West Indies Cricket (WIC) in collaboration with UNICEF must be applauded for their effort in sensitizing young female cricketers, coaches, managers and officials about the importance identifying the signs of different types of abuse that occur in cricket and the measures to be taken to address them. At the recently concluded West Indies/T&TWCA Regional 19 and under girl's tournament in T&T, the five regional teams and officials were exposed to an informative session presented by the gender unit of the Office of the Prime Minister, T&T.
Using an interactive approach steeped in the culture of the region; the presenters were able to command the attention and participation of the players. Abuse in sport can take many forms such as:
*Physical
*Emotional/Psychological
*Neglect
*Sexual
Physical abuse is when someone intentionally seeks to cause harm or injury to another person. In the case of cricket, it can involve players, opponents, coaches or anyone else involved in the game. Physical abuse may take the form of coaches forcing players to do push-ups or other forms of intense physical training while being aware that the players are injured or suffer from medical ailments such as asthma. Physical abuse can also take place among players such as when senior players push junior players to the extreme to prove they are worthy of being in the team.
Emotional abuse involves non-physical action that seeks to undermine and belittle the self-esteem of another person or group of persons. It involves constant verbal abuse and the potential of possible threat to another person's self-esteem. In cricket as in other sport, emotional abuse can take the form of making fun of the size of players, their religion, name, ethnicity, where they reside as well as coaches criticizing players beyond what is considered acceptable such as referring to players intelligence.
Neglect takes the form of ignoring the fundamental rights of players in seeking to achieve success. Focusing solely on winning with common mantras such as 'no pain no gain' may only result in some player's personal health being compromised at the expense of the team quest for victory. As such players may suffer from burnout and eventually lose the zeal to play.
Sexual abuse according to the UN 2017, is “actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.” In essence, one's body belongs to them and therefore, they reserve to right to say no to anyone who is treating them inappropriately. Therefore, if the touch or hug feels inappropriate, then the player/s has the right to NO. Additionally, players, coaches and other officials not expected to share photos and comments that are of an inappropriate nature especially when dealing with minors. Adults have a duty to ensure that they protect the rights of minors in their teams and clubs at all time whether they are girls or boys.
The presenters advised the young girls to say NO loud and clear to any form of sexual abuse whether it takes the form of fun, sexting, and other means especially if it made them uncomfortable.
The recourse the players were advised to take are:
*Advise parents whenever, coaches/officials step out of line with their actions- verbal and or physical
*Tell friends about it so that they can be supportive in reporting the matter
*Inform teachers and others in authority such as the police or the Children's Authority agencies in their respective countries
*Speak out at all times
As more girls and boys are encouraged to get involved in sport especially at the competitive level, it is critical that everything is done to create a hospitable and enabling environment that will be devoid of all the possible types of abuses.
"I don't feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning." Michel Foucault