Harvard Takes A Stand Against Sexism After Finding Out The Men's Soccer Team Was "Rating" Women Based On Looks

Harvard university has cancelled the rest of the season for its men's soccer team after it was discovered members of the team were rating the school's female players in sexually explicit terms.

The New York Times reports the school became aware of the issue after the Harvard Crimson investigated a document written by a member of the men's team.

It was discovered that a nine-page document was created in 2012 with numeric ratings, photos and evaluations of the freshman recruits of the Harvard women's team based on their physical appearance.

Disturbingly, the document was referred to by men on the team as a "scouting report".

Harvard's president Drew Faust said in a statement on Thursday that the incident was not isolated to 2012 and had continued on into this year.

“The decision to cancel a season is serious and consequential, and reflects Harvard’s view that both the team’s behavior and the failure to be forthcoming when initially questioned are completely unacceptable,” she said.

Some people don't appear to agree, opting to disregard the inappropriate behaviour as an "inside joke", or locker room banter, if you will.

For others, Harvard's decision to cancel the entire season has been welcomed as a brave and "swift" action to combat sexism.

.@Harvard takes swift action over male soccer team's sexism. We need to see more universities doing the same. https://t.co/mJw2RcSU54

— Jack Falahee (@RestingPlatypus) November 5, 2016

Another article has been published by the Crimson, authored by six members of the Harvard women's soccer recruiting class from 2012.

The women wrote that they were "beyond hurt" by what they had seen and read, having considered many of the male players to be "close friends".

"We are human beings and we should be treated with dignity," the article reads.

Photo: Go Crimson