Non-Accidental Interpersonal Violence Undermines Sports

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Teammates assault one of their own because his error cost them a game.

A coach yells and demeans a player as motivation for the player’s best performance.

A teenage girl is touched inappropriately by a sports physician.

These are just a few ways in which non-accidental Interpersonal violence is prevalent in sports.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defines non-accidental violence in sports as maltreatment through harassment and abuse, which can include physical, sexual, and psychological harassment and abuse, as well as neglect (Mountjoy et al., 2016). Psychological abuse entails deliberate, prolonged, repeated, non-contact harmful behaviors. This may include humiliation, scapegoating, rejection, isolation, threats, and being ignored or denied attention and support. Some of these actions may occur in the context of bullying (Vveinhardt & Fiminiene, 2020).

Physical abuse consists of physical force that results in injury. Such abuse might entail hitting in the form of kicking, punching, training that ignores an injury or pain, or advocating or mandating drug use.

Sexual abuse encompasses any non-consensual conduct of a sexual nature. Examples are unwanted sexual attention, sexist comments and gestures, and sexual assault.

The Impact of Interpersonal Violence in Sports

Several researchers surveyed 4043 online adults who participated in organized sports before age 18 (Vertommen et al., 2017). Participants completed a brief symptom inventory. Those who experienced severe interpersonal violence in sports were more likely to have greater symptomatology of anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints as adults. This finding was significant even when other factors, including adverse childhood experiences outside of sports, were considered.

Comprehensive studies of the impact find that athletes who experience non-accidental violence in sports may suffer psychologically and physically, including impaired performance, injury, depression, marginalization, and traumatization (Stafford et al., 2015). Additionally, such experiences may lead to doping, a willingness to cheat, psychosomatic symptoms, disordered eating, decreased self-esteem, low self-esteem, suicidality, self-harm, substance abuse, and dropping out of sports (Mountjoy et al., 2016).

The impact of non-accidental interpersonal violence in sports goes beyond the individual victim (Tuakli-Wosornu et al., 2022). It can lead to vicarious trauma for those who observe such violence. Parents, teammates, and managers may experience such trauma. Like the victims, they may feel guilt, shame, and a reduction in general trust. Furthermore, it affects the team and the institution's tenor.

The Prevalence of Non-Accidental Interpersonal Violence in Sports

One of the largest studies on this topic involved surveying over 10,000 individuals across Europe– in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Spain, and the UK (Hartill et al., 2021). Known as the CASES Project (Child Abuse in Sport European Statistics), it assessed the degree to which these individuals experienced such violence during their sport participation while under 18.

Three-quarters indicated having had at least one incident of interpersonal violence within sports. Despite this, 85 percent rated their sports involvement as good or very good. The authors of this study suggest that this statistic might reflect the normalization of such violence within sports.

With regard to sexual violence, a review of several studies regarding children (Bjornseth & Szabo, 2018) found that:

• Girls suffer more sexual violence even though boys are also victims.
• Athletes at higher levels of competition are at a greater risk of sexual violence by a coach.
• Minority groups are more vulnerable to such violence.
• Fellow athletes are, more often than coaches, the perpetrators of violence in sports.
• Grooming is a key aspect of sexual violence against children in sports

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Additionally, the survey found that 65 percent involved psychological violence, 44 percent physical violence, 37 percent neglect, and 35 percent non-contact sexual violence. By contrast, 20 percent reported contact sexual violence within sports.

Such violence was reported less often in recreational sports (68 percent) than by those who engaged in international sports (84 percent). Males were more often identified as the perpetrators of the most serious offenses. Such violence was committed by both adults and children, with adults most frequently being coaches or instructors. Most of those responding did not disclose the (most serious) experience. When they did, it more often occurred with a family member or a friend.

Forces Underlying Collusion of Silence

Many factors contribute to silence regarding such events, especially concerning sexual violence. Disclosing sexual violence seems especially difficult for child athletes for different reasons, including the appraisal of right or wrongdoing, fear of consequences, guilt or shame, and effects on the sporting career.

It is often the case that victims of violence experience shame–with males perceiving being a victim of such violence as weakness and women feeling shame associated with being perceived as contributing to the violence. Not talking about it is consistent with the tendency for emotional avoidance by denying, minimizing, or suppressing the pain that accompanies such violence. This often resolves the tension that accompanies conflictual feelings about sports participation.

Recommendations for Change

Addressing non-accidental violence requires a comprehensive approach involving individuals and systems. Researchers emphasize that awareness of human rights in sports is insufficient to prevent their violation (Tuakli-Wosornu et al., 2022). Additionally, most participants in such sports are unaware of these rights.

Researchers emphasize that the cultural climate of the entire system must be addressed with various strategies to impact biases, beliefs, and behaviors. This helps place accountability on sports organizations and not just athletes. They recommend that stakeholders be encouraged to consider the wider social parameters of these issues, including cultures of secrecy and deference that too often facilitate abuse, rather than focusing simply on psychopathological causes. These researchers call for a systematic multiagency approach to prevention as being most effective, involving athletes, entourage members, sports managers, medical and therapeutic practitioners, educators, and criminal justice agencies.

Structural and cultural remedies and practical recommendations are suggested for sports organizations, athletes, sports medicine and allied disciplines, sports scientists, and researchers. The successful prevention and eradication of abuse and harassment against athletes rest on the effectiveness of leadership by the major international and national sports organizations (Mountjoy et al., 2016).

Additionally, the researchers recommend bystander training to raise awareness of assault (so that observers know it when they see it) and dismantle myths about assault, training to augment psychosocial capacities that promote resilience (support-seeking, emotion regulation), efforts to reduce the stigma of assault, and positive reinforcement programs to improve organizational culture. They also call for laws that hold onlookers and institutions accountable, decreasing the possibility of further abuse. These approaches may better protect the vulnerable, enhance team bonds, challenge toxic power imbalances, and unite sports communities to confront this issue head-on.

Furthermore, these researchers emphasize that team clinicians who suspect or become aware of athlete abuse have a duty of care to the victim and those with secondary associations and knowledge of the incident, including teammates.

Non-accidental violence in sports may reflect society’s attitude toward violence in general. As such, reducing such violence in sports depends on our commitment as a society to reduce the propensity for violence in its citizens. It calls on a broad systemic approach to help individuals cultivate the capacity to pause for self-reflection rather than react.

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