Safe sport reform is just beginning. But are some sports more prone to abuse? – National

The work done so far to raise standards and address abuse in Sports it is not the end of the story.

National sports organizations must ensure those higher standards and zero tolerance for abuse reach their chapters across the country, Canada’s sports minister said.

“More needs to be done,” he said. Pascale St Onge in an interview with Global News.

A flurry of complaints and allegations about the abuse and exploitation of athletes has rocked the world in recent years, including reports from sports officials not taking the allegations seriously or trying to cover them up.

And now is the time for sports organizations to do more, he said, even in sports that he recognized may be more prone to abuse.

“What we are doing is really setting our expectations much higher with regard to governance, financial transparency, prevention and education and also creating better conditions for coaches to have better background checks,” St-Onge said, referring to to measures announced by the federal government earlier this month.

“I think national sports organizations have a leadership role in implementing this in their own affiliates.”

On May 11, the federal government presented a list of reforms to improve the accountability of national sports organizations and bring about a ‘culture change’ for athletes.

Among the steps Ottawa is taking is creating a public registry of people who have been sanctioned or suspended within the sports system, as well as new funding to test national coaches.

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Hundreds of athletes have come forward over the past year to publicly denounce issues of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by coaches, trainers, and other authorities across multiple sports. That follows global scrutiny of USA Gymnastics and disgraced coach Larry Nassar, who was sentenced in 2018 to between 40 and 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young gymnasts.

St-Onge said appearance-heavy sports like gymnastics, artistic swimming and figure skating with “poor training techniques” are “more prone” to abuse.

“Sports that give great importance to physical appearance, and it is the case of gymnastics, it is the case of artistic swimming, it is the case of figure skating, for example, where there seems to be more pressure, and specifically on girls , to reach certain physical standards that can bring a whole different range of abuse and psychological abuse as well,” he said.

“So there are some sports that I think are more prone to.”

Hockey Canada was in the national spotlight last year for its handling of allegations of sexual abuse against members of at least two Canadian World Juniors teams.

federal government froze funding for Hockey Canada in June 2022 Amid intense scrutiny over the reports, the organization used fees paid by the families to fund a slush fund it used to settle sexual assault allegations.

That funding was restored last month after St-Onge said the organization met three conditions.

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In the midst of the crisis last summer, the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), a Canadian first, launched in June. Its role is to receive reports of alleged ill-treatment in sport and, if necessary, to launch independent investigations.

sports bodies had until April 1, 2023to enroll in OSIC’s “Abuse Free Sports Program” or risk losing your federal funds.

So far, 75 organizations have signed up and agreements with the remaining seven national sports organizations will go into effect later this year. according to the latest OSIC quarterly report published in April.

In all, the office has received 96 complaints and reports, half of which were filed this year alone.

St-Onge said she is “quite satisfied” with the progress and that all national athletes are covered by this independent mechanism.

“They withheld 100 percent of the complaints that were filed, which means there will be investigations into those complaints.”

— with archives from The Canadian Press

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