Sport and Violence Against Women: Research, Theory, and Policy
Meet the Authors Series Webinar: April 7, 2026 @ 12:00pm EST
This webinar is timely in light of the spring 2025 Hockey Canada trial in London, Ontario. Published in 2026 by University of Toronto Press, Sport and Violence Against Women is a scholarly book that offers an incisive examination of violence against women in the world of athletics. Drawing on decades of award-winning sociological research, authors Walter S. DeKeseredy, Martin D. Schwartz, and Leah Oldham provide a rigorous analysis that bridges empirical evidence, theoretical frameworks, and policy considerations. The book confronts urgent questions, exploring why elite, amateur, and professional sports often serve as strongholds for rape culture, misogyny, and abuse; the roles of male athletes, coaches, and authority figures in perpetuating physical, sexual, psychological, and economic violence against women and girls; and how a culture of toxic masculinity persists in sports, even as other sectors of society make strides toward greater gender equity.
Moderator:
Dr. Kim Dubé, Université de Moncton
Kim Dubé (she/her), an assistant professor of criminology at the University of Moncton, is an Acadian queer woman and activist. Her research includes gender-based violence, such as sexual violence in sports, violence against older women and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and rural feminist interventions. Her theoretical and methodological interests encompass intersectional feminism, critical criminology, feminist discourse analysis, and qualitative methods.
Panelists:
Dr. Walter S. DeKeseredy, West Virginia University
Walter S. DeKeseredy is Fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, add Director of the Research Center on Violence at West Virginia University. He has published 32 books, over 159 scientific journal articles and 100 scholarly book chapters on violence against women and other social problems. In 2008, the ASC’s Division on Critical Criminology (DCC) gave him the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, he received the Critical Criminal Justice Scholar Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences' (ACJS) Section on Critical Criminal Justice and in 2015, he received the Career Achievement Award from the ASC's Division on Victimology. In 2023, he received the Ralph Weisheit Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC’s Division on Rural Criminology.
Dr. Martin D. Schwartz, George Washington University
Martin Schwartz is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Presidential Research scholar at Ohio University, and Professorial Lecturer at George Washington University. He is Fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, where he also received the mentorship award for his work with students and junior faculty. At Ohio, he was s named Best Graduate Professor, and Best Arts and Sciences Professor. He has published 19 books, 80 research articles, and 75 nonrefereed pieces. He has published in a variety of areas, most recently on sport, but has centered on the quantitative, qualitative and theoretical study of violence against women.