Education and communication as a means of raising awareness
The benefits of sport are well-recognised. Unfortunately cases of violence through harassment and abuse are also known. The promotion of safe sport is an urgent task and part of the broader international imperative for good governance in sport.
Since 1996, the Netherlands has a policy on sexual harassment in sport, initiated by NOC*NSF and developed in collaboration with sport federations. This ‘overall’ policy
adopts a zero tolerance approach to (sexual) harassment, abuse and other forms of unethical conduct across all sports.
It is an integral programme with a wide range involving athletes, entourage members, sport managers, medical and therapeutic practitioners, parents, educators and criminal justice agencies. The Netherlands now has extensive experience in this systematic multi-agency approach. Education and communication as a means of raising awareness play an important part in this approach.
Results
The promotion of athlete welfare through research and consultancy is a key objective. Safety in sports is now a constant area of concern in public debate in the Netherlands. We also have international experience: we have collaborated in several EU and international research projects in sport, such as ‘Youth Sport stands up for Youth Rights’ (2012), ‘Gender Based Violence’ (2016, EACEA), Gender Equity in Sport (2016, IOC).
Organisation
Safeguarding and integrity is an initiative of Netherlands Olympic Committee*Netherlands Sport Confederation (NOC*NSF) in collaboration with Sport Federations and Windesheim University on Applied Sciences, and is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. It is a member of the Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare (BIRNAW).
Contact
Are you interested in our work? We would love to share our vision, broaden our network, increase our knowledge and share our experience and the tools we developed.
Safeguarding and integrity in (youth) sport
www.windesheiminternational.nl/research/sport-and-therapy/
Nicolette Schipper- van Veldhoven
E-mail: n.schippervanveldhoven@windesheim.nl
Mobile: + 31 (0)6 51 290 453
