Are some sports riskier than others? An investigation into child athlete experiences of interpersonal violence in relation to sport type and gender

Interpersonal violence against sport participants has serious consequences for athletes, sports organisations, and society at large. Despite recent advances in research, policy, and practice aimed at safeguarding sport participants from interpersonal violence, empirical evidence regarding its prevalence and risk factors across different sports remains scarce. In this study, we investigated differences in the prevalence of interpersonal violence among a convenience sample of 9,989 adults from six European countries who participated in organised sport before the age of 18. Utilising binary logistic regression analyses and CHAID regression tree analyses, we examined variations in reported experiences of neglect, psychological, physical, non-contact sexual, and contact sexual forms of interpersonal violence based on gender and three sport classifications: type of sport (individual vs. team), sports attire (non-revealing vs. body-fitting/revealing), and weight-sensitivity (less weight-sensitive vs. weight-sensitive sports). Men participating in team sports showed significantly higher levels of victimisation across all types of interpersonal violence. Women in sports with non-revealing attire and men in less weight-sensitive sports also reported higher prevalence rates, albeit to a lesser extent. The study debunks myths around the perceived riskiness of sports that are weight-sensitive and where revealing attire is worn and underscores the need for nuanced understandings of interpersonal violence characteristics and dynamics across different sports. These insights into the factors influencing victimisation enable tailored prevention and response strategies to be developed to better address the needs of athletes and sport organisations.