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Violence Against Children in Sports, by Suvandna Kalra and Shubham Arun

Posted by LAW BEES on

INTRODUCTION

Sports are very important for mental and emotional development. A lot of children worldwide take interest in some form of organized sports and many more participate in informal street games, spontaneous play sessions with their friends.

A lot of children also face violence against themselves in sports. An in-depth study of violence against children was conducted by the independent expert and human rights lawyer Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO). This World Report on Violence against Children was published in late 2006. The report was named as “outcome of the first comprehensive global attempt to describe the scale of all forms of violence against children and its impact,” and its fundamental premise is that “no violence against girls or boys is justifiable, and that all violence against them is preventable.”

Statistics

There has been a study that females face more violence in sports than men. Ethical Guidelines and Codes of Conduct in All sports organizations are driven by ethical principles representing their own ideas and their professional obligations to sport and the wider society. But again, Significant cultural, social, political, and religious differences across nations make it difficult for the establishment of rules and other enforcement mechanisms that would work towards preventing any or all forms of violence against children in sports. 

Types of Violence

In the context of sport, violence may be expressed in many ways, for example, psychological degradation or humiliation based on gender, body shape, pressure on young children athletes to achieve high performance and Sex required as a prerequisite for team selection or privileges also physically injurious or sexually degrading initiation rituals and Nutrition and weight loss experiments that lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia other health problems. There has been a study for Peer pressure to use alcohol or addictive substances also requiring young athletes to play when injured and Use of physical exercise as a punishment.

Bullying and Hazing have been one of our main concerns. Bullying in sport may be defined as any hostile or offensive action against child athletes who are perceived as ‘different’. These actions might be verbal, physical, or emotional harassment; insulting or degrading comments, name-calling, gestures, taunts, excluding, tormenting, ridiculing or threatening, or refusing to work or cooperate with others because of such differences as gender, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity.

Suggested Measures

Codes of conduct, practice, and ethics are one of the most common mechanisms for raising standards of safety and behavior. Some might argue that the enforcement of such codes violates their individual rights and autonomy hence it is much needed to clarify that the objectives of the codes of conduct are aimed towards preventing violence against children in sport. An effective code of conduct can be identified if it can cater to the following objectives :

  • To articulate aspirational, shared, core values that reflect a global consensus throughout the sports industry in relation to the prevention of violence against children in sport
  • To provide a statement of ethical principles in relation to violence against children in a sport that enables individual stakeholders worldwide to recognize and resolve the ethical dilemmas of associated risk behaviors.
  • To assist local jurisdictions, such as national governing bodies of sport or clubs, to define and raise standards of conduct appropriate to their own cultural beliefs and customs in relation to risk behaviors associated with violence against children. But, if we follow the child rights enshrined in the Convention of Rights of a Child, and then move forward to formulate a structure of a code of conduct, we might find that the Convention somewhat enshrines the following structure :
  • A section describing clear aspirational standards based on consensus principles that include explicit guidance to help members make informed decisions in ethically ambiguous situations.
  • An enforceable or regulatory section that includes rules to help decision-making on specific required and prescribed behaviors. Such a code might focus both on deterring violence and empowering personnel to support this objective.

CASE SUMMARY RELATED TO VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN SPORTS

In Nabozny v. Barnhill (31 III.App.3d 212;334 N.E.2d 258;1975Ill.App.LEXIS 2772), the plaintiff Julian Claudio, a minor filed a suit to claim damage against David Barnhill who is the defendant in the case for causing physical injury to him by negligence during a soccer game. It is important to note that the trial court had given a verdict in the favour of the defendant, on the ground that there was contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff along with the defendant. Plaintiff appealed against the verdict of the trial court to the higher court. The court presided by Mr. Justice Adesko held the following.

The plaintiff contended that the trial court had made an error while giving the verdict as the plaintiff’s action as a player in the sport does not bar the establishment of a prima facie case of negligence. Defendant argued taking the support of the trial court’s ruling that the as the defendant is not the only one who bears the sole liability of the injury caused to the plaintiff as on the ground of law of Torts there was lack of duty on the plaintiff’s part and there was contributory negligence as a matter of law. The fact of the case is the following, a soccer match began between two teams who were amateur teams at “Duke Child’s Field” in Winnetka, Illinois. The plaintiff was playing in the match as a goalkeeper for the “Hansa” team. The players of both the team were of the age of a high school going, student. Roughly 20 minutes after play had begun a Winnetka player kicked the ball over the midfield line. Two players “Jim Gallos” a player of “Hansa” and the other player for “Winnetka” chased after the ball to get the possession. \”Gallos” got possession of the ball and as he was being pursued by his opponent he passed the ball to the goalkeeper(Plaintiff) after passing the ball “Gallos” then turned away to receive a pass from the goalkeeper(Plaintiff). The plaintiff then, went down on his left knee and collected the ball, and pulled it to his chest as testified by the witnesses meanwhile the defendant kept running in the direction in which “Gallos” had passed the ball and hit the plaintiff on his head on the left side which caused plaintiff grave injuries. The witnesses agreed that the defendant had time to avoid the injury caused to the plaintiff as the plaintiff at all times was within the “penalty area” an area between the 18-yard line and the goalpost. The plaintiff said that he had possession of the ball which was affirmed by the witness. Plaintiff also called three expert witnesses “Julius Roth”, coach of the “Hansa” team, affirmed that the game was being played under “F.I.F.A” rules. The experts said that according to the “ F.I.F.A” regulations it is prohibited to come in physical contact with the goalkeeper when he is in possession of the ball when in the penalty area and is against the rule even if it is unintentional. The only contact which is allowed is shoulder to shoulder. The three experts agreed that the contact that occurred should not have occurred. Also, goalkeeper head injuries are rare in soccer. Plaintiff has suffered permanent damage to the skull.

The court held that it is the legal duty to abide by the rules of the sport. A reckless disregard for the safety of the other player cannot be excused otherwise it will impose a risk of injury on the other participants.

The defendant contended to seek relief from tort as it happens in the course of the game, which the court rejected. As the court was of the opinion that a player is liable if his conduct is either deliberate, willful, or reckless ignoring the safety of the other player, these are the questions to be determined by a jury. When the defendant asserted that there was contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff, the court said that evidence shows the plaintiff was not negligent and is well within the rules of the game and was in the penalty area and collected the ball in a proper manner and has no reason to look out for danger hence it cannot be said that the plaintiff negligently exposed himself to risk.

The court concluded that the trial court had made an error in giving the verdict in favor of the defendant hence, the decision was reversed and ordered a fresh trial to “Circuit Court of Cook County”.

CONCLUSION

It is important to keep in mind that a lot of kids refrain from taking part in sports due to the fear of injuries and the same is in the case of parents who fear for the child’s safety. Violence in sports is a very sensitive field as the victims, in this case, are generally minors and hence they are more susceptible to injuries. In case of serious injuries, it might affect their life as a whole for, it may lead to disability, while disability in sports is slowly being accepted through the introduction of para-sports. As discussed in the above case the plaintiff had suffered permanent damage to his skull. Hence, the authors are of the opinion that players need to be trained and made aware of the consequence of negligence and more caution should be taken. Also, special tribunals need to be established to deal with matters like these as soon as possible so that both parent and child can save time and protect from being harassed. The measure suggested by the UNICEF (the objectives mentioned for an effective code of conduct) needs to be applied in a strict manner and the sports training centers need not only provide sports training but also provide training to the young athletes regarding their control over actions on the field, for any mistake on the part of the athlete, maybe jeopardize their life and other person’s life.

-Suvandna Kalra 

Shubham Arun

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