SafeSport

Sports club, coaches, members, children, young people, need for action, sexualised boundary violations, harassment, violence, online survey

Prof Dr Bettina Rulofs, Head of the Department of Sports Sociology, Institute of Sports Science, University of Wuppertal

01.08.2020 until 31.07.2022

Project background

In recent years, many sports clubs and associations have been very committed to protecting children, young people and adults from violence. Nevertheless, we know from studies with competitive athletes that violence and boundary violations often occur in connection with sport.

To date, however, there has been a lack of studies that can be used to determine which aspects can promote the development of sexualised and other forms of violence in non-profit club sport and how clubs and regional associations deal with cases of boundary violations. However, clarifying these questions is essential for the development and implementation of preventative measures and protection concepts at association and club level and would make a significant contribution to systematically addressing the issue of violence in sport.

The Landessportbund NRW e.V. is therefore funding the first study in Germany, which is being carried out by the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy at Ulm University Hospital (PD Dr Marc Allroggen, Dr Thea Rau) and the University of Wuppertal (Prof. Dr Bettina Rulofs) in cooperation with the state sports federations of Berlin, Bremen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt.

Project description

The project is divided into three modules. The first module is concerned with recording experiences of sexualised boundary violations, sexualised harassment and violence in sports clubs as part of an online surveyof athletes in sports clubs aged 16 and over. This survey was completed on 31 August 2021 and is now being evaluated.

FAQ about the online survey "SicherImSport"

Information for participants in the "SicherImSport" online survey (respondent information)

Information on the questions in the questionnaire

The second module, which is mainly carried out by the University of Wuppertal, deals with the status quo of prevention and intervention as well as the reconstruction of the handling of cases of sexualised violence in popular sport. The third module follows on from the first two modules. It deals with the processing of research results for practical application. Among other things, a practice-orientated research report is produced and a final conference is held to disseminate the results.

Project presentation

Report on the SicherImSport research project(pdf)

Factsheet on the completion of the data collection/interim evaluation(pdf)

Landessportbund Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V., the state sports federations and sports youth organisations of Berlin, Bremen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt.