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A survivor-centred framework on abuse in sport
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A new guide on establishing effective safe sport entities lays a clear benchmark on preventing and responding to abuse in sport, while protecting the safety and humanity of impacted athletes.

A realisation of the systemic abuse of athletes in the global sport arena has prompted many sport bodies and organisations to establish practices and procedures to prevent, investigate and respond to such cases. However, many a times, these procedures and practices are not cognizant of purpose, culture, capacity, expertise and transparency – often at the cost of victims and survivors.

World Players’ 2021 Census of Athlete Rights Experiences (CARE Report), conducted in partnership with Loughborough University, found that more than one third of athletes have experienced physical abuse, 13% at least one form of sexual abuse and 61% emotional abuse. Athletes who seek help, even from designated safe sport entities, often face an abysmal lack of reporting and investigatory mechanisms or are further re-traumatised and put in harm’s way through ineffective and unsafe processes - decreasing the likelihood of others speaking up.

In response to this gap, the World Players AssociationThe Army of Survivors and the Sport and Rights Alliance recently released  a short guide, “Establishing Effective Safe Sport Entities,” providing various sport stakeholders, including sport bodies, governments, player associations, civil society organisations and others with clear guidelines and a benchmark on how to prevent and respond to abuse in sport, while protecting the safety, humanity, dignity and voice of the impacted athletes. The guide identifies key principles and essential functions that should be embedded in any safe sport entity.

The guide identifies six key principles for all safe sport entities. These principles should be guiding functions and embedded in all safeguarding policies and procedures, and include:

  • Human rights-based
  • Survivor centred
  • Independency and accountability
  • Safety and accessibility
  • Meaningful stakeholder engagement
  • Effective remedy

The guide also establishes the key functions for any safe sport entity to fulfil when responding to the needs of survivors:

  • Support
  • Reporting
  • Investigation
  • Remedy
  • Prevention

You can access the guideline here, or refer to other guides on abuse in sport created by the Army of Survivors.

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10 – Reduced inequalities
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