Gymnastics and Child Abuse: Female Gymnasts’ Experiences

Abstract

This study aimed to examine child abuse in sports from the perspective of elite female gymnasts. The participants included 10 retired elite female gymnasts who took part in national teams in different categories. Participants' sports experience is at least 8 and maximum 12 years and ranged in age from 28 to 36 years. The data collected through in-depth individual interviews with the participants were analyzed with the content analysis technique. In the study, the opinions of the participants on the types of abuse originating from “emotional”, “physical”, “sexual” and “neglect” defined by the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee, the umbrella association of sports, were received. In the light of the information obtained from the experiences and opinions of the participants, it was emphasized in the study that all types of abuse were mostly carried out by the coach with some behavioral patterns, and the lack of security in sports environments paved the way for abuse in sports. According to the research findings, it has been determined that elite child athlete exposed to emotional abuse due to behaviors such as verbal violence, pressure and negative language use; physical abuse due to excessive physical exertion and throwing objects; sexual abuse for reasons such as sexually explicit conversations and accommodation in unsafe area and negligence due to not fulfilling the health conditions and favoritism. As a result, all participants experienced intense emotional abuse and it was determined that this situation left permanent effects in adulthood.

Keywords

• Child abuse
• Child protection
• Elite sport
• Safe sport

Cimnastik ve Çocuk İstismarı: Kadın Cimnastikçilerin Deneyimleri

Öz

Bu araştırmada, sporda çocuk istismarının elit kadın cimnastikçiler perspektifinden incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmaya farklı kategorilerde milli takımlarda yer almış ve şu an sporu bırakmış 10 kadın katılmıştır. Katılımcıların sporculuk deneyimi en az 8 en fazla 12 yıl olup, yaşları 28 ile 36 arasında değişmektedir. Katılımcılarla yapılan derinlemesine bireysel görüşmeler yoluyla toplanan veriler, içerik analizi tekniği ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada katılımcılardan Dünya Sağlık Örgütü ve sporun çatı birliği Uluslararası Olimpiyat Komitesi tarafından tanımlanan “duygusal”, “fiziksel”, “cinsel” ve “ihmal” den kaynaklı istismar çeşitlerine yönelik görüşler alınmıştır. Katılımcı deneyim ve görüşlerinden elde edilen bilgiler ışığında araştırmada tüm istismar çeşitlerinin bazı davranış biçimleriyle daha çok antrenör tarafından gerçekleştiği, spor çevrelerinde güvenliğin sağlanmamasının sporda istismara zemin hazırlandığı vurgulanmıştır. Araştırma bulgularına göre elit çocuk sporcuların; sözel şiddet, baskı ve olumsuz dil kullanımı gibi davranışlardan dolayı duygusal istismara; aşırı fiziksel zorlama ve cisim fırlatma gibi davranışlardan dolayı fiziksel istismara; cinsel içerikli konuşmalar ve güvensiz bölgelerde konaklama gibi sebeplerden dolayı cinsel istismara; sağlık koşullarının yerine getirilmemesi ve kayırmacı davranışların yer alması sebebiyle ihmalden kaynaklı istismara maruz kaldıkları tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak tüm katılımcıların yoğun olarak duygusal istismarı tecrübe ettikleri ve bu durumun yetişkinlik döneminde kalıcı etkiler bıraktığı belirlenmiştir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çocuk istismarı
• Çocuk koruma
• Elit spor
• Güvenli spor

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