Sport in Canada: The Continuing Journey to Safe Sport for Female Athletes

April 23, 2024

By: Tucker Seabrook (Case Manager), Alexandra Marshall (Caseworker) and Jonah Wilson (Caseworker)

The Sport Solution Blog is written by law students and is intended to provide information and the team’s perspectives on current issues. However, the Blog is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion. Athletes in need of assistance should contact the clinic directly at [email protected].

Safe Sport in Canada

The Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) is the core set of rules adopted by all sport organizations in Canada that receive funding from the federal government. Published by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC), these rules aim to ensure that maltreatment will not threaten the health and safety of participants in Canadian sport by advancing a culture that delivers quality, inclusive, accessible, welcoming and safe sport experiences. The UCCMS addresses a number of issues related to safe sport in Canada including:

Common principles and a commitment to advance a respectful sport culture;
Standard definitions of various forms of maltreatment, such as the grooming, neglect, and physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of individuals;
Prohibited behaviors such as retaliation, failure to report maltreatment, intentionally submitting false allegations, etc.; and
Framework for determining appropriate sanctions for parties who perform prohibited behaviours.¹

The SDRCCs safe sport framework also includes Abuse-Free Sport, whose primary goal is to prevent abuse in sport. Abuse-Free Sport provides access to a range of bilingual resources to everybody, regardless of the sport, level, or role of an individual. These resources include a helpline, education programs, and mental health services.

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) operates as an independent division of the SDRCC, to administer the UCCMS in fair and equitable manners through Abuse-Free Sport.² Created by the Physical Activity and Sports Act in 2003³ and mandated by the Government of Canada on July 6, 2021,⁴ the OSIC advances the UCCMS by:

Overseeing the complaint intake process;
Conducting preliminary assessments and commissioning independent investigations;
Maintaining a database of imposed sanctions; and
Monitoring compliance by sporting organizations.

OSIC and the SDRCC have not yet published a new version of the UCCMS after version 6.0, which was only effective up until Nov. 30, 2022. Additionally, due to OSIC being federally mandated, it only serves national-level athletes, through their National Sport Organizations (NSOs). Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs) have no requirement to adopt the UCCMS and the SDRCC’s Abuse-Free Sport framework.⁵

Safe Sport and Female Athletes

At all levels of sport, there is a clear need for safe sport protocol for female-presenting athletes. Recently, in what is surely a step forward for safe sport and a win for athletes across the country, Canadian gymnastic coach Elvira Saadi was permanently banned from working with athletes.⁶ This remedy was requested by the complainants. Female athletes know how to increase safety in their sports: just ask them.

At the highest level, elite athletes appeared in front of the House of Commons on April 24, 2023 to demand the government take action.⁷ The athletes included Olympians from Canadian boxing, soccer and fencing, who asked for a public inquiry into Canadian sport culture. Myriam Da Silva Rondeau, an Olympic boxer, cites legal costs, therapy bills and financial stresses as a huge issue athletes face when they suffer maltreatment in sport. There is no debate: more support is needed for athletes.

Implementing safe sport protocols that protect female athletes is as easy as asking them what they need. From minor changes like conscientious scheduling so female athletes are not sharing training areas with male athletes or being left alone with coaches, to larger scale policies such as anti-retribution safeguards and funding for complainant support – there is so much more that could be done.

Equity, Not Erasure

There is no question that abuse in sport can – and does – happen to athletes of any gender, not just women. That being said, the majority of maltreatment is being reported by women.⁸ Interestingly, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner’s Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) makes no mention of the vulnerability of female athletes, or gender at all, except in the excerpt below:

All Participants recognize that Maltreatment can occur regardless of race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, and other characteristics. Moreover, it is recognized that those from marginalized groups have increased vulnerability to experiences of Maltreatment.⁹

There needs to be recognition that female athletes are having a different experience than their male counterparts. Equity does not mean treating all groups the same, it means ensuring that different groups are being treated as they need to be in order to have the same safe experience. Female athletes will have different safety concerns and different experiences than males in the same sport. It is a failing of the UCCMS to not comment further on this.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Ensuring the safe sport needs of female athletes are included as part of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission is a vital step in achieving equity in sport. The commission should start by asking athletes what they need to feel safe and building policies around female athletes’ informed and lived experiences. This would be a powerful step forward on the road to ensuring a safe sport environment for female athletes across the county.

Citations

Abuse-Free Sport Office of the Sport Integrity Commission, “UCCMS” (2022), online: <https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/uccms>.
Abuse-Free Sport (2022), online: <https://abuse-free-sport.ca/>.
Physical Activity and Sport Act, SC 2003, c 2.
Government of Canada, “Minister Guilbeault Announces New Independent Safe Sport Mechanism” (6 July 2021), online: Government of Canada <https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2021/07/minister-guilbeault-announces-new-independent-safe-sport-mechanism.html>.
Abuse-Free Sport Office of the Sport Integrity Commission, “Program Signatories” (2022), online: <https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/signatories>.
Rick Westhead, “Veteran Canadian gymnastics coach handed lifetime ban from working with athletes” (20 November 2023), online: TSN <https://www.tsn.ca/olympics/veteran-canadian-gymnastics-coach-handed-lifetime-ban-from-working-with-athletes-1.2038313?fbclid=IwAR138doxX6wJoETb0D7d12bxhMWMi_1j0nGkgMwehE9TGxtDPNh5pH5sOgY>.
John Paul Tasker, “Elite athletes demand public inquiry into abuse in sports” (last updated 25 April 2023), online: CBC <https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/public-inquiry-sport-abuse-1.6820649>.
Laura Misener & Angela Schneider, “Expert insight: Abuse in Canadian sports highlights gender and racial inequities” (15 February 2023), online: Western News <https://news.westernu.ca/2023/02/expert-insight-abuse-in-canadian-sports-highlights-gender-and-racial-inequities/>.
Abuse-Free Sport Office of the Sport Integrity Commission, “Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport” (2022) at 1, online (pdf): <https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/files/UCCMS-v6.0-20220531.pdf>.