The Wnba is still struggling with a series of sex toys disorders.
In the past week and a half, sex toys have been thrown on the field during competitions in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on August 1 and Los Angeles on August 5, with the most recent object Almost Fortswacht Sophie Cunningham during the Indiana match against the Sparks. Sex toys were also thrown at competitions in New York and Phoenix last Tuesday, but did not reach the court. The police say that another toy was thrown on 1 August during a match in Atlanta, although it is unclear whether it has reached the court.
The distractions have created unexpected challenges for the competition, the teams and the players, but also for Arena security. This is what to know.
A man was arrested on Saturday in College Park, Georgia, after being accused of throwing a sex toy on the field during the matchup of the Atlanta Dream with the Golden State Valkyries, according to a police report. The report said he threw another sex toy during the 1 August match of the dream against the Phoenix Mercury, but that copy did not seem to lead to a delay in the game.
He is accused of disorderly behavior, criminal violation, public indeclinity and indecent exposure. All four charges are crimes in the state of Georgia, which means that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of a maximum of $ 1,000 or imprisonment of a maximum of 12 months. A crime for public indecentness and indecent exposure may also require registration on the list of sex offenders of the state.
The report said the man told the police: “This had to be a joke and the joke (was) would go viral.” “
Another man in Phoenix was arrested After the police said that he threw a sex toy in the crowd on Tuesday at a Mercury match. The police say that the 18-year-old pulled the sex toy out of his Truizak and threw it at chairs before him, hit a spectator in the back.
The man later told the police that it was a joke that had been on social media and that he bought the toy a day earlier to take the game. He was later tackled by a volunteer in the Arena who had witnessed the incident and began to follow him while the man tried to leave the Arena.
The police say that the man was arrested on suspicion of abuse, disorderly behavior and publicly explicitly displayed sexual material.
What problems do the Arena security protection have to stop this?
The types of sex toys that are thrown on the field generally do not contain metal elements, which means that Arena metal detectors cannot feel them. When they are worn on the body of a spectator, they become even more difficult to detect.
Arena security teams face challenges in catching these items, according to Ty Richmond, the president of the event division at Allied Universal Security, a company that offers security services to certain NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB and MLS arenas throughout the country.
“Not all stadiums use a screening process that is consistent and can detect (the sex toys) because of what it would require – searches, opening the bags, forbidding bags,” he said. “The conflict of opportunity, to get fans in the arena and in the location, which is an important problem and safety and safety.”
The boundaries of Arena protection make legal steps one of the strongest deterrent for this kind of behavior, Richmond said.
“The decision to prosecute and show examples of how people are treated is very important,” he said. “Without a doubt I think it will make a difference. The application is important, and publishing that is important.”
No arrests have yet been made for the Los Angeles and Chicago. In a statement to the Associated Press, the Sparks said that they “work with Arena staff to identify the responsible person and to ensure that appropriate measures are taken.”
The Wnba has said that spectators who throw objects at the court will receive a at least an annual ban and prosecution of the law enforcement.
How does the players influence?
As the disturbances accumulate, those on the field are more and more frustrated.
“Everyone tries to ensure that the W is not a joke and it is taken seriously, and that happens,” Cunningham said on her podcast after being almost hit by one of the sex toys on Tuesday. “I have something like that:” How are we ever going to be taken seriously? “”
No other professional sports competitions have confronted such sex toys disorders. It started an online conversation about the perpetrators’ choices to throw them during games in a women’s competition and a competition with a controversial amount of lesbian and queer players.
“This has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of it. It is not funny. It should not be the flask of jokes,” said Minnesota Lynx -Coach Cheryl Reeve Thursday. “The sexualization of women is what is used to keep women low, and this is no different.”
Despite the criminal behavior that leads to arrests, at least one crypto-based prediction market offers transactions, so that users can focus on whether sex toys are thrown on future WNBA games.
Players also sound on social media and took the concern about Arena’s security protocols following.
Liberty Forward Isabelle Harrison posted on X last week and said: “Arena security?! Hello ??! Do it better. It’s not funny. Never was funny. Throwing something on the field is so dangerous.”
AP Wnba: https://apnews.com/wnba
