Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

staff or volunteers who were not as senior in the competitive sport hierarchy
as the perpetrator. This was especially notable in the elite sport context
(“’cause we were so elite and no one ever questioned what we were doing.”).
Non-intervention by other adults in a young person’s environment is likely to
be interpreted as meaning that those adults are also powerless in relation to
the perpetrator.
For children, disclosure may be preempted if the child believes, or is
aware that other adults know about the abuse. 15 If observing adults take no
action, the child may assume that the behaviour is socially acceptable, or in
the case of older children, as mentioned above, that perpetrator’s message
that he is omnipotent is really true and that therefore they really are trapped.
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Reflections
Particularly evident from the data in this study was the manner in which
certain aspects of the culture of competitive sport provide an environment
which facilitates, rather than inhibits, the sexually abusive strategies used by
people in positions of authority and trust. One of the more urgent implications
arising from this study is the need to eliminate apparently-accepted,
psychologically abusive coaching styles. Psychological abuse was clearly,
and uniquely implicated in long-term negative traumatic outcome in the group
of athletes who participated in this study, even where no sexual abuse had
occurred. It also effectively masks sexual offender behaviours which rely on
psychological abuse and emotional manipulation as primary strategies.
To overcome the bystander effect, comprehensive and ongoing sexual
abuse awareness education is imperative for all those involved in organised
sport in Australia, including athletes, parents and all associated support
personnel. Particularly, it is the responsibility of adults in the system to ensure
children’s safety. This responsibility should not be relegated to the children
themselves. We need to understand that silencing is an integral, not separate
part of the sexual abuse experience. Non-disclosure is the norm. Every
person in the athletes’ entourage has a right to be informed and specifically
empowered to act to safeguard athletes’ welfare through clear guidelines and
procedures.
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