BarBend.com, the world’s leading strength sports and strength training media company, recently conducted a survey on the prevalence of harassment women experience in gym and training environments. With over 1,300 anonymized respondents, the self-reported survey gives a detailed look at how women are often faced with unwanted advances, comments, and touch in a fitness environment.
More than half of the women surveyed reported they “sometimes,” “often,” “very frequently,” or “almost always” felt unsafe in public fitness environments, including gym floors and classes. Just 12.8% of respondents reported never feeling unsafe in these settings.
Conducted in partnership with fitness influencer Mik Zazon, the survey also allowed respondents to explain exactly how unwanted comments and harassment have impacted their fitness routines and habits.
While many groups face harassment and unsolicited negative comments in fitness environments, for this self-reported survey, BarBend chose to focus on what women experience. And an overwhelming amount of the harassment women face comes from men, though it’s worth noting harassment can impact all groups in fitness and may come from a variety of sources.
“There’s an unfortunate stereotype of gyms and especially strength training facilities being spaces primarily for men,” says BarBend Founder and CEO David Thomas Tao. “At BarBend, we believe strength training and gyms are and should be spaces for everyone, no matter their age, sex, gender, sexual preference, or strength level.”
“The data from this survey suggest we still have a long way to go in making the majority of these spaces welcoming to everyone.”
Over 90% of Women Reported Disrupted Workouts
Around 98% of the 1,333 respondents identified as women. While most were based in the US, significant numbers also hailed from Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. The survey featured both multiple-choice and open-ended questions so respondents could give qualitative assessments of their personal experience, if they chose to share.
While BarBend was expecting a large percentage of women to report regular or semi-regular harassment — ranging from unsolicited comments on appearance to unwanted sexual advances — the team was surprised at exactly how many women said they had to alter their fitness routines as a result of unwanted actions towards them.
Over 90% of women reported having workouts disrupted by unsolicited comments and attention, with 75% reporting catcalls or heckling at least once per week. And over 55% of respondents said they had to change the way they dressed for the gym in an attempt to minimize or avoid harassment. And nearly two thirds of women said they had changed training schedules at least once in an attempt to avoid unwanted attention and comments.
Creating Better, Safer Fitness Environments
While the survey — which had respondents largely drawing from BarBend and Zazon’s existing audiences — produced some sobering results, their final report offered actionable advice for gym owners and patrons hoping to make improvements. The report, authored by BarBend Contributor and Coach Rachel Binette, highlighted what we can all do to be better stewards of fitness spaces.
Avoid giving unsolicited advice or comments to strangers
Speak openly with training partners about issues pertaining to in-gym harassment, and call out behavior that alienates or makes people feel uncomfortable — especially if your friends or training partners are the source of that behavior
Report inappropriate behavior to gym management
Be willing to listen to reports of in-gym harassment, and avoid offering unsolicited advice or excuses to victims
Avoid victim-blaming
As the fitness community grows, and especially as strength training becomes a regular part of more and more individual routines, it’s up to every gym goer to demand welcoming and inclusive training environments.
BarBend’s editorial team says they plan to conduct more research surrounding in-gym behaviors and dynamics in the future, including with accredited academic institutions and nonprofits.