The Quebec government has been aware of the existence of violent beginnings in sports since 2018, based on a report by the National Institute for Public Health (INSPQ), which is working to better document the problem.
• Also read: New allegations of sexual misconduct have been reported to the QMJHL
• Also read: QMJHL: Gilles Courteau resigns, Mario Cecchini will replace him
“There was already a whole chapter of the report [sur la violence envers les athlètes en contexte sportif] dedicated to violence in a sporting context, “recalled the President and Director General of the INSPQ, Pierre-Gerlier Forest, of the passage before the Parliamentary Commission on Degrading Initiations in Hockey, which continued on Wednesday.
This report, published in April 2018, already indicated that the vast majority of violence experienced by athletes is experienced between peers, particularly during initiation sessions, as pointed out by a scientific advisor to the Institute, Dominique Gagné.
Two years later, since the publication of this report, the government has set up the independent complaints body, which allows athletes to report the abuse they have suffered without contacting their own federation.
Nonetheless, INSPQ regrets the lack of data available to scientists to assess the impact of such measures. “We are powerless if we don’t have access to data,” launched Pierre-Gerlier Forest. Interventions (…) are not conceivable if we cannot document what is happening.
The INSPQ therefore recommends continuing the study on violence in sport by the Institut de la statistique du Québec and creating a centralized register of complaints “with standardized and transparent data”.
The CHL showed little interest in a report
The authors of a report commissioned by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) on harassment and bullying in junior hockey said the organization showed little interest when presenting their conclusions.
The report, which has been shelved for 14 months, found a “systemic culture of abuse” and a “culture of silence” that prevented players from filing complaints.
“We weren’t asked any questions,” said Camille Thériault, former New Brunswick Premier, who was on the committee along with ex-hockey player Sheldon Kennedy and ex-coach Danièle Sauvageau.
Ms Sauvageau also confirmed that under its mandate, the committee does not have the authority to ask questions about sexual assault.
When asked about the relevance of introducing a “locker room code” as the QMJHL plans to do next season, Ms. Sauvageau argued that more than a locker room code, a “locker room code” needed to be introduced. “A locker room code means he stays in the locker room,” she explained.
QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau, who was called to testify before parliamentarians last February, had made a controversial testimony in which he falsely claimed that his class action lawsuit had not reported a case involving degrading initiations in junior hockey were claimed league.
In the weeks that followed, political pressure was so intense that Mr Courteau eventually resigned. His successor said in the parliamentary committee on Tuesday that an independent inquiry had been launched into allegations of a sexual nature that occurred in the QMJHL in the 1990s.
Very different initiations for boys and girls
Danièle Sauvageau’s testimony before the parliamentary commission made it possible to measure the gap separating the rites of passage in male and female sports teams. As we’ve been talking about the humiliating initiations of young ice hockey players, such as For example, having to walk with biscuits in their buttocks seems more appropriate to young girls’ activities. Ms Sauvageau mentioned “situations where people are asked to sing, dress up, sketch” and stressed that such activities allow “the DNA of the programs to be developed through rites of passage”.
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