Recently, Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, contributed an op-ed to the Globe and Mail, arguing for restorative justice to make sports safer.
There is no doubt that sport in Canada (and other countries) is in crisis, a claim supported by the words of the federal Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge. “Athletes are right now going through a difficult time,” she told the CBC in December. “The past few months have been pretty hard on athletes around the conversation about safe sport, about all the abuse, harassment and sometimes sexual abuse that we hear about in many different sports.”
The widespread accounts of athlete maltreatment, ranging from sexual, psychological and physical abuse, to harassment, bullying, discrimination and neglect, cannot be ignored. Nor can athletes’ stories of abuse continue to be swept under the carpet or actively silenced by the actions of those in positions of power.
Complaint and investigation processes must be independent, conflict-free, transparent and trauma-informed. Taken together, athletes across a wide range of sports have spoken loudly, clearly and courageously to demand action to address the toxic cultures characterizing far too many sport experiences.