Call for action for public authorities issued to stop child abuse in sports

Date: 27th June 2018
Category: Children in situations of exploitation

The Council of Europe has issued a call for action to public authorities and the sport movement to pledge to take concrete measures to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.

The campaign, entitled 'Start to Talk', asks athletes, coaches, clubs, federations, political figures and opinion leaders to commit to taking measures to stop sexual abuse of children in sport. These include improving legislation and policies, setting up child safeguarding strategies for sports activities, and training coaches.

The purpose of the campaign is to highlight the particular risks that involvement of sport can bring for children such as the unequal power relationships between coaches and athletes and the male dominated gender ratio.

The Council of Europe is therefore encouraging adults who are involved in sports activities to take steps to prevent this abuse. Through their online resource, several tools are provided which will support clubs and sports coaches to begin implementing these changes.

• Find out more and access the resources here.