IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i18p11745-d917622.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interpersonal Violence in Belgian Sport Today: Young Athletes Report

Author

Listed:
  • Tine Vertommen

    (Forensic Psychology Research Unit, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
    Social Epidemiology and Health Policy, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
    International Research Network on Violence and Integrity in Sport (IRNOVIS), 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS), C.P. 6128, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada)

  • Mieke Decuyper

    (Forensic Psychology Research Unit, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium)

  • Sylvie Parent

    (International Research Network on Violence and Integrity in Sport (IRNOVIS), 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
    Interdisciplinary Research Center on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS), C.P. 6128, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
    Research Chair in Security and Integrity in Sport, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
    Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada)

  • Aurélie Pankowiak

    (International Research Network on Violence and Integrity in Sport (IRNOVIS), 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
    Research Chair in Security and Integrity in Sport, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
    Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3021, Australia)

  • Mary N. Woessner

    (International Research Network on Violence and Integrity in Sport (IRNOVIS), 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
    Research Chair in Security and Integrity in Sport, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
    Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3021, Australia)

Abstract

Initiatives to safeguard athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) are rapidly growing. In Belgium, knowledge on the magnitude of IV in sport is based on one retrospective prevalence study from 2016 ( n = 2.043 adults), involving those who had participated in organized sport for up to 18 years. Data on victimization rates in current youth sport populations are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of IV in a sample of 769 athletes (aged between 13 and 21), using the Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ). All types of IV were prevalent in this sample, ranging from 27% (sexual violence) to 79% (psychological violence and neglect). Boys reported significantly more physical violence, while girls reported significantly more sexual violence. IV perpetrated by peer athletes was reported to the same degree as IV perpetrated by a coach (70%), while IV perpetrated by a parent in the context of sport was somewhat less common, but still prevalent (48%). These findings, including factors associated with elevated exposure rates, can serve as a baseline measurement to monitor and evaluate current and future safeguarding interventions in Belgian sport.

Suggested Citation

  • Tine Vertommen & Mieke Decuyper & Sylvie Parent & Aurélie Pankowiak & Mary N. Woessner, 2022. "Interpersonal Violence in Belgian Sport Today: Young Athletes Report," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11745-:d:917622
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11745/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11745/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11745-:d:917622. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.