Sexual abuse in sports: Researchers speak of 200.000 cases

In the 45-minute report “The Big Taboo,” which was broadcast on Saturday, the TV program quoted an as yet unpublished study from the Ulm University Hospital, which the daily newspaper “Die Welt” first reported on. “We need to develop awareness in this area,” said the Ulm child and adolescent psychiatrist Jörg Fegert.

For the study, around 2.500 people were interviewed about their experiences with sexual abuse in childhood and youth. The university clinic surveyed 1800 competitive athletes three years ago. More than a third reported having experienced “sexually assaultive things”. Fegert said: “We were horrified. If you take it very narrowly, three percent have experienced sexual assault with penetration, the most serious acts. But of course there is a large field of unwanted touching.”

“Prevention of sexual violence is of great importance” A federal government investigative commission drew attention to the problem in sport in May. The chairwoman of the commission, Sabine Andresen, criticized the fact that hearings and reports from those affected and in the media indicated that “an independent analysis is needed here, which has not yet been adequately provided for in the structures of leisure and competitive sports”.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation assured that “the further development of the prevention of sexual violence in children and youth sports is of great importance to us”. Alfons Hölzl, the President of the German Gymnastics Federation, pointed out in an article for “Turn-Magazin” that the Federal Ministry of the Interior requires prevention concepts and self-declarations as funding requirements from all sports associations. Several specific cases are known The ARD program mentioned, among other things, cases from a gymnastics club in Weimar and from equestrian sports. The German Equestrian Association (FN) defended itself against the accusation that it had not consistently dealt with a case of sexual abuse. The “Sportschau” anonymously quoted the father of one victim as saying that the FN had not approached his family: “I immediately asked myself which side the association was on. On the side of the victim or on the side of the perpetrator?”

In a press release, the FN wrote: "We regret that several contacts made by the FN and the responsible regional association with the victim's family in January 2013 and August 2014 were not perceived as sufficient." The TV report also criticizes the fact that The accused rider was allowed to compete for Germany again. “Today we would deal with a case like the one described in the article differently,” said the FN.

The problem became clear internationally through cases from the USA. The former gymnastics association doctor Larry Nassar had been sentenced to up to 2017 years in prison in three verdicts since the summer of 175 for abusing victims, some of whom were minors. In US competitive sports, according to a list on the coaching website greatcoach.com, almost 1000 coaches have now been banned from Olympic sports because of allegations of sexual assault, doping offenses or other crimes.

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Sexual abuse in sports: Researchers speak of 200.000 cases

According to a study, sexual abuse in sports is a largely ignored problem on a large scale. The ARD “Sportschau” estimated the number of victims in Germany at around 200.000 affected.

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