TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual harassment and abuse in sport: The NOC*NSF helpline
AU - Vertommen, Tine
AU - Schipper-van Veldhoven, Nicolette
AU - Hartill, Michael
AU - Van Den Eede, Filip
PY - 2013/7/30
Y1 - 2013/7/30
N2 - Following a high profile case of child sexual abuse in sport in 1996, the Netherlands Olympic Committee and the Netherlands Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF) established a telephone ‘helpline’ service on sexual harassment and abuse (SHA). In order to expand their understanding of this problem, the NOC*NSF maintained written records of incidents reported to the Helpline. These records revealed 323 separate incidents for the period 2001 to 2010. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of this data and discusses the findings. We conclude that whilst there are major limitations to working with information gathered in this way, a sustainable telephone ‘helpline’ can provide a valuable service for the sports community. Whilst official sources of data are known to under-represent the scale of sexual abuse, through collaboration with researchers, such services can also generate important information for policy-makers.
AB - Following a high profile case of child sexual abuse in sport in 1996, the Netherlands Olympic Committee and the Netherlands Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF) established a telephone ‘helpline’ service on sexual harassment and abuse (SHA). In order to expand their understanding of this problem, the NOC*NSF maintained written records of incidents reported to the Helpline. These records revealed 323 separate incidents for the period 2001 to 2010. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of this data and discusses the findings. We conclude that whilst there are major limitations to working with information gathered in this way, a sustainable telephone ‘helpline’ can provide a valuable service for the sports community. Whilst official sources of data are known to under-represent the scale of sexual abuse, through collaboration with researchers, such services can also generate important information for policy-makers.
UR - http://www.uk.sagepub.com/journals/Journal200937
U2 - 10.1177/1012690213498079
DO - 10.1177/1012690213498079
M3 - Article (journal)
SN - 1012-6902
JO - International Review for the Sociology of Sport
JF - International Review for the Sociology of Sport
ER -