Safeguarding

defining harassment and abuse
Safeguarding Resources
Policy
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Research shows that no sport or country is immune to harassment and abuse. Everyone in ISU sports plays a crucial role in safeguarding athletes from these harms.

The ISU is dedicated to ensuring all participants understand their responsibility to protect athletes during ISU Events and activities by following the ISU Code of Ethics. This includes reporting concerns through the procedures outlined in Article 7. The Code governs how concerns and complaints about abuse, harassment, and athlete protection are addressed.

The ISU Athlete Safeguarding Policy aims to raise awareness of abuse and harassment, promote best practices for athlete safety, and reinforce that such behavior is prohibited under the ISU Code of Ethics. Clear reporting and response procedures ensure appropriate action is taken when violations occur.

The ISU also encourages all Members to adopt their own Athlete Safeguarding Policies. ISU provides resources for this.

means unwanted and unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can take the form of sexual abuse.

means any conduct of a sexual nature, whether non-contact, contact or penetrative, where consent is manipulated or is not or cannot be given, where consent is coerced, manipulated, obtained based on a relationship of dependency or cannot be given with any legal validity.

means any deliberate, non-accidental trauma or unwelcome act caused, for example, by punching, beating, kicking, biting, or burning or otherwise physically harming an athlete. Such act can also consist of forced or inappropriate physical activity (e.g. age- or physique-inappropriate training loads when injured or in pain), forced alcohol consumption, or forced or systemic doping practices.

means a pattern of deliberate, prolonged, repeated non-contact behaviors within a power differentiated relationship. “Psychological abuse” can consist of any unwelcome act including confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilization, or any other treatment which may diminish the sense of identity, dignity and self-worth. This form of abuse is at the core of all other forms of abuse.

is a type of “psychological abuse”. “Online abuse” encompasses various forms of harmful behavior on digital platforms. It entails the use of violent, aggressive hate speech, directed at an individual or a specific subgroup sharing a common identity. It is typically rooted in factors like race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or is sexualized in nature. The most common forms of “Online abuse” in sport are: flaming, harassment, denigration, outing, and cybestalking (you can find definitions of these here)

means the failure of a Coach or another person with a duty of care towards an athlete to provide a minimum level of care, thereby causing harm, allowing harm to be caused or creating an immediate danger of harm. “Neglect or negligence” can consist of acts of omission