THE FORBIDDEN ZONE

Abstract

This article presents results from the first sports-specific sexual abuse study in Denmark. The aim of the study was to focus on the interpersonal relations between coaches and athletes and establish if and where boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable coach behaviour could be drawn. Furthermore it wanted to cast light on the process and types of behaviour expected to lead to sexual abuse. It should be emphasized that, in order to describe the attitudes and experiences of various kinds of coach behaviour, samples among both athletes and coaches have been used. Findings show a divergence in the way coaches and athletes respectively perceive and experience interactions of an instructional and non-instructional nature. The results of the questionnaire among athletes showed that 2 percent of athletes ( N=3) were survivors of sexual abuse within sport. A considerable proportion of athletes reported that they had experienced various types of inappropriate coach behaviour during their sports careers. The second questionnaire, representing coaches at recreational through to elite sports level, revealed a widespread ignorance of legal regulations governing this area and documented that coaches had lax attitudes towards being intimate with athletes: 3 percent of coaches ( N=6) openly admitted that they had been intimately involved with athletes under 18 years. The results of this study reinforce and support the grooming process theory earlier set out in social work research, and emphasize risk factors. They also raise possible strategies for prevention which could be of particular relevance to the Danish sports context.