CHILD PROTECTION IN BRITISH
SPORT ~ A POSITION STATEMENT*
*Acknowledgements: The author
wishes to thank Dr. Lynne Johnston, Research Fellow and Diana
Summers, Research Student, both of Cheltenham and Gloucester
College of HE, for their comments
on an earlier draft of this document.
January 1998; Reprinted October
1998; Updated March 1999; Posted this website October 2003
Contents
1.0
Summary of recommendations to the ESC
2.0
Introduction
3.0
Rationale and purpose
4.0
Status of sport-based knowledge
5.0 Research
6.0 Policy developments
7.0 Advocacy
8.0
Education and training
9.0
Key resources
Practical
and training resources on child protection
Academic papers on sport, sexual
harassment and abuse
Popular sources
Appendix
1 ~ Sample Action Plan for Sport Organizations
Appendix
II ~ Model for a National Clearing House
Appendix
III ~ Update on progress since February 1998
1.0
Summary of recommendations to the ESC
Para/No:
Knowledge:
4/1 Establish a Clearing House
for data on abuse and protection in sport through which knowledge
on the subject may be collated, information distributed and advice/referral
provided (see Appendix II).
4/2 Through the Clearing House,
build a database of accounts of different types of abuse and
of good practice in child/athlete protection.
Research:
5/3 Establish a Child Protection
in Sport Forum to share findings from research in cognate areas
(such as sex tourism, child care, teaching).
5/4 Establish and disseminate advisory
guidelines for tutors and researchers on the ethical and practical
difficulties involved in sensitive research. Consider the merits
of suggesting that no school or undergraduate student carry out
empirical work in this field.
5/5 Seek ways to generate research
funds to support further investigation into the personal, social
and institutional parameters of child/athlete abuse and protection
in sport.
5/6 Work collaboratively with academic
institutions to endorse and support bids on this theme to research
councils and charitable foundations.
Policy:
6/7 Make the adoption of a
child protection policy (including monitoring plans) a standard
criterion within the development plans/grant bids of all grant-eligible
bodies to the Sports Council and Lottery and other awarding bodies.
6/8 Recommend that all NGBs and
their member regions/local groups adopt annual action plans for
child protection (see Appendix 1) and reinforce/support this
through the Regional Sports Council liaison officers.
6/9 Use the Child Protection in
Sport Forum as a mechanism for sharing policy issues, good practice
and advice between provision agencies.
6/10 Work with disability sport
groups to audit policy, training and skills needs in respect
of child/athlete protection and to develop action plans on the
basis of the results.
6/11 Investigate whether child
protection policy initiatives might be located within the context
of existing frameworks for fair play and gender equity.
Advocacy:
7/12 Designate a senior
member of ESC staff to champion child/athlete protection work.
7/13 Include athlete advocates
in any Forum discussions or policy planning.
7/14 Build in child/athlete protection
elements (policy, training, monitoring) to all national sport
initiatives.
7/15 Through the Clearing House,
liaise closely with the WSI Task Force about its activities.
7/16 Establish a dedicated telephone
helpline for sport-related enquiries.
7/17 Draw from the experience of
international partners in preparing to handle media attention
to abuse and protection issues.
Education and training:
8/18 Commission education and
training materials specifically for parents, athletes and disability
sport groups.
8/19 Commission an agent to deliver,
monitor and evaluate parent, athlete and disability group training.
8/20 Through the agency of the
Forum, invite cognate leisure organisations to share good practice
schemes and ideas.
8/21 Through the Clearing House,
carry out an audit and review of child protection schemes across
the sport and leisure sectors to draw out common elements.
8/22 Through the Clearing House,
draw up a register of appropriate trainers and consultants, skilled
in child protection and with a working knowledge of sport, who
are able to give professional advice or assistance to local and
regional sport groups.
2.0
Introduction
The first public recognition
of a sport-related need to address harassment and abuse in British
sport was at the then-British Association of National Coaches
Annual Conference in December 1985, when a draft code of ethics
for coaches was presented, based upon the code of ethics adopted
at that time by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (Brackenridge
1985). Shortly thereafter, the emergent National Coaching Foundation
(NCF) established a working group which developed the first edition
of their code of ethics and conduct (subsequently updated in
1995 and now a joint NCF/NASC document) as part of their drive
to raise professional standards in coaching.
Progress in child protection
work for British sport since 1985 has been mixed but took a major
step forward after the conviction for rape of former Olympic
swimming coach Paul Hickson in 1995. Whilst this hugely negative
event caused shock and near panic in some quarters it also had
major positive consequences. It is gratifying to note that there
is now a national debate about the issue, with policy development
and grass roots dissemination of good practice a feature of many
sport organizations. However, it is also the case that sport
in general has been slow to grasp the nettle of child protection
when compared with some other major social institutions, such
as the Church or education. Just as some individuals in particular
sport organizations have taken a lead in pressing for child protection,
developing materials and communicating good practice, others
have contributed to denial or inertia. Amongst the latter group
are representatives at all levels of British sport, from ministers
at the top down to volunteer club officials at the bottom. We
are all part of the risky system which perpetuates child abuse
in sport, and therefore all partly responsible for improving
the effectiveness of that system.
3.0
Rationale and Purpose
3.1 Rationale
The rationale for this Position Statement is a need for the UK
and home country Sports Councils to become better informed on
the subject of sexual harassment abuse and, therefore, better
equipped to argue for resources to be devoted to effective child
protection in sport.
3.2 Purpose
The purpose of the Statement
is to present an overview of the policy, practice and research
work on child protection in British sport and to
1 provide a summary of current
sport-based knowledge on this subject, in relation to
that which is available in other countries;
2 highlight major advances
and future priorities;
3 offer recommendations which
might constitute an Action Plan at national level.
Research and advocacy work in
this field has been developed at Cheltenham and Gloucester College
of Higher Education (C&GCHE) over the past twelve years.
However, in putting forward this Statement, it is acknowledged
that no single individual has a complete picture of the state
of child protection in British sport today. This Statement, then,
is offered primarily as an aide memoire to the UKSC to
assist in their development work on this issue with the home
Sports Councils, the NCF and any other agencies.
3.3 Structure of the document
The following sections of this
Statement are sub-divided as follows:
Major
advances since 1985
Future priorities
Recommendations
Note: Except where they are already
in the public domain, no individuals or sports are named in the
Statement. However, the time is fast approaching when a sport-specific
review will be required in order for sensible targetting of policy
initiatives and resource allocation.
4.0 Status of sport-based knowledge
4.1 Major advances since 1985
Most of the knowledge that exists about the need for child protection
falls under the following:
Sexual harassment and abuse (e.g. various forms of sexual exploitation)
Physical abuse (e.g. overtraining, disordered eating,
nutritional control)
Emotional abuse (e.g. psychological stress, lifestyle
control)
Child development (e.g. maturation, learning styles)
Ethics (e.g. un/fair play, citizenship)
Just what constitutes 'abuse'
in sport is, of course, open to debate but theories and models
from the non-sport literature have proved useful for informing
child protection work. For example, much of the advice arising
from sociological studies on abuse in day-care centres is transferable
to voluntary sport settings; clinical psychological knowledge
of paedophile grooming strategies highlights warning signs in
coach-athlete relations; social policy analysis aids the understanding
of why voluntary sector organizations are slow to respond to
social problems; history illustrates how the concept of 'child'
is constructed differently in different eras and cultures; and
philosophy clarifies the competing ethical positions and values
which may be used to resolve problematic situations.
In addition to these various
disciplines from which knowledge has been applied to child protection
in sport, different research methodologies have also shed
light on the issue in different ways. For example, quantitative
methods such as surveys of victim/survivors or content analysis
of criminal records and medical records have provided some baseline
information against which the scale of the abuse/protection problem
in sport may be judged; qualitative methods, such as unstructured
interviews with victims/survivors and perpetrators/abusers or
with sport administrators can also provide knowledge about the
experiences of those most in need of protection within sport
or the barriers to effective dissemination of child protection
policies.
Since 1985 the sport-related
literature has contained an increasing number of items about
the symptoms and causes of behaviour related to child protection.
For example, sport psychology has developed extensive knowledge
of stressors, including those arising from autocratic coaching
practices, and of stress management techniques; applied ethics
continues to explore the basis of fair play and its relationship
to the ethos of different sports; sport sociology has provided
some basic data on the incidence of abuse and harassment in sport
and has also developed particular theoretical ideas around:
coach, athlete and sport risk factors,
a predator model or profile of abuse,
the stage of imminent achievement and age of peak risk
of sexual abuse in sport.
4.2 Future priorities
Effective child protection
policy and practice depends on accurate knowledge of the social,
psychological and political processes which characterise the
abuse of young people in sport. Despite the recent growth in
literature about the young athlete many gaps in our knowledge
remain. Some of the questions to which answers are needed include:
What are the incidence and prevalence
rates for different types of abuse in sport and how do these
vary from national/NSPCC figures for intra- and extra-familial
abuse?
Is susceptibility to abuse in sport linked to an athlete's experience
of intra-familial abuse?
How does the paedophile and/or predator 'career' develop over
time?
Do patterns of abuse vary across sports and at different levels
of the sport continuum?
Do patterns of abuse in sport differ from those in other leisure
contexts?
What predictive power is there in the coach/athlete/sport risk
factors identified so far?
What role might parents play in preventing or identifying risks
to their child athletes?
Is particular protection needed for athletes who travel overseas
or who are separated for long periods from their parents/carers?
What are the implications of child protection for recent and
proposed youth sport initiatives?
Which sport organisations' child protection systems are most
effective and why?
What would be the outcomes of a cost/benefit analysis of child
protection in sport at different levels?
4.3 Recommendations
1 Establish a Clearing
House for data on abuse/protection in sport through which knowledge
on the subject may be collated, information distributed and advice/referral
provided (see Appendix II).
2 Through the Clearing House, build a database of accounts of
different types of abuse and of good practice in child/athlete
protection.
5.0
Research
5.1 Major advances since 1985
British research on issues related to child protection in sport
was stimulated in the mid 1980s from two sources: first, work
on the emergence of a coaching profession in this country and
examination of what might constitute professional practice (for
example, through a stream at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth
Games Conference) and secondly, work by sports feminists on sex
discrimination and occupational sex segregation in sport (for
example, work by Anita White, Carolyn Carr, Rosie Mayglothling,
Celia Brackenridge and Amanda West).
Ongoing research into the experiences
of abused athletes has produced a number of theoretical advances
(see section 4.0) which are useful for policy (Brackenridge 1994,
1995, 1996, 1997a, 1997b; Brackenridge, Summers & Woodward
1995; Brackenridge & Kirby 1997c). One piece of work has
been completed on the role of parents in protecting elite young
athletes from sexual abuse (Brackenridge 1998). Four doctoral
awards have been made for work on this issue; the first from
the ESRC to Ilkay Yorganci of Brighton University to examine
sexual harassment amongst athletes (completed 1994) and the second
from C&GCHE to Diana Summers of C&GCHE to examine national
and local responses to child protection of sport organizations
and the Church of England (completion due 1998). The other two
studentships are from C&GCHE to research students commencing
in 1997 and 1998 to investigate, respectively, good practice
in coaching as a method of child protection and bad practice
in coaching as a source of potential abuse.
Various efforts have been made
to raise research funding for a range of projects related to
child/athlete protection in sport. To date, for example, approaches
have been made to the following groups: the English Sports Council,
Barnado's, the Amateur Swimming Association, the Lawn Tennis
Association, Child Line and Save the Children. A major bid worth
£128k, endorsed by all four national Sports Councils, the
BOA and the NCF, was shortlisted by the Economic and Social Research
Council (ESRC) in 1996/7 under their Violence Programme. Further
bids are in preparation in order to support a survey of harassment
and abuse at elite level and more detailed exploration of the
predator model of abuse in coaching.
Research outside Britain was
stimulated mainly through feminist work in sport on sexual harassment
in sport (Lenskyj 1992) and gender relations in sport (see Hall
1996). Since sport is largely student-based and coaching is a
better established profession in North America than in Britain,
research has tended to focus on professional standards, legal
status and social order on campus (Crosset et al. 1996;
Pike-Masteralexis 1995; Volkwein 1997).
Only one major national-level
survey of sexual harassment and abuse has been conducted out
(Kirby & Greaves 1996). This study used a semi-structured
postal survey to gather data about incidence, experience, perceived
fears and safety levels amongst past and present Canadian Olympians
and provides quantitative data against which comparisons may
be made with other countries and with data from non-sport contexts.
In the Netherlands, the National
Olympic Committee/National Sports Confederation sponsored a qualitative
investigation into the experiences of harassment and abuse by
young male and female athletes, 'Red Card or Carte Blanche'
(Cense 1997). In the USA, Karin Volkwein and associates carried
out surveys on perceptions and meanings of sexual harassment
amongst over 2,000 college students (Volkwein 1996) and Mariah
Burton Nelson, former elite athlete and now a journalist, has
published two books on women and sport (1994 and 1996), both
of which address the need for athlete/child protection.
Other countries currently engaged
in research into sexual harassment/abuse in sport include:
Norway (Jorun Sundgot-Borgen, Kari Fasting & Celia
Brackenridge), funded by the Norwegian National Olympic Committee
~ a structured survey and follow-up interviews of elite female
athletes' experiences of sexual harassment and abuse, within
a wider study of disordered eating and attitudes towards doping
control;
Denmark (Jan Toftegaard Nielsen) ~ a semi-structured survey
and interviews with young adult male and female athletes about
their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse;
Germany (Birgit Palzkill & Michael Klein), funded
by the Nordrhein/Westfalen Government ~ details unknown;
Australia (Trisha Leahy, sport psychologist on the staff
of the Australian Sports Institute) ~ a doctoral study, design
yet to be confirmed.
Professional and academic groups
which have commissioned keynote speeches on child protection
include:
in Britain,
the National Sports Development
Seminar, Nottingham 1997;
the GP Forum, Bristol 1997;
the Leisure Studies Association
International Conference, Leeds 1998;
and overseas,
the American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM), Women's Task Force Conference, Seattle 1994;
the American College of Sports
Medicine Annual Congress, Minneapolis 1995;
the European Sports Conference
Women's Conference, Stockholm 1996;
the International Society of Sport
Psychology Congress, Israel 1997;
the International Rowing Federation
Annual Coaches Conference, Bulgaria 1997;
the International Federation of
Sports Medicine Congress, Orlando 1998.
5.2 Future priorities
It is not known whether any research projects on child protection
in sport other than those described above are underway in this
country but it is thought likely that there are since the level
of interest in the topic appears to have grown exponentially
since about 1993. Certainly, research in the related field of
sex tourism is fairly active and there may be benefits in exchange
of information between sport and tourism researchers. However,
there are also possible dangers in unqualified researchers or
students embarking upon research in such a field. Higher education
courses in sport studies, leisure and recreation are beginning
to include child/athlete protection issues within their curricula
and this has led to a steady stream of undergraduate requests
to C&GCHE for information and advice on essays, projects
and dissertations. There is a need to establish some guidelines
about the dangers of doing empirical work in this field, both
for athletes and for students. With respect to this issue of
doing sensitive research, a BASES Psychology Section workshop
entitled Guilty Knowledge was organised by the C&GCHE
research group in March 1995; the workshop addressed ethics in
relation to research on sexual harassment/abuse, doping, racism
and fraud.
International research into child/athlete
protection has developed with the backing of both governmental
and voluntary organizations. In Britain, the Sports Council,
NCF and BOA have all endorsed grant bids but have yet to put
any direct resourcing into research on this issue. Given the
serious impact which abuse problems have on performance potential
it could be argued that there is a case for re-examining whether
the research priorities of the UKSC should include child/athlete
protection work.
5.3 Recommendations
3 Establish a Child Protection
in Sport Forum to share findings from research in cognate areas
(such as sex tourism, child care, teaching).
4 Establish and disseminate advisory guidelines for tutors and
researchers on the ethical and practical difficulties involved
in sensitive research. Consider the merits of suggesting that
no school or undergraduate student carry out empirical work in
this field.
5 Seek ways to generate research funds to support further investigation
into the personal, social and institutional parameters of child/athlete
abuse and protection in sport.
6 Work collaboratively with academic institutions to endorse
and support bids on this theme to research councils and charitable
foundations.
6.0
Policy Developments
6.1 Major advances since 1985
Policy for child/athlete protection in British sport is not centrally
co-ordinated. Indeed, the disparate nature of British sport makes
co-ordination extremely difficult to achieve. Child abuse/protection
encompasses far more than just coaching yet it has been left
largely to the National Coaching Foundation to take a lead on
the development of training for sport coaches and leaders (see
below). Despite their best efforts, policy development has inevitably
been patchy. (See also section 8.1 below.)
The NCF/NASC Code of Ethics and
Practice constitutes a significant policy advance for the professionalisation
of coaching in general and for child protection in particular.
It was developed during a fairly tumultuous period in the relationship
between the two organizations in the late 1980s/early 1990s but
has now become a blueprint for sport organizations seeking to
develop their own code. It is not known exactly how many NGBs
have their own codes of practice or ethics at this time but the
number has increased dramatically since the Hickson case. Sample
materials are held at C&GCHE. Increasingly, sport organizations
and/or those organizations with responsibility for youth sport
are adopting child protection policies of their own. Some have
developed these with advice from local social services personnel;
others through contact with regional or national the NSPCC staff
and still others through their own members who have specialist
professional knowledge. Examples of good practice are held and
could be disseminated via the proposed Clearing House (see Appendix
II).
Relatively little is known about
the permeation of national governing body (NGB) policies down
to club level but what is known indicates that permeation is
extremely poor (Summers 1998): child protection at club level
in any given sport is as likely to succeed through the skills
and knowledge of key individuals as through edicts from NGBs.
It is certainly true that many NGBs have been keen to increase
their knowledge of the issues and have sought training opportunities,
and some have even appointed a single person to coordinate policy
and practice. However, the liaison officers for different sports
within each Regional Sports Council perhaps have a better chance
of pressing home the need for action at club level than the NGBs
themselves, since the latter are often seen as remote from local
sport.
In 1994 a National Commission
of Enquiry into Child Abuse and Neglect was established,
chaired by Michael Grade, which resulted in the report 'Childhood
Matters' (1997). A submission was made to the Commission
in October 1994 from the research group at C&GCHE, representing
a de facto position statement on the subject at that time:
copies of this document were sent to the Sports Council and the
NCF.
In June 1996 a submission was
sent by the C&GCHE research group to Lord Cullen's Public
Enquiry into the Dunblane Tragedy under the third of its
terms of reference (voluntary sector vetting). The Scottish Sports
Council is listed as having submitted under the term of reference
concerning gun control not under voluntary sector vetting. Some
weeks prior to the tragic events at Dunblane the Scottish
Sports Council had replied to an enquiry from the C&GCHE
research group regarding whether they had any plans to develop
child protection work in Scotland: their response was that they
did not. However, as one might expect, there appears to have
been an increased awareness amongst sport officials in Scotland
since that time and a degree of activity, one result of which
has been the widespread distribution of a leaflet on child protection.
Submissions were also sent from the C&GCHE research group
to the Scottish Office in March 1997 and May 1997 in response,
respectively, to the consultation documents 'Sex Offenders:
A ban on working with children' and 'Proposals for setting
up a national system of accreditation and vetting for adults
working with children and young people in Scotland'.
At a day conference on child
protection in sport in Belfast in October 1996, the Northern
Ireland Sports Council undertook to investigate the possibility
of establishing a task force of 'scrutineers' to assist sport
organizations with retrospective criminal record checks of their
staff and volunteers. There is no evidence at this time that
such a proposal has been taken forward.
6.2 Future priorities
It is unclear whether
or how the major sport providers for young people in Britain
communicate on common interests in child/athlete protection.
A letter from C&GCHE to the newly appointed Minister for
Sport, Tony Banks MP, dated May 11 1997, which raised concern
about this apparent lack of co-ordination for child protection
was met with a reply that
On-going monitoring and awareness
for confidential investigation of allegations of unethical behaviour
and nature should be present in the infrastructure of governing
body administration. The current work being undertaken by the
UKSC to ensure robust governance and accountability will be able
to identify where this is lacking.
(Mr. P Hunt, 6 August
1997).
We are unaware of specific proposals
from the ESC relating to child/athlete protection. If that body
does not prioritise ethical standards in sport, including child/athlete
protection matters, then the ESC may be best placed to do so.
However, the devolution of such responsibilities would present
considerable logistical, political and symbolic difficulties.
Those at the very top of British sport should lead by example.
The Youth Sport Trust has included
child protection leaflets with each of its TOPS scheme equipment
bags. Although this is a welcome move it is only a first step
towards improving child protection in sport. No information on
child protection is available from the CCPR. ILAM has turned
down an approach for funding from the Community Education Development
Centre for training materials for leisure managers but included
an article on child protection in its monthly magazine The
Leisure Manager and held a regional child protection seminar
in South Wales in 1997. The Institute of Sport and Recreation
Management has produced guidelines for sport and recreation centre
managers which draws extensively from existing NCF sources (see
section 9.1). Professional groups with a common interest in or
responsibility for young people and sport would certainly benefit
from a shared approach to policy development and implementation.
The leaflet for adults other than teachers working in PE and
schools sports programmes is one such example of collaboration,
by BAALPE, PEA UK, the ESC and the NCF (see section 9.1).
Child/athlete protection within
sport for people with disabilities is another area of urgent
need. Participants are often vulnerable and may be unable to
voice their concerns to others. At this stage, there appear to
be no specific initiatives in this field although several individual
enquiries have been made to C&GCHE from sport development
officers with particular responsibility for people with disabilities.
A permissive approach to child
protection in sport is unlikely to result in the adoption of
comprehensive protection policies. There are precedents for the
Sports Council requiring the inclusion of particular areas of
policy in development plans for NGBs to qualify for grant aid
(for example, gender equity). A directive approach is one way
to improve child protection although, in itself, it cannot guarantee
effective protection. Monitoring mechanisms are required to examine
when, how and how successfully protection is implemented. It
is also important to remember that both athletes and coaches/instructors
require protection and that grievance and disciplinary procedures
should be available to them under natural justice.
The major national sport organizations
could act as examples of good practice by adopting their own
child protection policies and practices and by making public
their own monitoring data on an annual basis. The Sports Council's
Doping Control Unit publishes an annual report which includes
details of financial support, number and costs of compliance
with international standards for doping control: there is an
opportunity for the UKSC to take a lead internationally on child
protection in sport by establishing a Child/Athlete Protection
Unit and setting out proposals for equivalent international standards.
European and international charters
on fair play in sport do not currently reflect child/athlete
protection needs per se. However, these needs could be
addressed through the existing policy frameworks on fair play/ethics
and gender equity.
6.3 Recommendations
7 Make the adoption of
a child protection policy (including monitoring plans) a standard
criterion within the development plans/grant bids of all grant-eligible
bodies to the Sports Councils, Lottery and other awarding bodies.
8 Recommend that all NGBs and their member regions/local groups
adopt annual action plans for child protection (see Appendix
1) and reinforce/support this through the Regional Sports Council
liaison officers.
9 Use the Child Protection in Sport Forum as a mechanism for
sharing policy issues, good practice and advice between provision
agencies.
10 Work with disability sport groups to audit policy, training
and skills needs in respect of child/athlete protection and to
develop action plans on the basis of the results.
11 Investigate whether child protection policy initiatives might
be located within the context of existing frameworks for fair
play and gender equity.
7.0
Advocacy
7.1 Major advances since 1985
Advocacy for child protection in sport between 1985 and 1993
emanated almost entirely from private individuals. Some of these
sought redress for personal experiences, some knew of problems
within their sport and sought to raise the issue in annual or
general meetings, some were journalists who had come across incriminating
material from sport and others were academic researchers. In
very few of these cases was personal action effective in eliciting
an organisational response.
Agency support for more effective
child/athlete protection since 1993 has been led in Britain by
the NCF, with the assistance of the NSPCC, and internationally
by WomenSport International. The latter established a
Task Force on Sexual Harassment in Sport in 1994, convened by
Celia Brackenridge, and is currently producing an encyclopedia
of women in sport for the International Olympic Committee which
contains a specific section on personal safety/protection. The
Women's Sports Foundation (USA) also established a Task Force
on Sexual Harassment, co-chaired by Don Sabo and Carole Oglesby,
which produced a set of training materials in 1994. The same
year, another pack of materials was produced by the Canadian
Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport (CAAW+S 1994).
The Australian Sports Commission is understood to have appointed
a child protection consultant recently.
7.2 Future priorities
Advocacy for child protection
is ineffective without the support of the sport authorities in
Britain and beyond. The debate about child/athlete protection
must be championed by those in respected positions who have the
ability and authority to place it on national sport agendas.
The development of initiatives such as the Barclays Volunteer
Investment Programme, World Class Start and World Class Potential,
the National Junior Sport Programme and the proposed British
Institute for Sport make it all the more important that child
protection is automatically included when planning for the future
of British sport.
One of the most important 'missing
voices' in child protection matters at present is that of the
athlete: athletes advocates would be a vital addition to any
representative discussions about the future of child/athlete
protection in this country. In addition to the elite level, recreational
athletes would offer a dimension to the debate which is almost
absent at present, since research and practice have focussed,
for good reasons, on the performance and excellence end of the
sport development continuum.
Athletes or others with cause
for concern about abuse in sport occasionally use the Child Line
and NSPCC telephone helplines, which are already heavily oversubscribed.
However, experience from research at C&GCHE indicates that
many athletes fear that they will not be taken seriously or that
their sporting aspirations will not be understood if they try
to talk with someone outside the context of sport. Consequently,
many concerns go unreported or are reported so long after the
original event that no effective action can be taken against
perpetrators. In addition, years of silence and absence of personal
support exacerbate the psychological trauma of suffering abuse.
A dedicated national sport helpline might well encourage more
reporting of worries, whether about abuses or other matters creating
stress for athletes, and could be incorporated within the proposed
Clearing House. In the Swindon area just such a telephone hotline
was set up after problems with abuse had come to light. The impact
of this hotline should be evaluated.
Media interest in the issues
of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in sport is intense.
Much of the coverage of such material on television and in the
print media has been sensitively handled: some has not. Certain
journalists have contributed positively to the development of
child/athlete protection by putting otherwise hidden issues into
the public domain and, in this way, they have acted as advocates
of better child/athlete protection. Athletes, coaches, parents
and administrators are generally not skilled in handling the
media but in some notable cases they have found useful support
and networking contacts through their interactions with journalists.
In Canada, a media strategy was developed prior to the publication
of a report on sexual harassment and abuse at Olympic level:
the Canadian experience has already informed the preparations
of sport organisations in Holland for dealing with similar Press
interest. The UKSC and its partner organisations could well learn
from and these examples and in so doing help to maximise the
advantages and minimise the disadvantages of media attention.
Some television and radio producers have been persuaded to arrange
telephone helplines after specialist programmes on abuses in
sport with the monitoring data from these being been made available
for research purposes.
7.3 Recommendations
12 Designate a senior
member of ESC staff to champion child/athlete protection work.
13 Include athlete advocates in any Forum discussions or policy
planning.
14 Build in child/athlete protection elements (policy, training,
monitoring) to all national sport initiatives.
15 Through the Clearing House, liaise closely with the WSI Task
Force about its activities.
16 Establish a dedicated telephone helpline for sport-related
enquiries.
17 Draw from the experience of international partners in preparing
to handle media attention to abuse and protection issues.
8.0 Education and Training
8.1 Major advances since 1985
As a result of an initiative by one individual at the Royal Yachting
Association in the late 1980s the NSPCC approached the NCF about
the possibility of developing training materials for child protection
in sport. The outcome of this collaborative process was the self-study
pack 'Protecting Children ~ A Guide for Sportspeople'
written by Maureen Crouch of the NSPCC's Training Unit (1995).
This document has become the foundation for subsequent training
courses, which include: one three-hour course aimed at front-line
sports development workers, another targetted specifically at
coaches (from 1998) and one six-hour course aimed at policy makers
in NGBs and local authorities. Trainers for the both three hour
courses have been prepared: they have already delivered many
of the original courses throughout Britain. The first series
of six-hour policy-oriented courses is being delivered in 1997/98,
one in each of the ten England regions and one each in Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland. Whilst the original three-hour
course contributes to S/NVQ H4 it is not compulsory for all sports
coaches or sports leaders. Most of the materials developed by
the NCF and by individual NGBs draw extensively from existing,
generic child protection materials, notably the Northern Ireland
Volunteer Development Agency's 'Our Duty to Care' pack
and the Home Office publication 'Safe From Harm' (see
section 9.0 for details). The NCF has worked hard to incorporate
examples from sport in their materials. Nonetheless, the balance
needs to be struck in education and training on child protection,
between recognition and referral for cases of intrafamilial abuse
outside sport and good professional practice as protection
within sport. Coaches and sports leaders not only need
to develop the skills to recognise signs of child abuse which
young people bring to sport but they also need to adopt the highest
standards of care for those in their charge: training materials
therefore need to reflect both these needs.
In addition to courses designed
and delivered through the NCF, some regional standing conferences
for sport, Sports Council regions, individual NGBs and local
sports development (SD) organisations have delivered their own
training events. These include: Eastern Regional Council for
Sport and Recreation; London Association of Sports Development
Officers (SDOs); GB Diving Federation; British Athletics Association;
Physical Education Association UK (PEAUK), Birmingham region;
Tayside SDOs; Hertfordshire SDOs; the Royal Life Saving Society;
Northern Ireland Sports Council; National Coaching Centre for
Wales. The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) and the Football
Association (FA) have begun their own education and training
initiatives, both with assistance from the NSPCC. The ASA might
now be regarded as a model NGB in its approach to child protection
since it has developed codes of practice, training events and
publicity materials and has begun to monitor its membership of
coaches and instructors for criminal convictions. However, systematic
evaluation of these initiatives should be undertaken before they
are more widely disseminated.
As a result of a briefing meeting on child protection held by
the (English) Sports Council in January 1996 a national seminar
for NGBs was held at C&GCHE in the July of that year. Over
130 delegates heard the two keynote addresses and attended two
from a series of eight workshops run by personnel from the NCF,
NSPCC and C&GCHE. Reports of the seminar were sent to all
delegates.
8.2 Future priorities
Whilst sport administrators
and coaches are now being made aware of child protection needs
through the NCF, large gaps in education and training provision
remain. Two groups, in particular, require urgent attention:
these are the parents of young people in sport and the
athletes themselves. These two constituencies are perhaps
best placed to effect protection yet neither fall strictly within
the remit of the NCF. People with disabilities, as mentioned
above, also require specialist education and training provision.
Some of the professional and
voluntary groups which would also benefit from education and
training on child protection in sport have already sent delegates
to seminars, conferences and training courses, for example, child
care workers, play workers, youth leaders and Physical Education
teachers (the PEA UK has recently asked for advice to develop
curriculum materials for the latter). Since many voluntary sector
youth organizations include sport or recreational activities
as part of their programmes there would be merit in sharing the
principles of child protection. First, it would be useful to
apply knowledge and good practice developed elsewhere (for example
in the Scout and Guide movement) to sport; secondly, it
would be useful to offer the sport-related knowledge of abuse/protection
from sport to these other organizations. The NSPCC has
a reasonable overview of child protection initiatives in the
voluntary sector but there appears to be no comprehensive audit
of such schemes.
8.3 Recommendations
18 Commission education
and training materials specifically for parents, athletes and
disability sport groups.
19 Commission an agent to deliver, monitor and evaluate parent,
athlete and disability group training.
20 Through the agency of the Forum, invite cognate leisure organisations
to share good practice schemes and ideas.
21 Through the Clearing House, carry out an audit and review
of child protection schemes across the sport and leisure sectors
to draw out common elements.
22 Through the Clearing House, draw up a register of appropriate
trainers and consultants skilled in child protection and with
a working knowledge of sport who are able to give professional
advice or assistance to local and regional sport groups.
9.0
Key resources
9.1 Practical and training
resources on child protection
Brackenridge CH (ed.) (1996)
Child Protection in Sport: Policies, Procedures and Systems.
Report of a Sports Council Seminar for National Governing Bodies.
Cheltenham: C&GCHE.
BAALPE, PEA UK, English Sports
Council & National Coaching Foundation (undated) Guidelines
for local education authorities, schools and colleges in the
use of adults other than teachers in physical education and school
sport programmes. Leeds: BAALPE/NCF Coachwise.
CAAW+S (1994) Harassment in
sport: A guide to policies, procedures and resources. Ottawa:
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport.
CAAW+S (1994) What Sport Organisations
Need to Know About Sexual Harassment. Canadian Association
for the Advancement of Women and Sport, Ottawa.
Crouch, Maureen (1995) Protecting
Children: A guide to sportspeople. Leeds: NCF/NSPCC.
Home Office/Smith, D (1993) Safe
from harm. London: HMSO.
Institute of Sport & Recreation
Management (1997) Child protection procedures for sport and
recreation centres. Melton Mowbray: ISRM
Lenskyj, H. (1992a) Sexual harassment:
female athletes' experiences and coaches' responsibilities. Sport
Science Periodical on Research and Technology in Sport, Coaching
Association of Canada, 12, 6, Special Topics B-1.
McGregor, Marg (1997) What parents
can do about harassment in sport. Action, CAAW+S, Summer:
5-8.
National Coaching Foundation
(1995) Code of ethics and conduct for sports caches. Leeds:
NCF Coachwise.
National Coaching Foundation
(1996) Child protection posters. Leeds: NCF Coachwise.
National Coaching Foundation
(1996) Protecting children from abuse: A guide for everyone
involved in children's sport. Leeds: NCF Coachwise.
National Coaching Foundation
(1996) The successful coach: guidelines for coaching practice.
Leeds: NCF Coachwise.
National Coaching Foundation
(1997) Working with children: introductory study pack.
Leeds: NCF Coachwise.
National Coaching Foundation
(1996) Guidance for National Governing Bodies on Child Protection
Procedures. Leeds: NCF/ASFGB: Leeds.
Tayside Voluntary Organisations
Child Protection Group (1996) All Our Children: Voluntary
Sector Guidelines for Protecting Children. Dundee: TVOCPG.
Women's Sports Foundation (1994)
Prevention of sexual harassment in athletic settings: An educational
resource kit for athletic administrators. WSF, NY.
WomenSport International (1997)
Information leaflet on sexual harassment in sport. WSI/C&GCHE.
Volunteer Development Northern
Ireland/Childcare (Northern Ireland) Our Duty to Care: principles
of good practice for the protection of children.
Volunteer Development Scotland
(undated) Protecting Children: A code of good practice for
voluntary organisations in Scotland working with children and
young people. Stirling: The Scottish Office.
9.2 Academic papers on sport, sexual harassment
and abuse
Brackenridge, C.H. (1998) Healthy
sport for healthy girls? The role of parents in preventing sexual
abuse. Sport, Education and Society, 3 (1), 59-78.
Brackenridge CH & Kirby S
(1997) Playing safe? Assessing the risk of sexual abuse to young
elite athletes. International Review for the Sociology of
Sport, 32 (4), 407-418.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1997b) 'He
owned me basically...' Women's experiences of sexual abuse in
sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(
2), 115-130.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1997a) Researching
sexual abuse in sport. In G. Clarke & B. Humberstone (eds.)
Researching Women in Sport. pp 126-141. Macmillan, London.
Brackenridge CH, Summers D &
Woodward D (1995) 'Educating for Child Protection in Sport.'
In Lawrence, E, Murdoch E & Parker S (eds) Professional
and Development Issues in Sport, Leisure and Physical Education.
Brighton: Leisure Studies Association Publication, No. 56.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1994) Fair
play or fair game: child sexual abuse in sport organisations.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport 29 (3),
287-299.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1992) Sexual
abuse of children in sport: A comparative exploration of research
methodologies and professional practice. Paper to the Pre-Olympic
Scientific Congress, Malaga, Spain, July 14-19.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1987) Ethical
problems in women's sport. Coaching Focus, Leeds: National
Coaching Foundation, Summer (6), 5-7.
Brackenridge, C.H. (1991) Cross-gender
coaching relationships: Myth, drama or crisis? Coaching Focus,
Leeds: National Coaching Foundation, Spring (16), 12-147.
Brackenridge, C.H. (under review)
The paedophile and the Predator: Theorising sexual abuse in sport.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.
Cense, M. (1997) Red card
or carte blanche. NOC*NSF, The Netherlands.
Crosset, T. (1994) Are you crossing
the line with an athlete? Unpublished paper, University of Massachussetts
at Amherst.
Crosset, T. (1986) Male coach-female
athlete relationships. Paper presented at the First Interdisciplinary
Conference for Sport Sciences, Sole, Norway, November 15-16.
Crosset, T. (1989) The abusive
coach: A preliminary description and analysis of abusive male
coach-female athlete relationships. Unpublished manuscript, Department
of Physical Education, Brandeis University.
Crosset, T. , Benedict, J. &
McDonald (1996) Male student-athletes reported for sexual assault:
a survey of campus police departments and judicial affairs offices.
Journal of Sport and Social Issues. May, 126-140.
Hall, M. A. (1996) Feminism
and sporting bodies: Essays on theory and practice. Human
Kinetics; Champaign, Illinois.
Kane, M.J. and Disch, L.J. (1993)
Sexual violence and the reproduction of male power in the locker
room: "The Lisa Olsen incident". Sociology of Sport
Journal, 10, 331-352.
Kirby, S. (1994) Not in my back
yard: Sexual harassment and abuse in sport. Paper presented at
the Commonwealth Games Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Kirby, S. & Greaves, L. (1996)
Foul play: sexual harassment in sport. Paper presented at the
Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress, Dallas, Texas, USA, July 11-15.
Kolnes, L. (1992) Coaches, athletes
and gender relations: questions of power, control and self- identity.
Paper presented at the Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress, Malaga,
July.
Lackey, D. (1990) Sexual harassment
in sports. Physical Educator. 47(2), 22-26.
Lenskyj, H. (1986) Out of
Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality. Toronto, Women's Press.
Lenskyj, H. (1992b) Unsafe at
home base: Women's experiences of sexual harassment in university
sport and physical education. Women in Sport and Physical
Activity Journal 1(1),19-34.
Pike Masteralexis, L. (1995)
Sexual harassment and athletics: legal and policy implications
for athletic departments. Journal of Sport and Social issues,
May, 141-156.
Summers, D. (1998) Institutional
responses to child abuse in voluntary sport and the Church of
England (thesis pending completion). C&GCHE.
Volkwein, K. (1996) Sexual harassment
in sport - perceptions and experiences of female student-athletes.
Paper presented at the Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress, Dallas,
Texas, USA, July 11-15.
Yorganci, I. (1993) Preliminary
findings from a survey of gender relationships and sexual harassment
in sport. In C. Brackenridge (ed) Body Matters: Leisure Images
and Lifestyles. Brighton: Leisure Studies Association..
Yorganci I. (1994) Gender, sport
and sexual harassment. PhD thesis, Chelsea School, University
of Brighton.
9.3 Popular sources
Burton-Nelson, M. (1996) The
stronger women get, the more men love football. Sexism and the
American culture of sports. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Burton-Nelson, M. (1994) Are
we winning yet? How women are changing sports and sports are
changing women. New York: Random House.
Mewshaw, M. (1994) Ladies
of the court: Grace and disgrace on the women's tennis tour.
London: Warner Books.
Ryan, J. (1995) Pretty girls
in little boxes: The making and breaking of elite gymnasts and
figure skaters. London: Women's Press.
Appendix I
SPORT ORGANISATIONS ACTION
PLAN FOR PROTECTION
AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE IN SPORT
1 Establish/disseminate/advise
on Codes of Ethics and Conduct
2 Offer systematic grievance
& disciplinary systems
3 Investigate the benefits of
registers & criminal record checks
4 Make child protection modules
compulsory in coach education
5 Distribute information for
parents, athletes and coaches
6 Establish simple contracts
between parents, athletes and coaches
7 Set up an independent listener/helpline
outside sport and NGBs
8 Adopt child/athlete-centred
& democratic coaching styles
9 Strengthen links with child
protection agencies
10 Provide support for the victim
and the accused
11 Disseminate and reward good
practice
12 Encourage debate
13 Commission research to increase
knowledge
Appendix II
MODEL FOR A NATIONAL CLEARING
HOUSE
Main functions:
Information
Education
Advocacy
Research
Support
and referral
INFORMATION
Collect and catalogue
sources of information, leaflets, codes of practice, policy
documents and other literature.
Prepare, update and distribute
reading and references lists under appropriate headings.
EDUCATION
In collaboration with
the NCF, design and deliver workshops and courses for
non-coaching groups e.g. parents, athletes, sport-specific organizations,
people with disabilities or learning difficulties.
ADVOCACY
Prepare, update and distribute
sets of good practice case studies in policy and procedures.
Liaise with representatives from
cognate fields to establish a register of experts for
talks, lectures and training courses e.g. NCF, NSPCC, sports
law, ethics in sport, sport and clinical psychology, gender and
sport.
Prepare and disseminate briefing
sheets on key issues e.g. facts and figures about harassment
and abuse in sport; dealing with the media; where to get help
if you have been harassed in sport; how to report your concerns
about harassment in sport
Liaise with other similar groups
to monitor international developments e.g. Task Force
of WSF (US), Task Force of WomenSport International, government
sports councils/units.
RESEARCH
Collect a catalogue
of public domain examples of harassment and abuse of athletes
of all ages, perpetrated within the context of sport and analyse
these against demographic and other variables.
Collect research-based interview
data with stakeholders in sexual harassment and abuse in
sport (coaches, parents, athletes, adminisrators).
Prepare and submit bids to
grant making bodies for further research into harassment
and abuse
and workshop opportunities.
Carry out multidimensional analysis
of risk factor data.
Develop and test predictive efficacy
of theories of harassment and abuse in sport.
SUPPORT AND REFERRAL
Operate a telephone
helpline for sport-related enquiries and catalogue these.
Refer helpline callers if they
require specialist support e.g. via BSS Directory of Counselling
Centres, Area Child Protection Committees/social services, NSPCC,
police.
Appendix III
UPDATE ON PROGRESS SINCE FEBRUARY
1998
POLICY
The Council of Europe Committee
for the Development of Sport (CDDS) commissioned a statement
on the 'The problems women and children face in sport with regard
to sexual harassment' in October 1998 from Prof. Celia Brackenridge
(UK) and Prof. Kari fasting (Norway). This was followed by a
meeting of experts in Strasbourg in February 1999 and placed
on the CDDS agenda for further work,
Tony Banks met with Celia Brackenridge
in October 1998 and agreed to look further into child protection
in sport, linking this with the ESC's drive for ethical standards.
The government's Inter-departmental
Working Group (Home Office, DfEE and Dept of Health) on Preventing
Unsuitable People Working with Children and Abuse of Trust collated
responses to a consultation document throughout Autumn of 1998.
Several representatives of sport have been involved in this consultation
over proposals for a Child Protection Bill (1999) and the implications
of this for the leisure and sport sectors.
Organisations working with Celia
Brackenridge on policies and procedures for their members/clients
in the past year include:
- The England and Wales Cricket Board (policy launch due May
1999)
- Disability Sport England
- Rugby Football Union/RFUW
- Surrey County Council
- British Paralympic Association
- National Playing Fields Association
- Physical Education Association of UK (now withdrawn)
- Birmingham PEA
- City Of Gloucester , Leisure Management
- South Somerset District Council
- Swindon Borough Council Recreation Services
Additional Governing bodies known
to have been working on policy development include:
- Netball (contact: Jan Turley)
- Football Association, in conjunction with the NSPCC
- Bristol Rovers Football Club
- Bath Rugby Club
- Gloucester County Cricket Club
INFORMATION
Celia Brackenridge at has delivered
speeches and / or workshops on child protection:
- Eastern Region Sports Development Association (May 1998)
- Birmingham PE Association meeting (June 1998)
- Play 99, the national play conference in Sheffield (January
1999)
- British Association of Sports Medicine annual conference (due
October 1999)
Fact Sheets on child protection
or abuse in sport were published by:
- the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (July 1998)
- the Women's Sports Foundation in (January 1999)
Articles on child protection
and abuse in sport have been written for:
- the Youth Sport Trust/Institute of Sport and Recreation Management
(CB, March 1999)
- Play Worlds Magazine (CB with Vic Kerton, March, May &
July 1999)
- British Journal of Sports Medicine (Rod Jaques MD with CB,
for August 1999)
- Western Gazette (Gordon Clark of Sport England SW, spring 1999)
- Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal (CB with Marianne
Cense 1999)
- International Triathlon Union newsletter (by Sarah Springman)
- 'Business of Sport', magazine of the W. Australian Ministry
of Sport and Recreation (CB, Dec 1998)
Media coverage of the issues
has been planned or delivered by:
- Channel 7 TV, Australia (Autumn 1998)
- Salsa Rock (TV company bid to Channel 4/March 1999)
The CCPR held a fully-attended
briefing seminar for sport organisations in January 1999 to address
the impact on sport of the proposed new legislation and Child
Protection Bill.
EDUCATION
Avon & Somerset Constabulary
(through DS Rob Jones) have developed and run a series of workshops/lectures
for sports clubs and organisers to advise on basic child protection
systems. Sponsorship has been achieved from HTV and Charity Action
on Child Exploitation for the development and distribution of
a video and pack of materials.
The NCF continue to develop their
work in this area, now led by Sue Laws. A number of NCF child
protection materials have been revised and updated. They have
also agreed to pilot a course designed by Celia Brackenridge
on Implementing Child Protection Policy, to bridge the gap between
theory and practice.
ILAM included a day course on
'Protection for kids' (May 1998) in their annual programme of
continuing professional development courses.
The Northern Ireland Centre for
Learning Resources has produced materials for sport and leisure
organizations (contact: Cora Robinson).
ADVOCACY
The NSPCC have convened a by-invitation
seminar on June 14 1999 to review the state of child protection
in sport. This has been done with the co-operation and endorsement
of Rodney Walker, Chair of the UKSC.
The Netherlands Olympic Committee
and Sports Federation have run a two year campaign to publicise
athlete/child protection including leaflets, training courses,
TV coverage, and extensive policy advice. This work was funded
by the government (£200k) and the NOC*NSF (£100k).
A specialist sports telephone help line was established and monitored,
staffed by trained counsellors. Over 55 calls were received from
sportspeople in the first year of operation. An analysis of the
characteristics of these callers and their concerns is currently
underway.
RESEARCH
A major international study is
ongoing, funded by the Norwegian Olympic Committee, of 600 elite
female athletes in Norway. The project's main focus is on disordered
eating but it also includes a sub-study of experiences of sexual
harassment amongst this group and a matched control from the
Norwegian population. The research team for the sub-study is
Prof. Kari Fasting and Prof. Celia Brackenridge. The first phase
(a survey) is complete and phase II (in-depth-interviews) has
begun.
In December 1998 Kris Malkin,
a masters degree student at Cheltenham and Gloucester College
of HE, completed a dissertation at on child protection training
needs amongst sports development officers. This included an analysis
of the delegates who had attended the NCF's 12 policy courses
during the winter of 1997-98.
Four further postgraduate projects
are underway at C&GCHE:
1. Joy Bringer has commenced a doctoral study of sexual abusers
in sport and will be analysing over 100 cases of abuse and interviewing
known abusers in order to test propositions about an sport abuser
typology.
2. Sharn Jones, a sports development officer in Stratford, is
carrying out a masters study of the role conflicts faced by SDOs
trying to implement child protection policies.
3. Maurice McCarthy, a swimming and tennis coach, is doing an
MSc by Research in which he will compare coaching norms and practices
in tennis and swimming in relation to child protection.
4. Clare Hassall, studying for taught masters in Sports Development,
is doing a joint project with Dr Lynne Johnston, which involves
a large survey of both male and female sports students and coaches,
to establish their perceptions and constructs of sexual harassment
in sport. This study is an extended and revised version of one
previously carried out in the USA by Karen Volkwein et al.
The work has been endorsed by the NCF who have assisted with
access to the coaching sample.
A postgraduate MPhil thesis on
the law and child abuse in sport is being prepared currently
by Yvonne Williams of Aberystwyth University and Nina Sohal of
Anglia Sports Law Research Centre is also doing research in this
field.
Annie Kerr, of Disability Sport
England, is doing a research degree on child protection in sport
at Bangor University.
In Denmark, Jan Toftegaard completed
his masters thesis on coach-athlete interpersonal boundaries
and harassment. His results have been widely publicised in the
Danish Press and the Danish Olympic Committee have taken up policy
work on the basis of this study. Jan is now embarking on a doctoral
scholarship.
The research done by Marianne
Cense that was commissioned by the Netherlands Olympic Committee
and Sports Federation has since been used to inform a multi-faceted
initiative (see above). The research project report has an English
summary.
The Swiss Olympic Committee has
put some funds into a research initiative led by Suzi Kathi Jost
(1998-99).
In Germany, the Nordrhein-Westfalen
government funded a study of sexual harassment in sport by Birgit
Palzkill and Michael Klein. This has now been published, in German
only.
SUPPORT AND REFERRAL
Very little has in the way of
sport-specific support services has been developed. The Broadcasting
Support Services Survivors Directory of counselling outlets is
a useful resource for general referral purposes, as are the 24
hour helplines for the NSPCC and ChildLine.
A voluntary self-help group has
been formed by some of the contacts involved in research
with Celia Brackenridge. Details of the group's convenor are
available on request.
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