Indigenous Woman At The Centre Of Hawthorn’s Racism Scandal Denounces AFL Inquiry
"It's a little hard to speak up when it feels like your voice box has been pulled out of your throat."
A woman at the heart of racism allegations within Hawthorn Football Club has said she will not participate in the investigation currently underway.
— Content Warning: This article discusses distressing topics, including pregnancy termination. —
An independent panel was announced in October to look into reported claims of bullying, misconduct, and inappropriate conduct towards Indigenous players by the AFL team’s coaches, football operations staff, independent contractors, management, and the board between 2008 to 2016.
One player, Ian, and his partner Amy — whose names have been changed — said they were pressured into getting an abortion, and told to end their relationship by club leaders, for the sake of his sporting career.
“To this day, I haven’t been able to completely forgive myself,” Amy told the ABC in September. “It’s a decision I have made in my life that I will always regret.”
Meanwhile, two figures involved in the allegations, AFL coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan, have since returned to their respective new positions — a move Amy’s lawyers say indicates the league’s governing body has “gone back to business as usual”.
Marque Lawyers conveyed that the proceedings have forced Amy to “relive her own trauma, while also revealing to her the scale of the mistreatment of other First Nations players and their families”.
The Gunditjmara and Bunitj woman said in a statement on Wednesday that while she feels guilt about remaining silent at the time, she acknowledged that “it’s a little hard to speak up when it feels like your voice box has been pulled out of your throat”.
Her legal representatives say the investigation commissioned by Hawthorn and facilitated by the AFL is an “unsafe process” that could open her up to more “silencing tactics”. It has also been alleged that her initial concerns and requested amendments were largely ignored in the final terms of reference for the investigation.
The key reasons noted for her absence are criticisms of the independence of the investigation as it is currently being overseen by the AFL — who have embedded their own lawyers — and fears that the proceedings will continue the pattern of abuse it’s supposedly addressing under an accelerated timeline that is culturally unsafe for Indigenous participants.
“I could either stay numb and silent, or I could find my voice and play my part in the struggle to try and create safety and protection for our young ones who would inevitably face these systems,” said Amy.
The projected end date for the investigation is December this year.
Photo Credit: Michael Dodge / Stringer