Interpersonal violence against children in sport in the Italian context: prevalence research

Journal title MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA
Author/s Stefano Ferracuti, Benedetta Barchielli, Mike Hartill, Daniela Simonetti
Publishing Year 2024 Issue 2023/3
Language English Pages 18 P. 13-30 File size 189 KB
DOI 10.3280/MAL2023-003002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The current article presents the results of the first comprehensive prevalence study focusing on interpersonal violence against children in the context of sports in Italy. Utilizing a dedicated online questionnaire, our survey encompassed a cohort of over 1.400 adults who had engaged in organized sports activities before reaching the age of 18. The inquiry sought to elicit information regarding their experiences with childhood psychological, physical, and sexual violence within the sporting milieu. The survey outcomes revealed noteworthy statistics, with 30% of all respondents reporting incidents of psychological violence, 18% disclosing experiences of physical violence, 14% reported neglect and 14% indicating encounters with sexual violence during their participation in sports. Some of this data and their discussion has already been included in the Change the Game project’s final research report. These findings can be used as a fundamental foundation for monitoring and assessing current and future protective measures in the context of sports in Italy.

Keywords: Interpersonal Violence, Organized Sport, Prevalence, Youth

  1. Janssen, I., & LeBlanc, A. G. (2010). Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7(1), 1-16. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-7-40
  2. Kjønniksen, L., Anderssen, N., & Wold, B. (2009). Organized youth sport as a predictor of physical activity in adulthood. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 19(5), 646-654.
  3. Lane, A. M., Beedie, C. J., Devonport, T. J., & Stanley, D. M. (2011). Instrumental emotion regulation in sport: relationships between beliefs about emotion and emotion regulation strategies used by athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 21(6), e445-e451.
  4. Lavalette, M., & Mooney, G. (2013). The Scottish state and the criminalisation of football fans: Michael Lavalette and Gerry Mooney consider football fandom and the ‘ultras’ phenomenon. Criminal Justice Matters, 93(1), 22-24. DOI: 10.1080/09627251.2013.833790
  5. Malm, C., Jakobsson, J., & Isaksson, A. (2019). Physical activity and sports – real health benefits: a review with insight into the public health of Sweden. Sports, 7(5), 127.
  6. Mergaert, L., Arnaut, C., Vertommen, T., & Lang, M. (2016). Study on gender based violence in sport. (disponibile online; https://sport.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/gender-based-violence-sport-study-2016_en.pdf).
  7. Ohlert, J., Seidler, C., Rau, T., Rulofs, B., & Allroggen, M. (2018). Sexual violence in organized sport in Germany. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 48(1), 59-68.
  8. Parent, S., Lavoie, F., Thibodeau, M. È., Hébert, M., Blais, M., & Team P. A. J. (2016). Sexual violence experienced in the sport context by a representative sample of Quebec adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(16), 2666-2686. DOI: 10.1177/08862605155803
  9. Parent, S., & Fortier, K. (2017). Prevalence of interpersonal violence against athletes in the sport context. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 165-169.
  10. Parent, S., Vaillancourt-Morel, M. P., & Gillard, A. (2022). Interpersonal violence (IV) in sport and mental health outcomes in teenagers. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 46(4), 323-337. DOI: 10.1177/0193723521104365
  11. Rintaugu, E. G., Kamau, J., Amusa, L. O., & Toriola, A. L. (2014). The forbidden acts: prevalence of sexual harassment among university female athletes. African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 20(3), 974-990.
  12. Roberts, J., & Benjamin, C. (2000). Spectator violence in sports: A North American perspective. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 8, 163-181. DOI: 10.1023/A:1008753024786
  13. Roversi, A. (1991). Football violence in Italy. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 26(4), 311-331. DOI: 10.1177/10126902910260040
  14. Rulofs, B., Doupona Topič, M., Diketmüller, R., Martin Horcajo, M., Vertommen, T., Toftegaard Støckel, J., & Hartill, M. (2019). Final Report: VOICES FOR TRUTH AND DIGNITY – Combatting sexual violence in European Sport through the voices of those affected. German Sport University Cologne, Institute of Sociology and Gender Studies.
  15. Alexander, K., Stafford, A., & Lewis, R. (2011). Main report. The Experiences of Children’s Participation in Organised Sport in the UK. Edinburgh: Placeholder Text University of Edinburgh/NSPCC Centre for UK-wide Learning in Child Protection.
  16. Brackenridge, C. H. (1994). Fair play or fair game: Child sexual abuse in sport organisations. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 29(3), 287-299. DOI: 10.1177/10126902940290030
  17. Brackenridge, C. H. (2001). Spoilsports: Understanding and preventing sexual exploitation in sport. London: Routledge.
  18. Bjørnseth, I., & Szabo, A. (2018). Sexual Violence Against Children in Sports and Exercise: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 27(4), 365-385. DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2018.1477222
  19. Cervelló, E. M., Escartí, A., & Guzmán, J. F. (2007). Youth sport dropout from the achievement goal theory. Psicothema, 19(1), 65-71.
  20. Collins, R. (2013). Entering and leaving the tunnel of violence: Micro-sociological dynamics of emotional entrainment in violent interactions. Current Sociology, 61(2), 132-151. DOI: 10.1177/0011392112456500
  21. Committee on the Rights of the Child (2011). General comment No. 13. The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence. Geneva. -- (disponibile online:
  22. Stoltenborgh, M., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Euser, E. M., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2011). A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world. Child Maltreatment, 16(2), 79-101. DOI: 10.1177/1077559511403920
  23. Tiessen-Raaphorst, A., Lucassen, J. M., Dool, R. V. D., & Kalmthout, J. V. M. (2008). Weinig over de schreef. SCP. DOI: 10.48592/877
  24. Unicef (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. (disponibile online: https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text).
  25. Vertommen, S., Pavone, V., & Nahman, M. (2022). Global fertility chains: an integrative political economy approach to understanding the reproductive bioeconomy. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 47(1), 112-145. DOI: 10.1177/01622439219964
  26. Vertommen, T., & Parent, S. (2020). Measuring the prevalence of interpersonal violence against children in sport. In Routledge handbook of athlete welfare (pp. 385-395). London: Routledge.
  27. Vertommen, T., Kampen, J., Schipper-van Veldhoven, N., Wouters, K., Uzieblo, K., & Van Den Eede, F. (2017). Profiling perpetrators of interpersonal violence against children in sport based on a victim survey. Child Abuse & Neglect, 63, 172-182.
  28. Vertommen, T., Schipper-van Veldhoven, N. H., Hartill, M. J., & Van Den Eede, F. (2015). Sexual harassment and abuse in sport: the NOC* NSF helpline. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(7), 822-839.
  29. Vertommen, T., Schipper-van Veldhoven, N., Wouters, K., Kampen, J. K., Brackenridge, C. H., Rhind, D. J., ... & Van Den Eede, F. (2016). Interpersonal violence against children in sport in the Netherlands and Belgium. Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, 223-236.
  30. Weiss, K. G. (2010). Male sexual victimization: Examining men’s experiences of rape and sexual assault. Men and Masculinities, 12(3), 275-298. DOI: 10.1177/1097184X08322632
  31. https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/crc.c.gc.13_en.pdf).
  32. Darnis, F., & Lafont, L. (2015). Cooperative learning and dyadic interactions: two modes of knowledge construction in socio-constructivist settings for team-sport teaching. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20(5), 459-473. DOI: 10.1080/17408989.2013.803528
  33. Elendu, I. C., & Umeakuka, O. A. (2011). Perpetrators of sexual harassment experienced by athletes in southern Nigerian Universities. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 33(1), 53-63. DOI: 10.4314/SAJRS.V33I1.65486
  34. Evans, B., Adler, A., MacDonald, D., & Côté, J. (2016). Bullying victimization and perpetration among adolescent sport teammates. Pediatric Exercise Science, 28(2), 296-303.
  35. Fasting, K., Chroni, S., Hervik, S. E., & Knorre, N. (2011). Sexual harassment in sport toward females in three European countries. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 46(1), 76-89. DOI: 10.1177/1012690210376295
  36. Gist, M. E., Stevens, C. K., & Bavetta, A. G. (1991). Effects of self‐efficacy and post‐training intervention on the acquisition and maintenance of complex interpersonal skills. Personnel Psychology, 44(4), 837-861.
  37. Gunduz, N., Sunay, H., & Koz, M. (2007). Incidents of sexual harassment in Turkey on elite sportswomen. The Sport Journal, 10(2).
  38. Egle, U. T., & Hardt, J. (2004). MSBI: Mainzer Strukturiertes Biografisches Interview [Mainz Structured Biographical Interview]. (Hardt J., Transl.) In B. Strauss & J. Scumacer (Eds.), Klinisce Interviews und Ratingskalen. Diagnostik für Klinik und Praxis (Band 4). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe. Pp. 261-265.
  39. Hartill, M. (2005). Sport and the sexually abused male child. Sport, Education and Society, 10(3), 287-304.
  40. Hartill, M. (2013). Concealment of child sexual abuse in sports. Quest, 65(2), 241-254. DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2013.773532
  41. Hartill, M. (2014). Exploring narratives of boyhood sexual subjection in male-sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 31(1), 23-43.
  42. Hartill, M., Rulofs, B., Lang, M., Vertommen, T., Allroggen, M., Cirera, E., ... & Stativa, E. (2021). CASES: Child Abuse in Sport: European Statistics – Project Report. In CASES: The prevalence and characteristics of interpersonal violence against children within and outside sport in six European countries: UK Results. -- (disponibile online: https://figshare.edgehill.ac.uk/articles/report/CASES_General_Report_The_prevalence_and_characteristics_of_interpersonal_violence_against_children_IVAC_inside_and_outside_sport_in_six_European_countries/17086616/1).
  43. Holt, N. L., Neely, K. C., Slater, L. G., Camiré, M., Côté, J., Fraser-Thomas, J., ... & Tamminen, K. A. (2017). A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10(1), 1-49. DOI: 10.1080/1750984X.2016.1180704
  44. Hosseini, S. A., & Besharat, M. A. (2010). Relation of resilience whit sport achievement and mental health in a sample of athletes. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 633-638.

  • Prevenire e contrastare l'abuso sui minorenni in ambito sportivo: una overview delle più diffuse best practices Daniela Marchetti, Francesco Ceravolo, Melissa D’Ettorre, Sonia Di Benedetto, Maria Cristina Verrocchio, in MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL'INFANZIA 3/2024 pp.51
    DOI: 10.3280/MAL2023-003004

Stefano Ferracuti, Benedetta Barchielli, Mike Hartill, Daniela Simonetti, Interpersonal violence against children in sport in the Italian context: prevalence research in "MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA" 3/2023, pp 13-30, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2023-003002