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 Despite the well-recognized benefits of participating in sports,
there are also negative influences on athlete health, wellbeing and
integrity caused by harassment and abuse, the IOC noted in a
consensus statement published in the British Journal of Sports
Medicine.
Elite competitors, children, disabled and lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender athletes are most at risk of being victims of abuse in
sports, according to the IOC. Their unique circumstances can make
them more vulnerable and more likely to feel less empowered to stop
abuse, said lead statement author Dr. Margo Mountjoy, a family
medicine specialist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
“The problem lies not with the particular athlete group – athletes
are not responsible for their abuse – but with the sport
organization that does not have adequate athlete protection policies
and procedures, or has a culture of ignorance or collusion,”
Mountjoy added by email.
Whatever form the abuse takes, psychological torment often underlies
the mistreatment, and sports organizations need to create a culture
of openness that encourages reporting of any abuse and includes
clearly understood penalties for misconduct, according to the IOC
statement.
“Psychological abuse is believed to be the gateway to all other
forms of abuse,” Mountjoy said.
Among other things, the IOC statement calls on sports organizations
to create a whistleblower system for anonymous reporting of abuse
and provide clear guidelines to all participants on how to make a
compliant.
Athletes, coaches, doctors and parents should also be educated in
how to spot abuse and taught how to promote a safe playing
experience for all participants.
Sports organizations need to recognize that athletes can also be
perpetrators of abuse and be vigilant about any real or perceived
power imbalances that might create situations when mistreatment
seems more difficult to combat.
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For the IOC statement to help the most athletes, the message still
needs to trickle down to youth leagues and recreational teams where
many people compete, said Dr. Mitch Abrams, a sports psychologist at
Learned Excellence for Athletes in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.
“For the millions of kids who don’t get anywhere near the IOC this
needs to be a top-down approach,” said Abrams, who wasn’t involved
in the consensus statement.
While it would be a mistake to assume every athlete is abused, it
would also be a mistake to think bad behavior can’t happen on any
given team, Abrams added.
“People assume sports are safe, but there is an ugly underbelly we
need to be mindful of,” Abrams said. “Sports are a microcosm of our
society, and until our society becomes more civil there is no reason
to expect to see more civility in sports.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1qiGZto British Journal of Sports Medicine,
online April 26, 2016.
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