sexual abuse in sports

The number of reports of sexual misconduct in Dutch sports more than doubled over the past year, according to figures from Victim Support. In 2017 there were 30 reports about unwanted sexual behavior, last year there were 70, NRC reports.

Nearly two thirds of reports were made by victims themselves, the rest by sport associations and people who know the victims. In 90 percent of cases the victim was underage, 55 percent are female.

Reports of sexual abuse in the Dutch sports world are often not adequately handled, concludes a research report by Bureau Beke and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Information about sexual abuse is often left untouched at clubs, federations and the person of trust point of the NOC*NSF, which means that perpetrators walk free for longer than necessary. The sports world also rarely call in the police, according to the report, the Volkskrant reports.

Another two former football players reported being sexually abused at their football clubs when they were children. One was abused as a youth player for Sparta Rotterdam in the 90s, the other at FC Eindhoven in the 70s, they told the Volkskrant. Both clubs contacted the victims and call for other victims to come forward.

Another two former youth players at football club PSV came forward to report that they were sexually abused while playing for the club, the Volkskrant reports.

One victim was abused in the 70s - his coach took him to the dressing room after a training and forced him to go sit in the bath, where the coach molested him. The boy went home in tears, but refused to tell his parents what happened. "I insisted that nothing happened. I was ashamed and scared that the coach would get mad at me and take me off the team." he told the Volksrkant.

Former Minister Klaas de Vries will head a three member committee that will investigate sexual abuse in sports. Dutch Olympic Committee and sports organization NOC*NSF deliberately chose the PvdA man because he is not part of the sports world in any way and will therefore not have any conflict of interest, sources told the Volkskrant.

Last year Dutch sports federation NOC*NSF received 215 reports of sexual abuse from athletes. "Every case of sexual abuse is one too many", Minister Edith Schippers of Sports said about the figure, RTL Nieuws reports.

Athletes can report any form of unacceptable behavior, such as abuse of power, doping, bribery and sexual abuse, at the NOC*NSF contact point. Last year there were 269 reports, 80 percent of which involved sexual abuse.