IOC consensus statement: interpersonal violence and safeguarding in sport.

Objective: Interpersonal violence (IV) in sport is challenging to define, prevent and remedy due to its subjectivity and complexity. The 2024 International Olympic Committee Consensus on Interpersonal Violence and Safeguarding aimed to synthesise evidence on IV and safeguarding in sport, introduce a new conceptual model of IV in sport and offer more accessible safeguarding guidance to all within the sports ecosystem by merging evidence with insights from Olympic athletes.

Methods: A 15-member expert panel performed a scoping review following Joanna Briggs Institute methodologies.

Identifying future research priorities in the field of interpersonal violence (IV) towards athletes in sport: a Delphi study.

Objective: Our aim was to define the priorities for future research in safeguarding athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) in sport through a Delphi consensus study of researchers in the field.

Methods: An internet-based three-round Delphi method was used as a multistage facilitation technique to arrive at a group consensus (set at ≥75% agreement). A targeted literature search was conducted to develop a list of potential research priorities that were presented as short statements in the first round.

Association of self-reported health problems and interpersonal violence in sport: a cross-sectional study in world-level performing athletes.

Objectives: A paucity of studies assesses the intersection of physical health (injury and illness), mental health and experiences of interpersonal violence (IV, also known as harassment and abuse) in sport. The objectives of this study were to examine the (a) frequency of self-reported physical and mental health problems of elite athletes in the 12 months prior to the survey, (b) differences in physical and mental health between male and female athletes and (c) relationship of athlete health with experiences of IV.

Methods: Elite adult athletes from four sports were approached at eight international events to answer an online questionnaire on their physical and mental health, as well as experiences of IV in sport within the past 12 months.

IOC consensus statement on elite youth athletes competing at the Olympic Games: essentials to a healthy, safe and sustainable paradigm.

With the pronounced ongoing growth of global youth sports, opportunities for and participation of youth athletes on the world sports stage, including the Olympic Games, are expected to escalate. Yet, adolescence is a vulnerable period of development and inherently dynamic, with non-linear and asynchronous progression of physical, physiological, psychological and social attributes. These non-concurrent changes within and between individuals are accompanied by irregular and unpredictable threats and impediments.

The Safe Sport Allies bystander training: developing a multi-layered program for youth sport participants and their coaches to prevent harassment and abuse in local sport clubs.

Harassment and abuse represent a pervasive and critical problem in sport with far-reaching consequences. Survivors' testimonials underscore the profound and enduring impact of these experiences at individual, interpersonal, organizational and community level. Many of their stories reveal painful inaction from responsible adults in the sport organization, aggravating the harm.

The role, readiness to change and training needs of the Athlete Health and Performance team members to safeguard athletes from interpersonal violence in sport: a mini review.

Safeguarding athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) in sport is an important topic of concern. Athlete Health and Performance (AHP) team members working with athletes have a professional, ethical, and moral duty to protect the health of athletes, prevent IV, and intervene when it occurs. However, little is known on their respective roles regarding IV in sport and their needs to fulfill their responsibility of safeguarding athletes.

Estimating and monetizing the causal effect of severe interpersonal violence against children in sports on subjective well-being.

Background: Interpersonal Violence (IV) against children in sports is a prevalent problem and has a major impact on their well-being. However, the causal relationship and the costs for society remain unclear.

Objective: The aim of this study is to estimate the causal effect of severe IV in sports on Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and to monetize the collective loss for society.

Interpersonal Violence in Belgian Sport Today: Young Athletes Report.

Initiatives to safeguard athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) are rapidly growing. In Belgium, knowledge on the magnitude of IV in sport is based on one retrospective prevalence study from 2016 ( = 2.043 adults), involving those who had participated in organized sport for up to 18 years.

Psychological, Physical, and Sexual Violence Against Children in Australian Community Sport: Frequency, Perpetrator, and Victim Characteristics.

Childhood sport participation is associated with physical, social, and mental health benefits, which are more likely to be realized if the sport environment is safe. However, our understanding of children's experience of psychological, physical, and sexual violence in community sport in Australia is limited. The aims of this study were to provide preliminary evidence on the extent of experiences of violence during childhood participation in Australian community sport and to identify common perpetrators of and risk factors for violence.

Preventing sexual violence in sport: Determinants of positive coach-bystander behavior.

Given their central role and position, coaches are instrumental in creating safe sport environments, especially in preventing sexual violence, but little is known about bystander behaviors, hampering the development of effective bystander programs in the context of sport. To identify determining characteristics of bystander behavior, 1,442 Belgian youth sport coaches completed an online questionnaire on bystander-related attitudes, norms, autonomy beliefs, and self-efficacy using two hypothetical scenarios of sexual violence in the sports club. Data were analyzed using confidence interval-based estimation of relevance (CIBER).

Effective engagement of survivors of harassment and abuse in sport in athlete safeguarding initiatives: a review and a conceptual framework.

Sport, as a microcosm of society, is not immune to the abuse of its stakeholders. Attention to abuse in sport has recently become a priority for sport organisations following several high-profile cases of athlete abuse from different sports around the world. Resulting from this increased awareness, many sport organisations have commenced work in the field of athlete safeguarding including the development of policy, educational programmes, reporting pathways, investigation mechanisms and research initiatives.

SafeSport: Perceptions of Harassment and Abuse From Elite Youth Athletes at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lausanne 2020.

Objective: To analyze the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2020 athletes' understanding and perceptions of harassment and abuse in sport and their knowledge of reporting mechanisms.

Design: A cohort study.

Setting: The Winter YOG2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Static and Dynamic Recidivism Risk Factors of People Who Have Committed Child Sex Offenses in Sport.

Current knowledge of people who commit child sex offenses (PCSO) in sport contexts is based on descriptive information from cross-sectional self-report studies of survivors and media coverage of court cases. In-depth scientific analyses of characteristics, interpersonal dynamics, and applied theories of sexual offending in sport are largely absent. This paper starts with a description of available Belgian data on PCSO in sport, coming from self-reports in community samples, reported cases in the media, and interviews with survivors.

Elite athletes' experiences of interpersonal violence in organized sport in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Interpersonal violence in sport occurs in different forms, from emotional abuse, overtraining, bullying, physical aggression and pressuring to punishment and sexual abuse. Due to the use of different definitions, a comparison of prevalence estimates between studies in different countries has not been possible to date. The aim of the current study was thus to present the prevalence estimates of interpersonal violence in elite sport for the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), and Germany and to examine the overlap of three types of interpersonal violence.

#SafeSport: safeguarding initiatives at the Youth Olympic Games 2018.

Background: Little is known about athletes' understanding of safe sport and occurrence of harassment and abuse in elite youth sport.

Objective: To evaluate the IOC Safe Sport educational experience at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires and to ascertain the athletes' (1) understanding of what constitutes harassment and abuse, (2) perception of the occurrence in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report.

Methods: Athletes visiting the IOC Safe Sport Booth answered a survey related to athletes' (1) understanding of harassment and abuse in sport, (2) perception of the occurrence of harassment and abuse in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report.

Severe interpersonal violence against children in sport: Associated mental health problems and quality of life in adulthood.

In a recent large-scale prevalence study of interpersonal violence (IV) against child athletes in the Netherlands and Belgium we found that 9% of adult respondents who participated in organized sports before the age of 18 had experienced severe psychological violence, 8% severe physical violence, and 6% severe sexual violence in various sport settings. While the general literature has repeatedly shown that exposure to IV during childhood is associated with mental health problems in adulthood and to a lesser extent with reduced quality of life (QOL), these relationships have not been demonstrated in (former) athletes. Thus, the current study aims to assess the association of severe childhood IV in sport and adult wellbeing.

Profiling perpetrators of interpersonal violence against children in sport based on a victim survey.

The current article reports on perpetrator characteristics gathered in the first large-scale prevalence study on interpersonal violence against children in sport in the Netherlands and Belgium. Using retrospective web survey design, 4043 adults answered questions on their experiences in youth sport. The study looks at the number of perpetrators as well as individual descriptive characteristics (sex, age, and role in the sport organization) of perpetrators of psychological, physical and sexual violence as reported retrospectively by victim-respondents.