Double standards and hypocrisy abound in the Sydney Swans' sex scandal

I don't claim to know exactly what happened on the night concerned, but I can recount what has been reported in the media, and the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. For balance, I will concentrate on one account sympathetic to the alleged victims and one more critical.

Firstly, according to Channel 9, "The scandal began with a report of sexual assault but broadened to include allegations of drug taking by some players. The ABC understands the sexual assault allegation centres on one player allegedly touching a woman without her consent at a Melbourne hotel early on Monday morning. Several female adult entertainers are understood to have joined players at the Pullman East Melbourne Hotel after being hired in the hours after the team's win against Essendon on Sunday night.

The ABC's Danny Tran and Olivia Jenkins reported on Thursday evening that detectives had been told some players paid the women extra to consume drugs off their bodies. It is understood one of the women was later seen leaving the hotel room in a distressed state, with a Triple Zero (000) call made to police soon after.

Five Swans players were suspended for the rest of the season on Wednesday, though the club was careful to note that the suspensions were for failing to meet club standards, and were not directly related to the allegation being investigated by police.

Two of the women involved in the incident spoke to the media on Thursday, including the woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reportedly told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper that she was not interested in money, only justice".

Bettina Arndt put a different spin on events: "Gradually, details of what apparently took place in that fancy Melbourne hotel room leaked to the press. The ABC reported, citing police sources, that players paid extra to snort drugs off the dancers' bodies. A woman agreed to three slaps at $50 a pop but copped a fourth for free - and that's what blew up the room. As one commentator quipped, if that's really all there was to it, it belongs in the Small Claims Court, not a police investigation, and a national media circus.

What was a real hoot was our esteemed Prime Minister finger-wagging at the Swans, lecturing them that they "needed to do better". The Swans have banned the "Pullman 5" from playing for the rest of the season, in a devastating blow to Sydney's premiership hopes".

While every person, including sex workers, is entitled to respect and dignity, there can be no pretence that the women concerned were innocent paragons of virtue taken advantage of by privileged elite footballers (an inference of some of the media and political commentary). The footballers were clearly affected by alcohol and allegedly taking drugs, and the women allegedly performed lap dances for money, and allegedly accepted payment to facilitate drug-taking and other activities. Sensible behaviour should have involved the footballers being denied service and the sex workers should have left before predictable problems began.

I would imagine that "touchy" clients are not uncommon in the lap-dancing business. Adding drugs and alcohol would greatly raise the risk of inappropriate behaviour, and professional lap dancers ought to have realised this. Essentially, if the facts alleged are true, not just the footballers, but also the lap dancers, behaved badly.

The main financial losers in this sorry saga would have to be the Swans' club and its players, the latter perhaps deservedly. Missing key players, the Swans chances in the finals are diminished, though you never know. Some sponsorships have already been lost. Midfielder Isaac Heeney reportedly is facing a loss of $2m in sponsorship and endorsement earnings. Other members of the five also face lost income from being suspended by the club and from loss of sponsorships. There is already talk of some of the Swans Five moving away from Sydney at season's end.

It is hard to determine if there have been losses of income on the part of the lap dancers. The Party Girls Melbourne manager told Seven News she and the exotic dancer who made allegations had been identified online and they were now both concerned for their welfare. "I'm so scared, this is so dangerous for our safety," Seven said she told the network. Crying or distressed women make for great media footage.

While there are real issues in our society involving both sexual assault and violence towards intimate partners, there is a lack of balance in public commentary. Politicians and women's advocates are constantly pushing a negative stereotype about young men but totally ignore any women's bad behaviour. In legal circles many recently passed rape laws (for example) have been condemned for being unfair to defendants, while on the other hand the feminist lobby consistently rails against "victim blaming".