The IFF is investigating the prevention policies on sexual harassment and abuse in national floorball associations. The information on the existing policies is collected through surveys and interviews.
According to several studies, sexual harassment and sexual abuse are present in every sport. Studies also show that organisations have challenges to establish policies and strategies to prevent these issues due to lack of resources and knowledge. The IFF Information Coordinator Mari Myllärinen is studying the issue in international floorball for her master thesis. The aim is to collect information from the national floorball associations on their prevention policies and strategies and on the factors that facilitate this process.
The first phase of the study being an online survey, has been completed by nine countries: Australia, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine. The interviews will follow during the beginning of year 2021 and the results together with the full thesis are made available during summer 2021.
– Several studies have showed that harassment and abuse are present in sport, regardless of the sport discipline. The purpose of this study is to gather information on the current status of prevention in international floorball and the factors that either facilitate the process or hinder it. The idea is also to make recommendations on how stakeholders in sport could better protect athletes from inappropriate behaviour and abuse. I want to thank the associations that have so far completed the survey and by doing this, showed their interest in this topic, says Mari Myllärinen.
The results from the study will be utilised for updating the current IFF Sexual Harassment & Abuse Guidelines. The main results and the study will also be available on the IFF website.
– It is very important that the whole floorball community is observant to any kind of abuse within the sport and that we all have means available to react to it if it appears. This study conducted by Ms. Myllärinen is greatly helping and we look forward to edit our policies based on the results, the IFF Secretary General John Liljelund comments.
The current IFF SHA Guidelines and a Policy Statement can be found here.
