Sexual assault against children in sports revealed in Dutch study

Twelve per cent of young people who play sport in the Netherlands – one in every eight – have experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual attention at their clubs, according to a shocking new investigation for the body that oversees Dutch sport.

The report also reveals that four per cent of the youngsters – children and teenagers, male and female – complained of being sexually assaulted or raped.

Sixty per cent of the victims were under the age of 16, says the report, carried out by a special commission for the governing body of sport, NOC-NSF, which represents 30,000 clubs.

In an extraordinary 70 per cent of cases, the attacker was a coach or team leader, well known to the victims and frequently to their parents as well.

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In almost all the remaining cases, the attackers are alleged to have been fellow athletes, raising the question of whether the clubs had acceptable supervision at any level.

The majority of the incidents happened at football clubs, with swimming and gymnastics clubs next worst for attracting sexual predators.

The investigation, which is based on reports, mainly to hotlines, between 2001 and 2017, as well as on interviews with some of the victims, has caused outrage, with many furious parents demanding a nationwide police inquiry.

‘Blind eye’

In a heated public debate, questions have been raised about whether some clubs have been turning a blind eye, and whether what is now emerging is simply the tip of the iceberg – with many more victims still afraid to speak out.

Overall, however, the dominant sentiment is that parents have been far too trusting with their children’s welfare – and that sport, in general, has been far too shoddy in response.

What has emerged as a core problem is that where incidents were reported to clubs whose officials didn’t feel – rightly or wrongly – that they were criminal matters which should be passed on to the police, there was often no clear process for handling complaints internally.

As a result, in many of the cases where victims did take action, and believed their stories were being listened to, the reality was that nobody in authority could explain afterwards what action had been taken, if any.

It’s now likely that the law will be changed to make reporting to the police mandatory for clubs.

The NOC-NSF says its affiliates will co-operate fully with victim support organisations, the police and the public prosecutor’s office to ensure perpetrators are punished.

The report came about largely due to public pressure after two female cyclists, 1979 women’s road race world champion Petra de Bruin, a Dutch hero, and Marijn de Vries, went public about years of harrowing sexual assault, claiming the problem was widespread.