Part 3 GLOBAL ISSUES: HARASSMENT AND ABUSE RESEARCH

Based on the explanatory model risk factors, starting points were
formulated for prevention. In the past few years, the NOC*NSF, together with
the sports world, has formulated preventative policy instruments. Both parents
of victims, victims themselves, those accused of perpetrating abuse and
sports organisations can now call a telephone 24-hour hotline which offers
advice and support and refers to a counselor, appointed by NOC*NSF, who
offers personal support.
Other policy instruments mainly target the risk factors sports situation
and coach, such as complaint procedures, and, since 2006, an independent
institute for sports justice has handled complaints about SHAB. In the near
future, perpetrators will have to be identified on a special register.
To free the sports culture of the taboo surrounding SHAB, information
brochures have been published for different target groups. In the brochures
the problems and what to do when someone is confronted (in)directly with
SHAB are explained. For the same reason, the NOC*NSF has developed a
website and a movie. The policy instruments that target coaching as a
potential site of SHAB focus on reducing the opportunities for this to occur.
This is aided through a coach education module entitled ‘Etiquette for
coaches’. This module gives information about and stimulates awareness of
the relationship between a coach and an athlete, the power balance between
them and how pedagogic techniques can be used to develop athlete
autonomy of the athlete within a safe socioemotional climate. 11 In practice it
is noteworthy that sport organisations often limit themselves to the procedural
side of prevention, focusing on the risk factor sports situation.
The nature and extent of SHAB
During Cense’s study it remained unclear how big the problem of
SHAB was. In 2005 NOC*NSF tried for the first time to get data on the nature
and extent of SHAB in sports. The response to the first quantitative study (N=
2000) on the incidence and prevalence of SHAB in the Dutch sports world
was very low (11%), so it was not possible to draw any conclusions on the
nature and extent of SHAB in sports.
NOC*NSF does have a database with over ten years of reports of
incidents (Table 3.1). These incidents were reported to the hotline and
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