Sexual abuse: Is sport a special danger zone?

Photo: Colourbox

Phoyo:Colorbox

21.11.2017

By Play the Game
Sexual violence against children and young athletes in sport is a problem that has only in recent years started to be published broadly. Yet, a number of brave victims have now started to stand up to tell their stories publicly, and it is obvious that the problem has existed for way too long.

The increased focus on prevention of abuse in sport resulting from major scandals in American, British and Dutch sport has raised the question of how sport turn to action to protect future athletes from suffering the painful consequences of abuse.

At Play the Game 2017, delegates will get an insight into the problem of sexual abuse in sport and the challenges facing sport organisations in the area of prevention and management of cases. They will hear personal stories from victims of abuse and from sports organisations that have conducted investigations and dealt with cases, as well as from experts in prevention research.

While sport is often considered to be a safe, healthy environment that contributes to the positive development of young people, it is also an area where abuse of power and harassment can manifest itself in various ways and in worst cases as sexual abuse. Young athletes in sports that depend heavily on a close relationship between athletes, coaches, and medical personnel can be particularly vulnerable.

Victim experiences
At Play the Game 2017, Karen Leach, a former Irish swimmer, will tell her disheartening personal story and how she learned to survive the pain and hurt from her experience. Leach is currently an ambassador of the VOICE project funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union, which aims at combatting sexualised violence through the voices of those affected. The VOICE project itself will be presented by Bettina Rulofs, a senior lecturer at the German Sport University, Institute of Sociology & Gender Studies.

Independent investigations
A recent report written by the former American federal prosecutor Deborah J. Daniels on the sport of gymnastics reviewed alleged sexual abuse of 365 American gymnasts over a 20-year period that suggests a long-standing cultural problem in the sport. Similarly, stories of widespread abuse have emerged from American swimming and British and Dutch football where similar patterns of abuse have been persistent over a long period of time without effective measures to stop it.

The Dutch journalist Willem Feenstra has conducted an investigation into abuse in Dutch football and will present the methods and results from that investigation. This will be followed up by Sander Roege who will speak about how PSV Eindhoven has tackled some of the cases arising from that same investigation.

Geert Slot, spokesman for the Dutch NOC and sports confederation (NOC*NSF), will speak about the importance of independent research. Finally, George Nikolaidis will contribute with his experience from a public authority working with cases of child abuse in sport and also touch on recent initiatives and the role of Council of Europe in the area of protection and prevention. The Dutch lawyer Marjan Olfers will lead the session and facilitate the subsequent panel debate.

A4header 14X3cm 2017
In more than 40 sessions, over 200 speakers will present their thoughts and opinions on a wide range of the most topical questions in world sport during the tenth Play the Game conference, taking place in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 26-30 November 2017.

Discover the programme and the continuously updated speakers list.

Sign up now and secure yourself four days densely packed with debates, discussions and networking between experts and professionals from sport, media and academia.

Read more and register
Comment

* required field

*
*
*
What is three plus seven?
*

Guidelines for posting
Play the Game promotes an open debate on sport and sports politics and we strongly encourage everyone to participate in the discussions on playthegame.org. But please follow these simple guidelines when you write a post:

  1. Please be respectful - even if you disagree strongly with certain viewpoints. Slanderous or profane remarks will not be posted.
  2. Please keep to the subject. Spam or solicitations of any kind will not be posted.

Use of cookies

The website www.playthegame.org uses cookies to provide a user-friendly and relevant website. Cookies provide information about how the website is being used or support special functions such as Twitter feeds. 


By continuing to use this site, you consent to the use of cookies. You can find out more about our use of cookies and personal data in our privacy policy.