Preventing and combating violence against children in sports

Preventing and combating violence against children in sports

EFDN participated in a multiagency workshop with sport clubs and other stakeholders organised by ACTIVE. The need to enhance the skills of coaches in managing violence against children, to better evaluate child protection policies implemented by sports organisations and to create synergies between sports and government agencies were highlighted during the two-day online European workshop organised by EU funded project ACTIVE Focus on Children; Strengthening Policies in Sports and Leisure ACTIVities on 14 and 15 October.

The aim of the workshop was to promote child protection policies in sports organisations in Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal, by transferring know-how from Scottish organisations. Among the participants were 25 representatives of sports and social organisations from the aforementioned countries, including Rangers Football Club, Scottish Rugby Union, Scottish Curling, Scottish Swimming, Sportscotland. In addition, also representatives from our member Fundacao Benfica participated in the event.

All stakeholders agreed that sports organisations should create and promote a culture that respects diversity and promotes positive social messages. It was also pointed out that informing and raising awareness to parents and volunteers as well as the development of a code of conduct for all sports stakeholders can contribute to the prevention of violence against children.

If you work in the field of sports and leisure activities contact us and learn more about the online self assessment tool, which aims at helping sports organisations assess their child protection policies. Moreover, the ACTIVE team will design training modules for strengthening the capacities of sports coaches, volunteers in managing violence against children.

About ACTIVE

ACTIVE – funded by the Rights Equality and Citizenship Programme – aims at establishing safer environments for children by developing an online self-assessment tool, allowing sports and leisure clubs to identify and address gaps in terms of implementation of Child Protection Polices in their premises. The project is being implemented in Greece by KMOP, in Italy by CESIE, in Cyprus by CARDET, in Portugal by CESIS and in Scotland by Children 1st.