Introduction
Over the years, women have been filing sexual assault claims against different athletes, a majority of which have been discounted as being false after thorough investigations have been conducted. For the athletes, the challenge in dealing with these cases, even though they are incorrect, is that they often create a negative perception of them, leading to a significant impact on their sports brands. In most cases, the outcome of such false sexual claims is that the athletes find themselves losing their positions in the teams, which tends to have a significant impact on their career outcomes. That has raised severe questions on how sports marketers ought to deal with sexual assault claims in trying to ensure that the accusations are genuine to avoid instances where innocent athletes' careers are destroyed over allegations that are later found to be false.
Summary of Case
One of the notable cases of false sexual claims in the last year has been that of Kemari Averett, who was accused, in October 2018, of raping a woman several months earlier. Averett, who was one of the rising football stars playing for the University of Louisville, was suspended indefinitely after he was arrested for the rape (Sayers, 2019). The suspension came after the student-conduct investigations, which Averett believes did not take into account his version of events leading to the accusation of rape. In addition to his suspension, Averett was later kicked out of the team; thus, losing everything that he had worked hard to achieve within the years with little or no consideration of the fact that he was a significant part of the team.
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Averett, who continuously denied the fact that he was involved in the rape, was arraigned in front of a grand jury on charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual assault (Sayers, 2019). After the board had listened to the witness testimonies, which included statements by the female accuser and Averett, the jury decided against indicting him on the laid out charged. The board believed that the woman had lied in her events of the story taking into account that they were dating on and off for several months before the claims. After the case was concluded, Averett decided to sue both the University of Louisville and the woman because his constitutional rights had been violated during the student-conduct investigations. The lawsuit, in which Averett is seeking $15 million in damages, is yet to be determined by the U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky (Sayers, 2019).
Relation to Class
The case of Kemari Averett relates to the class topics from the perspective that the number of false sexual claims have been on the rise, explicitly targeting successful athletes, who, in turn, find themselves losing everything that they have worked to achieve. The case seeks to reflect on the fact that sports marketers should not only try to market the sports or athletes but should also be vigilant when dealing with claims that are likely to destroy the reputations the athletes have created for themselves. The case builds on the perception that women are seeking to weaponize rape allegations with the sole intention being towards blackmailing some of the successful athletes. That is an aspect that all sport markets must be able to understand as part of their approach to protecting the brand images that they may have created for the athletes that they represent.
Equally, it is essential to point out that such cases of false sexual claims often have severe implications for situations where women are real victims of rape. The case relates to the class topics from the perspective that it seeks to highlight the need for sports marketers always to be willing to engage in thorough investigations before taking a position on an issue. Taking into account that the number of false sexual assault claims against athletes is rising at a rapid rate, it becomes much more comfortable for society to ignore true allegations. The actual charges can also be discounted as being false, which will have severe implications for the victims involved. For sports marketers, this would mean that they will be in a somewhat dominant position through which to discern true and false allegations.
Sports Marketer's Solutions
The following are some of the solutions that would be available in dealing with the issue associated with false sexual assault claims from a sports marketer's perspective:
Thorough Investigations
The first approach to dealing with the problem, from a sports marketer's perspective, would involve the call for thorough investigations to be conducted on the claims made against an athlete. As can be seen from the case of Kemari Averett, the student-conduct studies failed to account for the information that Averett would have provided the investigating officers leading to his suspension on false accusations. By calling for thorough investigations, it becomes much easier for the teams involved to determine whether an athlete is guilty of the sexual assault claims presented against them.
Sports marketers have to take actions that generate interest for the teams, athletes, and community, especially when dealing with instances where some of the activities by athletes have a direct impact on the town. In cases where sexual assault claims have been filed, the actions by the sports marketers should focus on the interests of both the athletes and the women affected. Consequently, this creates the need for having to ensure that the sports marketers actually focus on the investigations that they undertake to ensure that they are thorough concerning the information that they gather. The outcome of such studies will be that they will help in making it much easier for sports marketers to make effective decisions that reflect on the truth. That will ensure that they do not only protect the athletes but also protect the interests of the victims, in cases where the claims are considered as being an accurate representation of the actual events.
The repercussion of False Sexual Assault Claims
The second solution that may be considered, from a sports marketer's perspective, would involve having to highlight the legal consequences of filing false sexual assault claims. In other words, this means that sports marketers should always be at the forefront in indicating that women involved in filing false sexual claims can be found legally guilty if investigations find the claims to be incorrect. The expectation of this solution is to help deter women from filing claims that may not represent the accurate position. Waterhouse-Watson (2013) argues that a significant number of women filing false sexual claims against athletes focus more on the money and fame that they would get out of the applications without considering the legal underlying legal consequences.
When a claim has been filed, as a sports marketer, it is essential to inform the complainant that thorough investigations will be conducted to determine the accuracy of the complaints filed. Additionally, the sports marketer will also have the responsibility of informing the complainant of the legal repercussions associated with false claims from where the complainant is given a chance to recant her allegations if they are misleading. The idea is that this will create an environment of fear among women, who believe that they would be able to use false sexual claims against athletes to gain money or fame. That means that the women will be able to consider the repercussions of their applications if the investigations find them as being false.
Training and Education of Athletes
The third solution that would be of great value towards dealing with false sexual claims filed against athletes is on training and education of the athletes on matters about sexual harassment and assault. A review of the different cases where athletes have been falsely accused of sexual assault indicates that most of the athletes have been involved with the women in romantic and sexual relationships (Pépin-Gagné & Parent, 2016). That makes it hard for the athletes to actually be in a position allowing them to dispute the possibility that they were likely involved in such claims; thus, creating an environment where the reputations that the athletes hold are destroyed when such applications are filed by these women.
Through training and education, the athletes will be in a much better position on how they ought to conduct themselves when dealing with women, primarily when focus on sexual conduct. That will involve having to highlight the ramifications associated with the athletes being engaged in sexual assault against women not only from a legal perspective but also from the perspective of their careers. The training programs will be conducted often as a way of ensuring that the athletes are well prepared in their bid to dealing with the possibility of being accused of sexual assault. Additionally, the programs will also highlight the fact the athletes ought not to be consumed by the fame that they acquire as a result of their engagement in sports. The main issue of consideration is that a majority of athletes find themselves being consumed by popularity, which affects their ability to concentrate on the games, instead, engaging in harmful actions some of which lead to sexual assault claims.
Conclusion
Over the years, women have been filing sexual assault claims against different athletes, a majority of which have been discounted as being false after thorough investigations have been conducted. One of the notable cases of false sexual claims in the last year has been that of Kemari Averett, who was accused, in October 2018, of raping a woman several months earlier. After the jury had listened to the witness testimonies, which included statements by the female accuser and Averett, the board decided against indicting him on the laid out charged. The future implications of the case can be seen from the fact that changes will be adopted by sports marketers in ensuring that they not only seek to protect the victims but also protect the reputation of the athletes. The expectation is that this will help ensure that athletes do not lose everything that they have been working for based on false claims.
References
Pépin-Gagné, J., & Parent, S. (2016). Coaching, touching, and false allegations of sexual abuse in Canada. Journal of sport and social issues , 40 (2), 162-172.
Sayers, J. (2019). Kemari Averett sues Louisville and the woman who accused him of rape . Retrieved from https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2019/02/15/kemari-averett-rape-allegation-ex-louisville-football-player-sues-school/2848245002/
Waterhouse-Watson, D. (2013). Athletes, sexual assault, and trials by media: narrative immunity . Routledge.
