Project HALT

Combat violence and tackle racism, discrimination and intolerance in sports


Submit the incident that you witnessed*

*The whistleblower will remain anonymous



Terminology check



What do we mean by the terms “harassment” and “abuse”?

According to the IOC Consensus Statement (2016), harassment and abuse can be expressed in five forms which may occur in combination or in isolation. These include:

  1. psychological abuse,
  2. physical abuse,
  3. sexual harassment,
  4. sexual abuse,
  5. neglect

The IOC Consensus Statement (2016) and Stirling, Bridges, Cruz, Mountjoy, (2011), further define the types of the behavior that might fall under each form to increase awareness and identification of the phenomenon.

Psychological abuse — any unwelcome act including confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilisation, or any other treatment which may diminish the sense of identity, dignity, and self-worth.

Physical abuse — any deliberate and unwelcome act –for example punching, beating, kicking, biting and burning – that causes physical trauma or injury. In the case of Sports, such an act can also consist of forced or inappropriate physical activity (e.g., age-, or physique inappropriate training loads; when injured or in pain), forced alcohol consumption, or forced doping practices, denying access of food, water and sleep, isolating an athlete in a confined space.

Sexual harassment — any unwanted and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, non-verbal or physical. Sexual harassment can take the form of sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse — any conduct of a sexual nature, whether non-contact, contact or penetrative, where *consent is coerced/manipulated or is not or cannot be given. In sports it can take on the form of groping (e.g., of the athletes breasts or buttocks), exchange of rewards in sports for sexual favors, sexual relationships with an athlete below the age of consent.

Neglect — in sports can be the failure of a coach or another person with a duty of care towards the athlete to provide a minimum level of care to the athlete, which is causing harm, allowing harm to be caused, or creating an imminent danger of harm. Also disregarding an athletes educational requirements and wellbeing, not recognizing the social needs of an athlete, not providing the adequate counseling for an athlete which exhibits psychological distress, failure to intervene when made aware of maladaptive behavior.

Harassment and abuse can be based on any grounds including race, religion, colour, creed, ethnic origin, physical attributes, gender, sexual orientation, age disability, socio-economic status and athletic ability. It can include a one-off incident or a series of incidents. It may be in person or online. Harassment may be deliberate, unsolicited and coercive.

*Consent - Directive 2011/93 on Combating the Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography defines the age of sexual consent as “the age below which, in accordance with national law, it is prohibited to engage in sexual activities with a child”. You can check the following website to find out the age of consent to engage in sexual activities with an adult in your country. https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2017/mapping-minimum-age-requirements/sexual-consent