New research shows scale of child abuse in sport – World Athletics – Edge Hill University

World Athletics has joined with a group of university and sports partners to support a major research project on Child Abuse in Sport.

Please find details here.

Source: World Athletics 

„New research from Edge Hill University shows the scale of abuse in sport and calls for cultural changes“

„New research, led by Edge Hill University, has for the first time uncovered the scale of violence against children in sport in the UK and across Europe.

The study, called Child Abuse in Sport: European Statistics (CASES), has been led by Mike Hartill at Edge Hill (UK) and Bettina Rulofs at Wuppertal University (Germany) with help from colleagues from across Europe. Data was collected from 10,302 adults in the UK, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Romania and Spain.

It is the first such study of this scale and the first prevalence study of its kind in sport in the UK and several other partner countries. The study investigated a wide range of behaviours that can be harmful to athletes from verbal harassment and physical violence through to sexual abuse and neglect.

Key findings show that:

• 65% of adults (aged 18-30) reported experiencing psychological violence as children.
• 44% reported experiencing physical violence inside sport as children.
• Neglect was experienced by 37% of respondents.
• 35% reported experiencing non-contact sexual violence.
• 20% reported contact sexual violence.
• The prevalence of interpersonal violence against children is lowest for respondents in recreational sport (68 percent) and highest for those who competed in international sport (84 percent)
• Children belonging to ethic minority groups are significantly more likely to experience abuse at 76.9%.
• Figures for each form of interpersonal violence were broadly similar across countries, suggesting the problem is not unique to one country.

Edge Hill University: More:  find details here.