Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese has called for protection after more young women’s athletes were subject to intrusive alleged leaked images being posted on social media this past weekend

Several alleged lewd images have been leaked onto the internet concerning major women’s basketball players, and former LSU star Angel Reese has called for instant action from authorities and social media executives.

The victims, whom Mirror Sports U.S. has chosen not to name, are the latest targets of invasive behavior that digital platforms have been slow to halt. “Protect young women in sports!!!” Reese posted on X in response to the alleged leaked images circulating widely on social media.

Women’s sports continue to rise in popularity, and while the athletes have enjoyed the positive attention they’ve received and the record-breaking game viewerships, there are constant reminders of a darker side to the landscape. New technologies such as AI have led to fake images being created – something Reese herself had happen to her this year. And the wildfire nature of digital media, where everything spreads faster than it can be contained, has in this case seemed to worsen the longstanding problem of private pictures being made public without permission.

Men’s athletes are usually only judged on their performance levels, but women’s athletes continue to face outsized scrutiny on their appearances. Reese said last month that she felt “sexualized” by the public.

It’s a problem outside of sports, too, with someone as globally famous as Taylor Swift subjected to disturbing AI images after she started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

There has been enormous growth in women’s sports, and Reese has been one of the drivers catapulting NCAA women’s basketball into a new stratosphere of popularity. Viewership increased for the entire 2023-24 season. The women’s national championship drew an average of 18.7 million people tuned in, making it the first time in history the TV ratings exceeded the men’s final.

There are signs that the success of women’s college basketball will carry into the WNBA, which will begin its 2024 season next month. The 2024 WNBA Draft was the most-watched draft for the league of all-time, and ticket and jersey sales have been through the roof in recent weeks.

Yet the negatives experienced by women’s college basketball players are seemingly spreading into the WNBA, too. In her first press conference hosted by the Indiana Fever, No. 1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark dealt with an uncomfortable interaction with a male columnist at the Indy Star.

Among other things, the Indy Star writer Gregg Doyel told Clark of her signature heart gesture that she does with family at games: “Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”

Doyel has since apologized for his behavior, writing on social media, “Today in my uniquely oafish way, while welcoming Caitlin Clark to Indy, I formed my hands into her signature [heart emoji] .My comment afterward was clumsy and awkward. I sincerely apologize. Please know my heart (literally and figuratively) was well-intentioned. I will do better.”