Dr. Sandra Kirby
WINNIPEG, MB – A grant of $300,000 from the International Olympic Committee is allowing a team of experts including Dr. Sandra Kirby, Associate Vice-President (Research) & Dean of Graduate Studies at The University of Winnipeg and former Olympic rower, to develop an on-line education program aimed at ending sexual harassment and abuse of children and teenagers involved in Olympic sports.
“People have allowed things to happen in sport that would not be allowed anywhere else. Putting a name to practices from hazing to coerced sexual activity will be the beginning of the end of those abuses,” said Dr. Kirby. “It’s about changing an international culture. The IOC wants to do the right thing and that commitment is evident in this grant.”
The goal is to spend the three years developing an on-line education program that will be available, through the IOC, to all international sports federations, from bobsled to track to swimming and fencing organizations. Coaches, referees, team managers, trainers – anyone who has contact with young athletes – will have access to materials teaching appropriate behaviours. The model will be piloted at the first Youth Olympic Games in August 2010 in Singapore, where 3,600 athletes from 14 to 18 years of age will compete.
In February 2007, the IOC adopted a Consensus Statement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport that recognizes sexual harassment and abuse happen in all sports at all levels and prevalence appears to be higher in elite sport. Research identifies risk situation as “the locker-room, the playing field, trips away, the coach’s home or car, and social events, especially where alcohol is involved” and notes athletes relationships with members of their entourage require that significant amounts of time be spent together in an emotionally intense environment. In Canada, 22.8% of high-performance athletes reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse (The Dome of Silence – Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport by Sandra Kirby, Lorraine Greaves and Olena Hankinsky– published 2000).
Following adoption of the Consensus Statement, a team of experts was formed headed by Dr. Celia Brackenridge, Brunel University, (London) with members Dr. Sandra Kirby, Tricia Leahy (Hong Kong) and Kari Fasting (Norway). They will develop an on-line education program that adults involved with child athletes can use and that can also form the basis for sports organizations to develop written Codes of Conduct.
Dr. Sandra Kirby is available for one-on-one media interviews. To arrange please contact University of Winnipeg Communications.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, C: 204.293.1167, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
