Abstract

This article highlights sexual harassment in the fast-growing esports industry through a study of such cases in one of esports’ prominent game titles, DOTA2. We argue that such harassment is a manifestation of sexual harassment at the workplace, while also positioning it as a continuation of the historical online harassment of women. Informed partly by an autoethnographic insight and relying on institutional critique as our approach, we delineate certain institutional features in esports that contribute to and sustain such harassment. This article concludes by highlighting how justice remains elusive for the victims despite the presence of “strong” legislation and the need to bring institutional changes while also enhancing the victims’ capabilities.