Australian sport still has a gender-based violence problem. Our new guide might help tackle it

Research shows gender-based violence in sport is widespread: between a quarter and three-quarters of women within sport report experiencing some form of psychological, physical or sexual violence during their sporting lives.

These experiences happen across all levels of sport and affect not only athletes but also coaches, officials, volunteers and administrators.

And too often, when those affected try to speak up, systems fail them.

Our research team recently examined how reports of gender-based violence in sport are currently experienced and managed.

Based on what we found, we designed a new resource to help sporting organisations handle issues that arise and support victims.

What is gender-based violence in sport?

Gender-based violence can include sexist jokes, humiliation, exclusion from leadership roles, coercive coaching practices, sexual harassment and assault.

These behaviours are often normalised or minimised in sport but their impact is serious: women leave sport, their health is affected, teams dissolve, talent is lost and trust in sporting institutions is eroded.

What our research found

We examined how reports of gender-based violence in sport are currently managed.

We reviewed policies, interviewed women and gender-diverse people who had disclosed gender-based violence in sport, and also interviewed people working in national and state sport integrity and safeguarding roles.

We found policies related to violence in sport to be legalistic, inaccessible and almost entirely gender-blind.

Women and gender-diverse participants shared uncertainty about who to approach, what the process would entail and whether they would be believed.

Some felt re-traumatised by systems meant to support them. One woman told us:

[the sport] never followed any of their own written processes around safety and supporting us. They made promises and then actively went against them. They pretty much gaslit us the whole way.

The people we interviewed said they stayed engaged when listened to, believed and offered choices. When dismissed or blamed, many left – not just the organisation, but sport.

A clear message emerged from those working in integrity and safeguarding roles: many want to do the right thing but are often constrained by unclear policies, limited guidance and support and a lack of training.

They described feeling overwhelmed, unsure of what steps to take and concerned about their organisation’s reputation or getting it wrong.

One person working in integrity and safeguarding roles said:

I’ll be quite candid with you […] they’re protecting the business. They’re not protecting the member.

Another sad:

One time I got one [a report] and I had to run out the door here to throw up. It was just so terrible.

Where current systems fall short

In Australia, Sport Integrity Australia responds to breaches of integrity through the National Integrity Framework and its complaints handling system.

But our research shows when it comes to gender-based violence against adults, significant gaps remain.

While Sport Integrity Australia’s suite of policies include the “safeguarding of children and young people” there is no equivalent for adults.

Also, Sport Integrity Australia can only implement its policies with sports that signed up to its national framework, and only if the issue being reported occurred after the sport signed up.

This means in many cases, gender-based violence against an adult will fall outside of its policies.

In these cases, responsibility falls back to sporting organisations – many of which are under-resourced, unclear about their role or ill-prepared to respond.

For women and gender-diverse people, this often results in confusion, inadequate or inconsistent responses and an increased risk of ongoing harm.

In the absence of sufficient national policy, sport organisations must therefore be better prepared to respond to and address gender-based violence, from the grassroots to elite levels.

Why disclosures so often go wrong

Our research shows reports of gendered violence go wrong not because people don’t care but because systems are not designed with victim-survivors in mind.

Policies are frequently written to protect organisations rather than support those who experience harm.

Reporting pathways mimic legal and criminal justice pathways rather than trauma-informed practices.

Power imbalances – between athletes and coaches, volunteers and boards, players and administrators – are not acknowledged or addressed.

At the same time, those tasked with responding are often unsupported.

Integrity managers, volunteers and administrators told us they regularly absorb traumatic stories without adequate supervision or specialist support and without the ability to address the root causes of the issue. This increases the risk of burnout and turnover.

A practical roadmap for safer responses

In response we developed a practical, evidence-based toolkit designed to help sporting organisations at every level respond better when gender-based violence is reported.

This new guide translates research and best-practice principles from health, trauma and violence-prevention sectors into the sport context in ways that are easy to understand and implement.

It sets out five core principles for good responses:

• making reporting easy

• having clear and fair policies

• supporting choice and autonomy

• responding with care and respect

• committing to ongoing improvement.

It provides concrete tools such as scripts for responding to disclosures, checklists for organisational readiness and a clear roadmap outlining what a good response looks like from first disclosure through to follow-up and review.