Australian women receive inadequate or harmful responses when disclosing gender-based violence in sport, prompting the call for greater oversight and the creation of new reporting guidelines by researchers from the University of Sydney, La Trobe University and Victoria University.

The research project, supported by the IOC Olympic Studies Centre under its Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme, found current integrity structures built for investigating doping or match fixing are not suitable for addressing gender-based violence.

The researchers found pathways for reporting gender-based violence in sport are unclear and difficult to navigate, those responsible for handling reports often lack trauma training, and systems are focused on managing risk and reputation rather than care.

Previous research revealed up to 74 percent of women report experiencing psychological, physical or sexual violence in sport.

“Women described disclosure pathways in their sporting organisations as impossible to navigate,” said Dr Natalie Galea from the University of Sydney Business School. “The integrity policies aren't designed to protect women experiencing violence; they're designed to manage institutional risk.

“Women told us reporting felt like punishment, not protection. Existing safeguarding disclosure processes are designed to exhaust, not support. When the disclosure process feels worse than the original harm, that’s institutional failure by design.

“Our research shows that what victim-survivors value in responses to disclosure is being believed, given choice about how their case is handled and being supported through transparent processes.”

The findings have informed the researchers’ development of a new, evidence-based toolkit designed to assist sporting organisations in creating safer, more supportive environments for women and gender-diverse people.

The toolkit is built around five best practice principles to improve reporting pathways, and includes practical steps to help organisations respond safely, respectfully, and effectively.

The research team interviewed 27 women and gender-diverse people to understand their experiences of disclosing violence in sport, and 18 policy developers, integrity managers and staff to explore how systems operate in practice and the challenges faced by those who implement them.

The researchers also reviewed leading gender-based violence disclosure mechanisms and analysed safeguarding policies and complaints handling of sporting organisations including Sports Integrity Australia.

One woman disclosing gender-based violence told the researchers: “I did say what happened and then nobody believed me. They were like, ‘I just don’t think he would have done that’.”

Another study participant said: “It was like this really traumatic thing. I think I only played one or two more games last year ... because I felt really uncomfortable."

Those working in policy development and administration at sporting organisations also recognised significant challenges in current systems and structures.

“The systems are still written by those who don’t understand,” one policy administrator said.

Others described how receiving disclosures of violence impacted them. “One time I got a report and had to run out the door to throw up. It was just so terrible,” said one administrator.

Another referred to coping with the experience of receiving a disclosure as “screaming into the void”.

Dr Galea said one significant barrier to reform is that most gender-based violence disclosures fall outside Sport Integrity Australia’s jurisdiction.

“Adult women experiencing harassment or assault have no independent oversight or accountability for how sporting organisations respond, leaving a dangerous gap across Australian sport,” she said.

“The government must expand Sport Integrity Australia's remit to cover adult gender-based violence and fund this area of reform, just as they recently did for universities. Without that structural change and investment, there’s little incentive for sporting organisations to change.

“Mandatory safeguarding standards with independent oversight and accountability for all sporting organisations must be created.”

Access the Safer Sport toolkit here the research report here.

Declaration

This research was funded through an Advanced Olympic Research Grant from the IOC Olympic Studies Centre (Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage).