Imane Khelif,the first Algerian woman to qualify for the Olympic boxing competition. Recently, she has been facing a lot of backlash for competing in the Paris Olympics 2024. She has been receiving a ton of derogatory remarks, including sexist and racist slurs.The backlash has been following her since she participated in Olympics 2024. The hate she has been receiving are questions around her gender identity.
Khelif’s situation reflects on the struggles that women athletes have to face, since they are often the targets of discrimination and assault. All the hatred that Khelif is facing is because she does not fit into the norms of how a woman is supposed to “look”. Despite winning the gold medal in Olympics2024, she has been receiving a lot of negativity. This demonstrates the hardships female athletes have to go through.
In response to the endless harassment, she has taken protective action by filing a formal complaint. The massive criticism has underlined the need for stronger actions that needs to be taken by the authorities against internet harassment. Be it supporters or be it fellow athletes, they all have been supporting her for fighting against the assault culprits.
Since the investigation is in the process, all the efforts are inclined towards Khelif and tackling the issue of internet abuse broadly.This scenario highlights what public figures have to face in this generation of internet and social media.