister giving my speech and that it was kind of cute. Having my points dismissed as "bitching" by male opponents (----- Worlds), being called "shrill" in judges' feedback (----- Euros) Aside from the incident at GUU, at the ---- novice completion in ----where an all-female team in the final were ridiculed for shrieking or sounding hysterical by the audience (clearly not by the judges - as they won) . Comments along the lines of typical moaning women were made by one or two individuals sitting beside me whom I do not know and I am ashamed to not have challenged.
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---- IV 2011 - my first ever debating competition as a university student. In the quarter finals, in front of an audience, a particular male debater responded to a speech by a prominent female debater by saying: "that speech was very sweet". At ----- in ---, my male coach told me and the other female member of the team that we had to watch for the "Bitch Factor". He said that because we were women we had to be particularly careful of our tone and the way we presented our arguments in case judges thought we sounded too bitchy. It was suggested that if female debaters were too aggressive, this would be viewed poorly by judges, but there was no similar concern for men iii) Women being ignored on judging panels or by male debaters during feedback:

I have been on a few judging panels, usually in knock-out rounds, where female judges were not listened to as much as others or regarded as being token female and/or novice judges. ----- Euros - shut out of final in round judging panel by chair judge who spoke only to the other 3 male wings. I have, a few times (2/4 times), at international competitions had all-male teams or male speakers that were just unwilling to listen to any feedback I gave them, talked back, or were genuinely rude to myself or female debaters and refused to stop behaving in that manner when I asked them to stop. Obviously, this happens sometimes anyways, but on these occasions I was told later that this was behaviour they would exhibit towards all women. I had not necessarily felt it was directed at me as a woman though, just that my authority over the debate was questioned.

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SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS Main issues in this section included claims that women only did well in debating because they were sexually attractive, because of who their boyfriend was, or because they had slept around to win. i) Suggestions that women only did well in debating because male judges or partners wanted to sleep with them:

At my last tournament (Euros 2012) I was told the only reason men debated with me was so they could try and sleep with me. I was doing fairly well during the tournament, and several male and debaters claimed I was only doing well because male judges wanted to sleep with me. ii) Claims that female debaters were only successful due to who they were having a relationship with:

I've seen judges on the Irish circuit make off hand sexist comments about speakers. --------- was described as being carried by her partner. Her victories were discredited because of who she was dating at the time by a group of guys from UCD. If you're dating a debater guy, you're just there 'because of him', as though you're not really capable of being committed personally. I really think it's not that welcoming for girls, especially in some spaces. iii) Suggestions that women did well because they slept around:

At our Open in my first year, I was listed in the tab room as one of the freshers to keep an eye on, in terms of potentially being a good judge. On discovery of this, another member publically (though behind my back) stated this was because I slept around in order to gain status iv) Reference to Female Speakers Sex lives in debates:

----, 2009. A semi-final with both Oxford and Cambridge teams. Kept making references/jokes throughout the debate about how one female
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debater had slept with x,y & z in the debate and others guys from each of those institutions. Referred to as a "slut" when no involvement with any debaters and in a long term relationship and that used as factor for why a judging call had been made. Both events at Scottish competitions a few years ago.

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DEBATING TOPICS The largest issue raised was the assumption that female debaters do not understand hard issues like economics, science or international relations, or stereotypically masculine interests such as football or sport, and are better suited to womens rights debates. The second largest issue raised was that arguments about womens rights were dismissed in debates, even when they were relevant to the argument. i) Assumptions that women dont know anything about hard topics:

Male partner told me that we would make a good team because he knew about serious issues, while I understood 'women and gays'. I think that there is an emphasis on women being good at women's issues but not much else in general. -----2008 - in a debate about football (about which I know a lot and my male partner knew nothing), I was told by a Scottish judge (who unsurprisingly defended some of Glasgow's behaviour in the past 24 hours) that obviously as a woman I couldn't know about this and was therefore repeating what my partner had told me in prep time. I've certainly heard school teachers say things like ''we put two boys in the team because the first round was a science motion''. I've also heard casual misogynist comments made in passing about the credibility of female speakers in debates on certain topics (eg football). In a final at novice ----- schools 2010 we were the only female team in the debate on marriage incentives, and an opp team when talking about what our points would consist of said "I'm sure the ladies in second prop will have lots to tell us about emotions and love"

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ii)

Dismissal of Arguments About Womens Issues in Debates:

I must say have seen several all-male teams roll their eyes during "abortion", "women's rights" or "pornography" motions when we tried to show the impact such motions would have on women's image or feelings, and then rebut our arguments really lightly because "that's women's feeling, how can we debate on that when you (women) are not understandable by the average male citizen ?". I was in the room at the --- Grand final and I remember that guys in the room laughed and made a lot more fun of the girls propping something on women's rights than of the male speakers. ----- Schools 2011/2012: I gave a feminist argument and was told by the judge that women's rights arguments were "a bit tired."

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SOCIALS In response to the question on debating circles or social environments within debating, numerous respondents raised concerns over predatory behaviour by older male debaters towards freshers. This was expressed through the pinpointing of Freshers Id Like to Fuck, or open advances. One respondent noted that she had been put off pro-ams after hearing a conversation among older male debaters in which they described pro-ams as a way to sleep with freshers. Around 4 respondents noted the sexist behaviour within unions, including misogynistic union traditions or the singing of misogynistic songs. i) Reports of predatory behaviour by prominent, older male debaters or union debate members on female freshers:

I'm an active part of the Australian debating circuit, which seems to be a lot more progressive than the UK debating circuit (based on my admittedly limited experience of the Manchester IV and Glasgow Ancients 2013). In Australia, I have never experienced sexism or misogyny at a debating tournament. In the 2 tournaments that I was at in Britain, I was exposed to a shocking amount of it. The majority of it wasn't actually within the debates, but in the socials...in a conversation that my team mate and I overheard at the ---- IV, a group of boys were advised by some older debaters that the way to get women on organisational committees for tournaments was to 'fuck the fresher girls so they feel obligated to come back and help'. This is just one example of the kind of sexist, outdated attitudes that we came across in both tournaments. Male debaters would target increasingly younger girls (usually in their first years) in a manner that made a lot of these women uncomfortable - and ultimately pushed many of them away from debating. In 2009/10 when I started debating as a fresher, there was a 'senior' male debater that appeared to talk to my chest and not to me and I felt that he only wanted to speak with me because he wanted to sleep with me. This turned out to be true. He also made jokes about hiring me as his secretary after we had finished university despite our undertaking similar degrees and my having no ambition to be a secretary after university. When judging, -------, once forced a girl through to the final of the ----- IV ---- explicitly stating to his wings that she was fit so thought he had a better chance with her if he got her through. I was always pretty wary of pro-ams, after hearing older male debaters joking about how pro-amming with freshers girls was a good way to get laid (wink wink etc.).
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I have been told that I am "too pretty to debate" (by a girl) and recently found out that my nickname on the Irish circuit last year among some of the guys was "Fresher I'd Like To Fuck". I have often also witnessed male speakers of high status in the society boasting about putting fresher speakers who were females and attractive down, to 'knock their self-esteem' so they'd be more easily pressured into sleeping with them with alcohol ii) Misogynistic behaviour at Unions:

I certainly heard songs that could be titled misogynistic sung at numerous debating unions including Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow, Strathclyde, and Durham. These songs - ''Tampax Factory'' etc - were generally sung at the end of a heavy night of drinking I was at ---- 2005-06 and saw many incidents of sexism and entrenched misogynist culture, from the singing of unpleasant songs through to the activities of the '139 dinners' (not officially part of the debating society but closely connected to it through the ---) where there was actually a rule forbidding attendees from speaking when a woman entered the room, which obviously created an intimidating atmosphere for the female serving staff. After a large schools competition in Scotland (~2005), at which I'd been asked to judge the final, there was a large dinner arranged by the organisers to thank the many many many student judges who'd made it all possible. The evening featured the lengthy singing of songs glamourising rape It is commonplace for certain members of our debating Union to find is acceptable to make sexist (along with racist and homophobic, but I will focus on the former for the sake of this survey) "jokes". When I have expressed that I find this unacceptable, it is simply ignored and forgotten, or called "harmless". Most disturbingly, a candidate for president of our society is the person most responsible for these disgusting "jokes", and despite my complaints, he was allowed to run in the election regardless.

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EQUITY Concerns over equity came in three main areas. Firstly, that equity was not well explained or taken seriously. Second, that female debaters were worried about reporting incidents because they were worried about repercussions or because the perpetrator was a prominent male debater, they thought people would criticise them for complaining, and because convenors would be too busy. Thirdly, concerns were raised over the ways equity complaints were dealt with once submitted. i) Concerns over how seriously equity is taken at tournaments:

I think in general equity teams do not take complaints very seriously I have never made any equity complaint about these things because, as suggested, they seem to be considered acceptable things to say in the opinion of many debaters, and so I see complaining about it as a pretty futile process. When this is responded to with phrases such as "x doesn't mean any harm", I have no reason to believe the equity team at any given competition would not respond in the same way. At ---- Ancients 2013 the equity briefing lasted for about 10 seconds and was laughed at I think one of the biggest problems is equity. It's rarely dealt with seriously- almost every competition I've been to (10+) has made jokes while announcing the equity teams and policies- and is incredibly vague; saying "don't be an asshole" really isn't enough. There should be a competent and approachable equity team which clearly communicated standards of behaviour and a willingness to actually enforce penalties for people who break equity rules. Equity officers are consistently regarded as a joke appointment. ii) Fear over reporting the incident:

This person was not on the committee but was/is respected within the debating community and I felt that, having experienced backlash and hostility upon complaining about sexist behaviour in the past (not connected to debating or university), that it would be easier to just accept it I've never complained. No one would take it seriously. Or worse, they would make fun of me for not finding the 'banter' funny.

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Never brought any official complaints. At the time, I felt like I was just being overly dramatic and that the tournament directors/coaches had bigger issues to worry about. There was no-one to complain to. This boy was the president of the debating club. I didn't feel able to complain to anyone else. I wish I had. I've certainly experienced sexism but haven't felt comfortable speaking out because the perpetrators were always men highly regarded in the debate community. I've been around long enough to realize that these things are ALWAYS and CONSISTENTLY swept under the rug. I have always felt the need to keep quiet about these issues. This is because of me wanting to travel, gain positions, and be taken seriously by my coaches and my teammates. This is also because when I have spoken about any incidents to my coaches or to some of my teammates (not all teammates), I have been told that the situations I described were "not a big deal" or were things I had consented to and things that were unimportant. I am not going to name my union or the people involved in the incidents that I described for the above questions (7 and 8) because I am fearful of backlash I may receive on my team. iii) Reporting Incidents which werent taken seriously:

I handed in a written complaint but I never heard anything be done about it, and no one ever came to speak to me about it. I have over heard sexism aimed at female debaters at 2 different competitions, in both cases done by the same group of people. In one of the incidents I went to the CA to see the problem had been reported, and he was adamant that it was going to be solved but did nothing than slightly reprimand the people culpable ---- Open- the CA apologised/justified the behaviour on the grounds of the drunken-ness of the debater in question, the debater in question did not. ---- Euros - reported chair judge's behaviour via feedback system. The Chair judge in question broke as a judge. No-one from CA team spoke to me. iv) Worries over womens forums:

---- 2011: I was made fun of and challenged for wanting to attend the women's night at the tournament. I ultimately didn't go because I didn't want to deal with that situation.

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MISANDRY i) Concerns that men are belittled when they make arguments about womens rights:

What happened at GUU is appalling but on multiple occasions female/debaters judges will laugh at arguments about women's issues when they come from male debaters. I cannot count the number of times I have been told I simply "don't get it" or "wouldn't understand", as if misandry now counts for analysis. Sexism needs to stop, but making comments like "most of you [men] are shits" in specific reference to male debating community is not ok. Were this comment made by a male debater about female debaters there would have been uproar, but not this way round. ii) Objections to descriptions of men by female debaters

At ------IV 2013 this year, a female debater (---------) said in a debate that all men were 'shits'. I found this really irritating as misandry should also not be tolerated. N.B. The following quote was submitted 2 nd hand by a male respondent. In his words, the person he had been told this by was an organiser/CA/DCA - but I want to preserve their anonymity: Despite being a former CA at Worlds, I was not allowed to judge at ----- 2012 "because, you know, you have a dick."* Sexism is discrimination on the basis of sex. As a result, you have absolutely no right to refer to actions of debaters from Glasgow as sexist unless you women acknowledge to be equally sexist yourself. You might give me usual dose of very weak positive discrimination arguments, but I guarantee you that there is no such thing as positive sexism. Don't expect to be respected until you think it's ok to disrespect others.

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SUGGESTIONS BY RESPONDENTS ON DEALING WITH SEXISM Encouraging women to speak up and letting them understand they aren't doing any harm by reporting such behavior. Although the Oxford Women's Open is a brilliant competition, I think more all-female competitions and the encouraging of all female teams is definitely the way to go. Appoint more female CAs and chair judges, particularly in lower-point rooms in competitions and at novice competitions to demonstrate to newer debaters that female debaters are accomplished at all levels; forums on women's experiences in debating at IVs attended by large numbers of novices. Less re-use of popular CA's - I remember one year where two very popular, successful and male Irish debaters seemingly chaired every other competition in IONA. They were excellent CAs but their ubiquity didn't do much to promote a diverse debating community. Making all institutions accountable to SSDC or ESU - this allows the threat of a boycott for unions that dont reform. The equity officer and the entire complaints system towards somebody's inappropriate behaviour should be better organized, more visible and applicable. Mandate all the dominant, large societies to send at least one senior all female team, or have the majority of their teams mixed gender. Public name-and-shame efforts are probably more useful than boycotts. Since university clubs and unions have rapid turnover as people graduate, a boycott eventually hurts people who have no connection to the offender and reduces the quality and quantity of debate opportunities. Encouraging women to stick around after the first year. I think the most effective way to do that is to have female mentoring programmes (like requiring a successful debater to debate with a female novice. We have an AA requirement for both genders at the USU (a third of all people have to be either female or male) The Oxford Women's Open is a great start and I'd love to see something similar or related (albeit on a smaller scale) in SSDC. Sexism "contracts"; i.e. I'm trying to get our Union to instigate a system whereby anyone who wants to be sent to an external competition
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has to sign an agreement whereby they promise not to engage in certain types of behavior. This not only sends a strong message, but also makes individuals far more aware of the way in which their actions/language can be inadvertently sexist etc -Issues should not only be dealt with by "famous people"; it is difficult and scary for an inexperienced/unknown person to raise complaints to an equity officer etc when they know the complaint is about one of their friends Boycott sexist Unions. There is no reason why we should not pursue zero-tolerance for sexist behaviour. Having an anonymous complaints system so that people can complain about their unions without feeling worried of retribution from their union. More women CAs Monash imposes affirmative action policies beyond what the AIDA constitution requires (this goes both ways). This means that at worlds we require at least 1/3 of our contingent to be both female or male. Monash actively supports the Australasian Womens BP Competition Mixed Opens With Female Ams I think that making equity policy clearer and explaining what it means at the beginning of the tournament would help.

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PERSONAL STORIES The quotes here reflect issues which fit into the sections already described but which cannot be included due to space constraints, or which do not fit clearly into the delineated sections. There was another separate problem at --- from a member of the --- debating union ---- who had incredibly misogynist ideas women being seductive and evil - trying to control the mind of men. Some -- women gave him contact details and got abusive messages from him until they stopped responding. When I commented to another team at ------ IV 2013 how male dominated it was, I was told this was to be expected because "women don't debate much in Scotland" As a schools debater I received this a lot from judges in, e.g. ESU Juniors. I often felt patronised and was once told that I gave a good speech "for a girl". At a NOSS competition when I was quite young, I was told that if I 'kept the hair off my pretty face' and 'smiled more' I would have garnered more speaker points. I doubt a male competitor would have been told the same, and certainly not in the same manner. I have seen lots of girls called shrill or hysterical, with 'calm down dear' becoming a common form of 'engagement'. The wife of the same Worlds Schools coach (who accompanied us to the tournament) told myself and the other female speaker to stand with our chests pushed out. This suggested to us that our physical appearance was something that we needed to consider, but was irrelevant to our male colleagues' debating success. When I was in my first year, my male debate partner and I both aspired to leadership positions in our club. While many members of the club (both male and female) were supportive of me, our well-respected male President favoured my male partner. The President later admitted to me he had only favoured my partner because he was male. ---- WSDC selection training day, 2011: told that one girl has to make the team because that 'looks good'. At the ESU Schools Mace Competition we were told that even though our points were better our voices were higher so in the real world people would like us less than our male opposition so they won. Having recently become part of an all-female team, it has been suggested to me numerous times that we don't sound "convincing" when we
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speak due to the tone of our voices, or that we sound "ranty", "hysterical".Prior to being with my current speaker partner, I have also been told to speak in a more "masculine" way. Even among my closest male friends there are sometimes subtle remarks that come from the underlying belief female debaters aren't as capable or convincing. Heard a lot of the few women put down constantly as 'only there because they got with the boys who were good', thus less deserving of position. I have also on numerous occasions at our internal training been told I sound too "hysterical", "shrill", and "aggressive" when I speak, among other terms that I consider to be gender-based. I have never heard such criticisms directed towards any male debaters in our society. I've been referred to several times as "love" during debates, often in response to my points of information. As a schools coach, it seems to me that little has changed. I notice that judges do very little to create a safe environment for young female debaters. Off-colour misogynist jokes are laughed at merrily; references to a debater's appearance or gender are deemed acceptable. These behaviours mean that it is unlikely that a student will speak out about the sexism, especially since the judges are seen as being in a position of authority. They are worried that to do so would be seen as unsportsmanlike. The worst years were when I was a new mother and a debate coach. I was treated so poorly by my boss that it was sickening. He portrayed the utmost support in public and disparaged/harassed me consistently for "draining the team budget" for needing to stop to pump for my baby, needing a space to do so, etc -- minimal cost and delay. It was a horrifying year but I doubted anyone would believe me because he would only say those things in private meetings. I have (over)heard occasional sexist-sounding attempts at humor as part of private conversations, both competitively and internally. None of these remarks were made in the presence of women. I have never reported any of these incidents, as it was generally clear that they were made in a non-serious fashion. Personally I believe that being repressive of humor does not help any discourse on any topic. At a mace first round comp 2012 (school) we were given feedback that consisted of being told "your points were as good, at points better than the other (male) team but your squeaky voices really harmed delivery". I've heard debaters who want to run feminism in a motion that isn't strictly related to feminism described as 'crazy'.

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I feel like it's really laddish and intimidating unless you're v outgoing, and some guys try it on you and won't let you just be one of the team, or are judgemental about looks I have also experienced sexist comments as the only female on the executive at one point, really degrading comments based on sexual conduct ---- final or semi, I don't recall (maybe 2002/3?) when a team from the Inns (who will remain nameless), made some really awful rape jokes about the clothing of some girls in the audience and when I raised it as a problem during the adjudication it was totally dismissed by the (otherwise all male) judging panel. who suggested that I was being oversensitive and should have appreciated how well the (mostly male) audience had responded to the comments. I've also received multiple comments about having a shrill voice. Some of the more offensive remarks have focussed on my looks: "not just good female team but also incredibly hot". I can't find any compelling reason why my looks are related or relevant to my abilities as a speaker or why they should be. In an outround at WUDC ---- where one speaker referred to another speaker (female) as a screeching banchie. I've also witnessed a speaker at WUDC ---- in an outround speak of women as should be married to be fulfilled. Most notable incident was being told by a male debater that I should wear low-cut tops I've been in a room of seven male and one female speakers where the female was told condescendingly to "sit down, darling" by her male opponent when offering a POI (and was visibly upset by this comment as it never would have happened if she was also male). I didn't report it as I was a only a wing judge, and the Chair (male) didn't bring it up so I assumed it wasn't worth mentioning. The perpetrator was also a well-known and well-liked debater which made be uncomfortable speaking up. In ---- Worlds (around 2005?), I was told in an adjudication that I had a 'bitchy' style, by a judge who has judged countless worlds and is considered an elder statesman of debating. In the German debating circuit there was an only female debating tournament in the Summer of 2011 organized by the debating society in Jena (city in Eastern Germany). They took the Oxford Women's IV as a rolemodel and wanted to try it out for the German circuit as well.
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When they announced the tournament on our online magazine AchteMinute this announcement caused the longest comment discussion ever (far more than 100 comments). The discussion was basically about if we need such a tournament and if we don't need it if we at least want it. I can't remember all the comments in detail.. but there was some pretty sexist stuff in there, like "of course women do not have the same ability to speak as the male debaters" or "I just like listening to a man better, because I cannot focus on a woman's words.." But I find the notion sexist that is ongoing in debateland: you can be as socially awkward as you like as a guy and as "nerdy" as possible, you only need to be a good/successful debater and then you will be able to pick any of the women (mostly Freshers) on a tournament to sleep/make out with you. However during the social after one IV a guy who I know claims to be a feminist and takes some pride in quoting feminist thinkers, asked me seriously if it would be rape if he had sex with a very drunk girl who was almost unconscious next to us. ----- IV 2010/2011 there was this quiz to fill the time, and one of the questions was about when during a debate, who would you give the POI to? They quickly went over the answer, because this question was too easy, obviously you'd go for the pretty girl. We all laughed... Summer of 2011: I was required to attend extra practices with a debate alumni from my union. He was supposed to teach me how to be more emotional as a speaker because I needed to fit a gender role that made male adjudicators "comfortable" with my speaking. At these practices, I was forced to memorize and recite gruesome poems and book excepts about sexual assault against women even after I had pulled the teacher aside and explained that I had experienced some of these issues myself and was uncomfortable having to discuss them. I threw up after one practice because I was so upset over what I was being required to perform for people. I eventually got permission to refuse to attend these sessions, but only after having been sick in front of others. Fall of 2012: I was refused the ability to speak with multiple partners because my coaches believed two female speakers could not be successful together at tournaments. These include having sexist comments written on ballots by high school judges (I was routinely called a bitch and a whore and a lesbian During selections for WUDC ----, the institution I was then representing had four serious candidates for two team slots and (as they saw it), two male, two female. It was made very clear that there was no interest in sending an all-female team since it was felt that such a team would not be seen as competative .

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I instructed second years and older members not to 'shark' on female freshers On multiple ocassions there have been stringent and active suggestions that one of the judges at Euros was only broken because of a prospective sexual relationship with one of the CA team. This allegation was not substanciated, but repeated in front of female freshers multiple times. Numerous IV on the run up to Worlds in ---- - when speaking with a female partner, I was repeatedly told that I should be more masculine to counterbalance my partner. We were frequently described as too girly/high pitched - even when doing well and reaching finals. Told along with another female judge in the debate that would not be able to judge a round well because one person jn sebate felt that we clearly wanted to sleep with one of the people in the debate. When competing in a all female team, my partner and I were told several times that we were "unconvincing". Also, we were once told that we sound whiny (we both have thin voices). "Another time was at the University of ----. I was debating in varsity and I was the only female in the room. The opposition member made a comment of how girls should never wear pants and always wear skirts, and he looked to me and said it would and should be frowned upon if a girl does not wear skirts especially being in a debate competition. The most distressing incident for me was when I reached the final of the ----. On the mailing list that debaters used at the time a male debater wrote that he hoped my team mate (also female) and I would get "raped" in the final. This was a public forum and to the best of my memory no-one criticized him for his comments.

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QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES

I.SURVEYPARTICIPATION

Whatisyourgender? Male Female Other 72 127 2 201 35.82% 63.18% 1.00%

Afewnotesonparticipation: Thissurveywasbasedon voluntary participation.Thisoftenlendsitselftoextremeresponsesparticipantswhofeelasthoughtheyhave somethingparticularlyimportantthattheywanttoexpressaremorelikelytofilloutthesurvey. Thereisnowaytoverifythestatusofdebatingparticipationofthesurveyparticipants. Thereisnowaytopreventanindividualfromcompletingthesurveymorethanonce.

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II.EXPERIENCINGSEXISM

(A)ATCOMPETITIONS
Haveyouexperiencedsexismormisogynyata competition? Yes No NoResponse 107 59 35 201 53.23% 29.35% 17.41%

*NOTETHATALLGRAPHSINTHISREPORTREPRESENTTHENUMBEROF RESPONDENTSFOREACHQUESTIONNOTTHEPERCENTAGE.

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Females:Haveyouexperiencedsexismor misogynyatacompetition? Yes No NoResponse Males:Haveyouexperiencedsexismormisogyny atacompetition? Yes No NoResponse 29 28 15 72 40.28% 38.89% 20.83%

78 29 20 127

61.42% 22.83% 15.75%

53.2%ofallrespondentsreportedhavingexperiencedsexismatacompetition. 61.42%ofallfemaleparticipantsreportedhaving experiencedsexismatacompetition,while40.28%ofmaleparticipantsreportedthesame. 72.89%ofallrespondentsreporting tohaveexperiencedsexismormisogynyatadebatingcompetitionwerefemalerespondents.


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(B)WITHINDEBATINGUNIONS


Haveyoueverexperiencedsexism/misogynyatyour universitydebatingunion?

Yes No NoResponse

71 77 53 201

35.32% 38.31% 26.37%

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Females:Haveyoueverexperienced sexism/misogynyatyouruniversitydebating union? Yes No NoReponse 53 39 35 127 41.73% 30.71% 27.56%


While38.31%ofallparticipantsrecordednothavingexperiencedsexismormisogynyattheiruniversitydebatingunion,41.73%of femaleparticipantsrecordedthattheyhadexperiencedsexismormisogynyattheiruniversitydebatingunion. 74.65%ofthose recordingtohaveexperiencedsexismormisogynyattheiruniversitydebatingunionarefemaleparticipants.

Males:Haveyoueverexperienced sexism/misogynyatyouruniversitydebating union? Yes No NoReponse 17 37 18 72 23.61% 51.39% 25.00%

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III.WITNESSINGSEXISM


Haveyouwitnessedanysexistabusedirectedat someoneelse? Yes No NoResponse 60 76 65 201 29.85% 37.81% 32.34%


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Females:Haveyouwitnessedanysexistabuse directedatsomeoneelse? Yes No NoResponse 40 44 43 127 31.50% 34.65% 33.86%


Males:Haveyouwitnessedanysexistabuse directedatsomeoneelse? Yes No NoResponse 19 31 22 72 26.39% 43.06% 30.56%

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IV.REPORTINGSEXISTBEHAVIOUR


Haveyoueverfelttheneedtokeepquiet/acceptsexist behaviourinordertoparticipateinyourdebatingunion, gainaspotontheteamforyouruniversityorgainaposition onthecommitteeofyourdebateunion? Yes No Noresponse 23 107 71 201 11.44% 21.50% 11.44%

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Females:Haveyoueverfelttheneedtokeepquiet/acceptsexist behaviourinordertoparticipateinyourdebatingunion,gainaspot ontheteamforyouruniversityorgainapositiononthecommittee ofyourdebateunion?

Yes No NoResponse

20 58 49 127

15.75% 45.67% 38.58%


Males:Haveyoueverfelttheneedtokeepquiet/acceptsexist behaviourinordertoparticipateinyourdebatingunion,gainaspot ontheteamforyouruniversityorgainapositiononthecommittee ofyourdebateunion? Yes No NoResponse 2 49 21 72 2.78% 68.06% 29.17%

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V.FURTHEREXPERIENCES

Females:Havethefollowingeverappliedtoyou? AJUDGEHASREFERREDTOYOURSTYLEOFSPEAKINGWITHSPECIFIC REFERENCETOTHEFACTYOUAREFEMALE TOLDTODEFERTOAMALEPARTNERONPARTICULARTOPICS FOUNDTHATAMALEPARTNERISLESSRESPECTINGOFYOUR VIEWPOINT/CONTRIBUTIONONTHEBASISOFYOURGENDER FOUNDTHATSPEAKINGASANALLFEMALETEAMISMETWITH HOSTILITYFROMSELECTORS/JUDGES SPEAKERS,JUDGESORAUDIENCEMEMBERSHAVEREFERENCEDYOUR APPEARANCE FELTTHATYOUROPINIONONAJUDGINGPANELWASAPPRECIATED LESSBECAUSEYOUWEREFEMALE FELTTHATYOURADJUDICATION/EXPLANATIONOFACALLASA JUDGEWASDISPARAGEDBECAUSEYOUWEREFEMALE FELTARGUMENTSABOUTWOMEN'SRIGHTSWERENOTTAKEN SERIOUSLYBYJUDGES FELTTHATMALESPEAKERSDELIBERATELYTRIEDTOINTIMIDATE YOUINADEBATE

53 21

22.36% 16.54%

37

29.13%

31

24.41%

60

47.24%

36

28.35%

28

22.05%

58

45.67%

55

43.31%

Onlyresponsesfromfemalerespondentswereconsideredforthisanalysis,duetothegynocentricnatureoftheexperienceslistedin the response choices. All female participants of the survey responded to this question. Respondents were allowed to select morethanoneanswer.
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VI.EVOLUTIONOFSEXISMOVERTIME

Intheyearsthatyouhavebeendebating,doyou feelthatsexismwithindebatinghaschanged?

Worsened Significantly Worsened Slightly Stayedthe Same Improved Slightly Improved significantly Other NoResponse

1.99%

11

5.47%

83

41.29%

43

21.39%

14 27 19 201

6.97% 13.43% 9.45%

41.29% of all respondents recorded that sexism within debating has stayed the same during their time in debating; only 1.99% (4) respondentsrecordedthatithadworsenedsignificantly,and21.49%recordedthatithadimprovedslightly.
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VII. SOURCES OF ERROR & NOTES


The survey was designed in a wholly qualitative manner there were very few multiple choice or binary choice questions, nearly all were paragraph answer format. As such, to calculate yes or no answers to some of the questions, one had to scan all of the paragraph responses and attempt to fit each into one category. This method has, understandably, capacity for human error. The wording of some of the survey questions led to unclear answers from some participants. Ex, multiple participants (several male) recorded confusion as to what experiencing sexism meant. It was impossible to deliver numerical analysis on the following questions due to the structure of the question and responses: o What has your society done to actively include women debaters, and increase female participation, if anything? o If you have ever complained about misogynistic or sexist behaviour, how did the equity team, convening team or members of the university the tournament was taking place deal with your complaint? o What has your society done to actively include women debaters, and increase female participation, if anything? o Do you find that breaking into "debating circles" is made harder by your gender?

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