Interpersonal violence against young European athletes: Prevalence and severity of the situation in French-speaking Switzerland

Introduction. - Current data on sport -related interpersonal violence do not always reflect the severity of the acts reported. Objective. - The aim of this study was to provide an accurate picture of experiences of interpersonal violence (IV) among French-speaking Swiss athletes and to identify potential risk factors such as gender, type of sport and performance level. Method. - In total, 287 respondents who had participated in organized sport before the age of 18 completed a French version of the Interpersonal Violence in Sport questionnaire. Results. - Results revealed that 87.5% of respondents reported psychological violence (15% serious psychological violence such as being often criticized about one's appearance), 37.7% physical violence (26% serious violence such as being hit at least once) and 32.8% sexual violence (7% serious violence such as being kissed against one's will). Perpetrators of psychological and sexual violence were mainly teammates (65%). In addition, female athletes appeared to be more likely to experience psychological and sexual violence, while male athletes were more likely to experience physical violence. Finally, team sport seemed to increase the risk of psychological and physical violence. Conclusion. - With a view to the strict regulation of Swiss sport and the protection of participants, discussions on sport -related violence and how to prevent it should be generalized so that all actors become aware of the extent of this problem. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).