Sexual Abuse in Sports

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Sexual Abuse in Sports

• Ontario Womens Hockey Association
• September 26th, 2009

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Sexual Abuse.

• is not an incident
• It is a relationship
• One that is corrupting and violating
• One that traps the child
• Leaving them helpless and ashamed

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What we know

• 94,000 Ontario Children living in situations that
  may be abusive
• 1 in 3 girls
• 1 in 5 boys
• will experience some form of sexual abuse by the
  time they reach age 18

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The abuser

• generally tries to shift responsibility and blame
  in order to trap the child
• Anyone who has authority and power over a child
  is immediately in a position where it will be
  easier to get away with it
• and harder for anyone to believe that the person
  can abuse

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• Anyone looking at the person cannot believe that
  they could be capable of doing such horrible
  things
• He or she is such a nice person
• But monsters dont get close to children..nice
  people do
• Until we recognize thatabuse will continue

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• For an aspiring athletegiving up a sport to
  escape abuse is not an option
• She has already paid a high price for reaching
  the upper competitive limits of her sport
• The higher up the sporting ladder she climbs.the
  greater the investment
• Therefore the greater costs of leaving

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What can we do to prevent abuse in a sporting
environment???

• Ensure that no one is placed in a compromising
  situation
• Understand that sexual abuse and/or harassment
  can be both physical and verbal
• Ensure that no corners are cut with respect to
  criminal records checks and mandatory training is
  met..i.e. Speak Out

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Know your responsibilities

• Take all allegations seriously
• Recognize that your obligation to ensure that a
  child is protected is greater than your
  obligation to remain silent when you are not
  certain of the facts
• If you know or suspect a child is being abused,
  you must report it in accordance with the Child
  and Family Services Act.

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Crossing the line

• Ensure that you and those around you remain
  professional in all aspects
• In all actions and conduct
• both on and off the ice

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Offences

• Sexual Assault
• Sexual Assault with a Weapon/threats/bodily harm
• Aggravated Sexual Assault
• Sexual Interference
• Invitation to Sexual Touching
• Sexual Exploitation

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Who is affected

• Age of consent now raised to 16 years
• Sexual Interference, Invitation to Sexual
  Touching automatic because under 16 years CANNOT
  CONSENT
• Sexual Exploitation can be laid with respect to a
  victim up to age 18 years if person is in a
  position of trust or authority therefore the
  person CANNOT CONSENT

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How do we protect our athletes and ourselves???

• Without exceptionfollow the TWO DEEP RULE
• NEVER be alone with an athlete in any contact
  including.
• personal contact, emails, text messages, phone
  calls
• Always have someone else present or copied on all
  correspondence

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Be Careful what information you release for
scouting purposes

• Remember nothing is private once you put it on
  the internet
• Once its there.its there for life
• Be sure to seek the consent of the athlete and
  their parents prior to releasing any information
• It can have serious detrimental consequences

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Keeping players safe

• Limit the amount of information you release
• Only put what is absolutely necessary and ensure
  athletes and their parents sign off on the
  information you plan to publish

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Refrain from publishing

• anything that would identify them and bring a
  predator right to their doorstep
• Date of birth
• Location
• School
• Actual Name of Athlete

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Stick to stats and refrain from

• publishing anything that could bring
  embarrassment or humiliation to the athletesuch
  as Academic grades.
• The release of this information often causes
  great distress particularly if the grades are not
  very good.
• Many become so distressed and often to the point
  of being suicidal

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As a community what do we do when allegations are
made

• Remain impartial and let the right people
  investigate the allegations
• Do not pass judgement on anyone
• Separate your friendships from your professional
  role in sports
• Refrain from participating in an unreasonable and
  unlawful rally of support for either party

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Intimidating Conduct

• Do not participate in activities that involve
  bullying or cyber bullying
• Do not participate in Blogging or making comments
  on social networking websites regarding the
  legitimacy of allegations, guilt or innocence of
  anyone
• Understand that making threats or intimidating
  someone in this manner is a crime
• Discourage parents and others from engaging in
  this type of behaviour
• REMAIN PROFESSIONAL

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Remember

• You can protect a child from abuse in the same
  way you protect yourself from having false
  allegations brought against you.FOLLOW THE TWO
  DEEP RULE and ensure those around you do the same!

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Thank you

• Sergeant Shelley Tarnowski
• Provincial Coordinator of Abuse Issues
• Ontario Provincial Police
• [phone]
• shelley.tarnowski_at_ontario.ca