SINGAPORE: A commission will be formed to develop guidelines and establish a reporting process for sexual misconduct in the local sporting fraternity, announced Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu on Wednesday (Oct 31).
Speaking at a conference for coaches at Republic Polytechnic, Ms Fu said that there was a need for a “safe space” for individuals to voice concerns without “fear or discrimination”.
“All of us have to be vigilant and pay attention to what is happening around us in training and during competitions,” said Ms Fu.
“If we see or sense something amiss, we need to raise this with the appropriate authorities. Everyone in the fraternity has a responsibility in ensuring a safe environment in sports.”
Governing body Sport Singapore (SportSG) will partner the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to form the commission next year.
The announcement follows the Inaugural Safe Sport Forum held in May this year, which saw 59 National Sports Associations (NSAs) pledge a “zero tolerance” stance towards sexual misconduct in sport.
File picture of Singapore national hurdler Kerstin Ong (Photo: XYZ Photos)
Allegations of misconduct have been levelled against several coaches in recent times.
National hurdler Kerstin Ong lodging an official complaint with SportSG earlier this year, saying a former coach’s verbal and physical behaviour left her feeling “uncomfortable”. The coach was subsequently sacked by Singapore Athletics.
In March this year, a former rope-skipping coach was convicted of committing sexual offences against a student who was between 13 and 14 years old at the time. The coach was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
Later that month, a 28-year-old football coach who sexually assaulted seven boys aged eight to 11 was sentenced to 26 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
The problem of misconduct in the sporting arena is a “global crisis”, said Mr Troy Engle, the director of CoachSG, a coaching arm of SportSG.
“The single biggest problem facing sport in the world today is the issue of safety and protection of participants,” he said.
“You can’t pick up the newspaper or turn on the television in any nation in the world without attention to the challenges in securing the well-being of participants. First, we have to recognise that this is a global crisis.
“We know that we have problems here, just like there are problems everywhere in the world but I think the difference is that we are trying to take proactive steps to create a national system to get in front of it.”
As there is no standard system for reporting sexual misconduct across NSAs, Mr Engle said there is a need to have measures in place to address the issue.
“We’ve decided that it’s time for us to have an open and frank conversation about how we can guarantee participants and the families of participants that sport is a safe environment,” he said.
“Truthfully in sport, there wasn’t any universal SOP (standard operating procedure) that’s why we’ve recognised that we need to get in front of that. We have in conversations with National Sports Associations realised that they feel relatively under prepared.”
A collaborative effort with the SPF, MSF and MOE will be key in the effort to combat sexual misconduct, added Mr Engle.
“The NSAs have said they need some help in this. We’re really happy about involving some of the other inter-government agencies in this process,” he said.
“We are trying to work with experts in the field, we’ve talked to the global leaders in this movement about what they do and we’re trying to import a reasonable local system that will work within our Singapore context and it’s really been embraced by all our participants.”
