Bryony Frost - workplace bullying and harassment in racing

[MiddlesexGirl]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/02bab916-2e9d-11ec-9657-60f46274c249?shareToken=a812dfbf1e3390d19a6a825fde6eab1b

Bryony has had the temerity to complain to the BHA about bullying and harassment in the weighing room by Robbie Dunne. It seems it's part of the weighing room 'culture'.
It will be interesting to see what the BHA conclude.

Wow, toxic environment, right enough. Shocking read.

It sounds awful. Horrible where such behaviour is normalised. I hope the authorities will begin to crack down on it.

I realise nobody should be bullying or threatening anybody, but given the difference in physical strength between men and women, and (in my opinion) psychological differences between how men and women react to such behaviour (possibly due to socialisation) these patterns tend to be flagged as problematic when women begin to enter spaces that were traditionally very male.

I did wonder why she was in the male changing room. Can anyone cast light on that? I’m guessing it wasn’t by choice, but I don’t understand the set-up.

Also he’s 42. Hope for her sake, he’ll retire soon.

AnyOldPrion on racecourses there are male and female changing rooms but only one weighing room (where the jockeys wait between races) so male and female are in the latter together.

Thanks, Only. It was this I was referring to.

”Frost believes the ill-feeling between her and Dunne stretches back to when she was an amateur jockey, before 2017. “I recall being in the men’s changing room and he would stand in front of me naked,” she claims. “I didn’t want this and none of the other jockeys were like that.”

It’s possible it was a bad set-up, where entry to the weighing room was through the men’s changing. It just seemed an odd statement without clarification of why she had to be there!

I think historically there were no female changing rooms. It’s only recently with more women entering the sport that racecourses have adapted. I remember watching a documentary where women were offered a side room etc, with obviously no shower etc. So it was possible she was in the mens.

This kind of "culture" is why female jockeys are still such a rarity when women are generally well represented in professional horse sports.

In eventing this year we sent an all female team to the European Championships and won every available medal. Team Gold, Individual Gold, Individual Silver and Individual Bronze. Women compete on equal terms with men in horse sports and generally are well represented.

Racing should not be any different to eventing, in fact there is an argument that women should have an additional advantage over men as their smaller stature would make it easier to make the weight without extreme dieting (weight limits were abolished in eventing, to the relief of taller men especially). Unfortunately bullying, harassment and sexism mean many women don't make it through the ranks as professional jockeys. Of course there are loads of female "lads" earning less for hard physical work.

www.racingpost.com/news/disciplinary-hearing/robbie-dunne-found-in-breach-of-four-charges-in-bryony-frost-bullying-case/526196

Update. Don't know if things will change much. The Professional Jockeys' Association (of which Bryony Frost and Robbie Dunne are both members) tried to get the case dropped, then after the verdict the PJA president gave an interview saying that Dunne is a lovely "family man" and a top bloke, got a bit emosh and sad and angry that anybody might suggest that the weighing room culture was anything but sunshine, rainbows and you go girl positivity for all, then took the opportunity to whinge at length about the jockeys' facilities and opined that if the changing rooms were better then "all this might never have happened". Yeah maybe if Dunne hadn't been a nasty misogynist bully shouting and swearing at Frost on several occasions, calling her a fucking whore, a fucking slut and a cunt, and threatening to hurt her, all this might never have happened.

"shouting and swearing at Frost on several occasions, calling her a fucking whore, a fucking slut and a cunt, and threatening to hurt her, ."

*this is totally normal bantz apparently. I mean who doesn't scream foul mouthed abuse at their colleagues, threaten to injure them and sexually harass them. BANTZ!! Top lads. And some of the female jockeys don't mind it apparently, at least not in public, so it's all cool!! It's a dangerous sport you know. Nobody else in the world has a dangerous profession. Jockeys are very special and daring, so they should be able to treat each other however they want.