ABSTRACT
The lack of effective policies to protect children in sport from violence has been cited as a contributor to ongoing violence. To prevent and address gender-based violence in children’s sport, the values of an organisation, expected conduct, processes for addressing complaints, and consequences for misconduct need to be clearly articulated and broadly disseminated. This chapter will review the concerns raised regarding policies designed to protect athletes from violence, including a lack of clarity, and a lack of independence, monitoring, and evaluation. Athletes have made it clear that they do not report experiences of violence in part because they feel policies do not include safe, fair, and conflict-free processes to address their concerns, and without conflict-free processes, they fear negative repercussions for their careers. Recommendations are made to include athletes in the development of policies designed to protect them. Other suggestions include more clarity and transparency in policies, investigative processes that reside outside of the sport organisation, investigative and hearing processes with diverse representation, including representation of athletes, and the ongoing evaluation of policies.
