#SEETHEABUSE: Modernising Safeguarding in Gymnastics
See the Risk. Strengthen the Protection.
#SEETHEABUSE Modernising Safeguarding in Gymnastics is G4CI’s research and policy programme addressing the urgent need to reform and strengthen safeguarding practices in the sport.
Over the past two decades, the international sporting community has made substantial progress in recognising harassment, abuse and interpersonal violence in sport. Consensus statements from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have strengthened understanding of harassment and abuse, while research, survivor advocacy and independent reviews have contributed to greater recognition of the need for athlete welfare, safe sporting environments and the responsibilities of those who hold positions of authority.
Despite significant developments in safeguarding standards across sport, survivor-led advocacy in gymnastics continues to document consistent and ongoing safeguarding concerns in the sport: cultures of fear and control; excessive or unsafe training; harmful weight-management practices; psychological abuse; suppression of athlete autonomy; unequal relationships of power; barriers to disclosure; and institutional failures. Indeed, no less than 7 independent reports, published in the past 5 years, around the world have concluded that serious and preventable harm continues to occur, with consequences that can endure long after an athlete has left sport. Meanwhile, important advances, like the new IOC baselines, have not yet been taken up by national governing bodies (NGBs).
#SEETHEABUSE Modernising Safeguarding in Gymnastics therefore identifies and addresses significant barriers to effective safeguarding in the sport. Whilst evidence of harm is substantial, it is also fragmented, meaning that abuse is routinely miscategorised, minimised or missed altogether. These issues are compounded by the complexity of harms that can be challenging to communicate and understand for both survivors and safeguarding professionals. Institutional harms, for example, are rarely limited to one incident or one relationship, and are produced through intersecting cultures, complex hierarchies, financial incentives, silences, policies and decisions made over many years.
As a survivor-led human rights charity working to prevent abuse in gymnastics and wider sport, we have seen that the scale of response from institutions with the power to create sweeping change has not matched the scale of revelations of abuse over the last ten years.
Research Objectives
The #SEETHEABUSE research and policy development programme seeks to amplify survivor experience and increase pressure for real change by addressing these problems head o. It undertakes a comprehensive review of existing evidence of abuse gymnastics, and new research to capture the scale of the problem. Its objectives are to:
Identify and quantify major forms of abuse in gymnastics and the relationship between them, including coercive control and non-contact physical abuse (NCPA)
Provide a comprehensive review of existing evidence and undertaking new research to establish the true scale of the problem
Identify the conditions that contribute to vulnerability and risk of harm, as well as successful and potential opportunities for prevention and protection
Develop frameworks and guidelines for diverse user groups – including, most importantly, gymnasts, including survivors of abuse, as well as guardians, institutional bodies, policy-makers and lawyers.
#SEETHEABUSE: Modernising Safeguarding in Gymnastics
#SEETHEABUSE investigates risk factors as well as forms of protection available to athletes, to create opportunities to widen and deepen protective measures in the sport. The programme also aims to move safeguarding upstream, identifying effective and new potential forms of prevention. The programme is concerned to establish the nature and prevalence of under-recognised forms of abuse in the sport, such as non-contact physical abuse – consistently minimised yet the most prevalent form of abuse in G4CI’s casework. Raising the visibility and profile of such abuse will create significant new opportunities for prevention and mitigation.
Broadening the safeguarding lens in these ways will enable greater attention to the relationships and systems in which beliefs, attitudes, accepted sporting practices, power imbalance, vulnerability, risk and protective factors interact. It will also shine a light on the conditions in which harm arises, when it is identified and how it is assessed - providing tools to alter contexts before serious harm occurs.
See the risk. Strengthen the protection.
