Featured Report

Forum on Policy Formulation on Prevention of Sexual Harassment in Sports Organisations

 

There have been waves of anti-sexual harassment campaigns across the world since the #MeToo movement in 2017.  Sexual harassment issues are now given long overdue attention they deserve.  Contrary to the tradition of being the elephant in the room, the issues remind the society of the need to seriously examine its way of handling.  As a matter of fact, there are always acts of sexual harassment in every corner of the society.  The sports world is no exception, where there were also occasional reports on sexual harassment scandals in the past.  The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) held a forum on how national sports associations (NSAs) may formulate policies against sexual harassment, where a number of experts from across different fields were invited to share experience in formulating policies against sexual harassment, including: Hon. Deputy Secretary General of Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Ms. Fay HO; Chief Executive of Hong Kong Sports Institute, Dr. Trisha Leahy; Chairman of The Hong Kong Institute of Directors, Dr. Christopher TO; Athlete Coach Mr. Henry TANG and Athlete Ms. Vera LUI.  The LCSD hopes, through the conduct of the forum, the NSAs will be encouraged to formulate well-defined and effective policies against sexual harassment, guidelines and codes of conduct, with the aims of identifying, preventing and handling acts of sexual harassment in a more efficient manner.  Only through such efforts can athletes participate in sports activities in a safe and mutually respectful environment, which is free from sexual harassment.

 

As in the past, the LCSD is committed to assisting the NSAs in enhancing their corporate governance.  As far as the sexual harassment issues regarding athletes are concerned, policy formulation against sexual harassment is indeed indispensable to good corporate governance.  At the forum, Dr. Christopher TO expressed: “To address sexual harassment, we must establish sound corporate culture, and the job must start from the board of directors, with a view to minimising the risk of sexual harassment in a more effective manner from the perspective of corporate governance.” Ms. Fay HO added: “In the sports world, sexual harassment may be due to the hierarchical structure of an organisation, involving such parties as the management, coaches, and athletes. Such an issue may also be attributed to the disparity in power or the unbalanced distribution of power among them (such as athletes of different ages or capabilities).”

 

In this connection, seminar participants all agreed that the NSAs must put a robust safeguarding system in place, with the hope of effectively stamping out and handling sexual harassment issues by getting at the root causes of the problem.  Specifically, the NSAs may first start by devising a comprehensive code of conduct to clearly set out and explain the norms of conduct and common standards, in a bid to effectively support the management and other members in putting an end to inappropriate acts of sexual harassment.  Second, in recruiting coaches and staff, the NSAs should conduct detailed screening of candidates, while seriously investigating their background and character.  Third, the NSAs should organise regular education and training events for all employees and volunteers, with a view to significantly raising their awareness of sexual harassment.  Through such efforts, the NSAs can ensure that their current staff and new recruits, volunteers and athletes all have a good understanding of the policies against sexual harassment, relevant rules, as well as codes of conduct for observance. Dr. Trisha Leahy proposed: “The NSAs should work with experts in relevant fields, who will help them formulate and implement their policies; review them on a regular basis; and provide training and education opportunities about sexual harassment prevention for their staff and adult athletes."

 

While establishing preventive culture can help reduce the risk of sexual harassment, the NSAs must be well-prepared at all times to protect the rights and interests of complainants in a proper manner, while eradicating all those administrative loopholes that may compromise the confidentiality of complaint cases and the interests of complainants.  Ms. Vera LUI said: “I hope NSAs can set up a special internal committee and recruit well-trained staff and external experts through a rigorous selection process to provide assistance in dealing with the issues.  I also look forward to seeing that this committee, on another front, can actively educate and communicate with athletes, making them have a better understanding of the communication channels with the committee and the related procedures.”  Experts stressed the need to adhere to two key principles when handling sexual harassment complaints, namely, the principles of confidentiality and fairness.  Meanwhile, it is also necessary to ensure that there is a transparent and open mechanism, and efforts should not be spared to avoid conflicts of interests.  Anonymous complaints received should be handled without delay.  Necessary measures must be taken to protect the rights and interests of complainants and witnesses to prevent inflicting further pain and injuries on complainants.

 

Nowadays, countries and regions across the world are, without exception, taking proactive action to reduce the risk of sexual harassment.  Hong Kong’s NSAs are also working hard to eliminate the prejudices against sexual harassment among members of the public, while undertaking to implement more effective policies for protection of Hong Kong athletes.  Establishing deep-rooted culture against sexual harassment will explicitly express to all parties that there is zero tolerance of sexual harassment in the sports world.  On another front, a robust safeguarding mechanism should be put in place to encourage more active participation in sports by members of the public, thereby ensuring the steady development of sports in Hong Kong.