– No, I would say we have not received any information about that. It has never really been talked about or brought up at all, says Røa player Julie Klæboe to news. On Monday, news wrote about how every sixth player in the Toppserien has experienced inappropriate behavior from a coach or support staff. The news survey also reveals that 85 per cent, almost nine out of ten players do not know, or are unsure, how to notify if it actually happens. Just over half of the top league players have taken part in the survey. Røa players Julie Klæboe and Marie Aspenes believe that the problem of sexual harassment in football must be highlighted. At the same time, they are honest that they themselves know too little about the topic. – It should be on the same lines as informing about offside. You should know where to notify in such cases, says Aspenes. The question the players were asked about reporting in the survey was: “Do you know where and how you can report inappropriate behavior in football?” “Unknown” notification channel Both the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) and the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) have notification routines for sexual harassment. In the NFF’s own reporting channel, you can report both openly and anonymously, but it seems to be little known. Katarina Dybvik Sunde in Åsane is one of many who do not know where to report. – No, I actually don’t know. What I have experienced myself is that we talk within the team. Sometimes we have told some of the team leaders. But then we have felt that it has never been taken seriously. I think there are a lot of people who feel, too, that you are not always taken seriously, says Sunde. Katarina Dybvik Sunde, Åsane Photo: BILDBYRÅN NORWAY Demanding to notify news’s survey shows that of those who have experienced some form of harassment, very few have notified the club or team management. – You can feel very small if you do that, says Sunde. – At the same time, you can also get the feeling that it’s your own fault because you didn’t do anything earlier, or didn’t speak up clearly enough or things like that. Nina Sølvberg at the Norwegian College of Sport conducts research on sexual harassment in sport. Photo: Roy Kenneth Sydness Jacobsen / news This rhymes with the findings of researcher Nina Sølvberg at the Norwegian College of Sports. – Many people feel a lot of shame, a sense of guilt. It can be embarrassing to notify, says Sølvberg. She is writing her PhD on sexual harassment at sports gymnasiums and upper secondary schools. – And specifically in a sporting context, many refuse to accept the possible consequences it may have. What happens to my sports career next? What happens to the trainer? Will it have any consequences for my team? Will it generate any media coverage? Facts about the news survey In the survey, the terms were defined as follows: Inappropriate behaviour: everything from gray areas to sexual harassment and abuse. Gray areas: inappropriate behavior and communication of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment: unwanted sexual attention. Assault: being forced into sexual acts against your will. One of the questions: As a football player, have you experienced inappropriate behavior from one or more people in a football context? Yes: 17.3 percent. Not sure: 8.5 percent. No: 76.1 percent. Many footballers recognize themselves in the description. – In a way, you don’t want to put yourself in that victim role. There are a lot of people who are afraid of the consequences that could come with reporting something like that. In many cases, it will affect the player himself as well, and not just the person who has come forward with the harassment, says Røa player Marie Aspenes. In the news survey, a player describes his experience as follows: “After repetitive behavior over several years, I reported it to the manager in question. At first I felt very uncomfortable when I felt I wasn’t believed – I have received apologies for this afterwards. Had more “proof” that the current person’s behavior was unacceptable. Had I not found these, as it turned out, the case could have ended very unpleasantly for me.” Missing women With few exceptions, all the coaching teams in the top league clubs are made up of men. More women in the support system would make it easier to report sexual harassment, believes Marie Aspenes. – I probably think that especially for younger people it would be easier to report. And then it also has something to say that it is a person of the same sex. You may perceive situations differently based on that, says Aspenes. Researcher Sølvberg agrees. – It may be that the dynamic between female players and the surrounding apparatus would have been different if we had had more women in the support apparatus. – Disappointingly, the NFF itself thinks that there are disappointingly few people who know where to notify. news presented the figures to Henrik Lunde, who is section leader for clubs and activities. This is the department responsible for information on sexual harassment and abuse. – So it is clear, the football association’s notification channel, there we must work continuously to get it up. And then the clubs must also have their own routines that are made known to the player group, says Lunde. Henrik Lunde, Norwegian Football Association Photo: Torbjørn Brovold / news – How do you inform? – That is the challenge. We can post things on our websites, social media, send to the club. But the challenge is to reach all the way down to those who really need it. And it’s an eternal job for which we only have to use normal channels, says Lunde. – It has improved, but we know, as your survey also shows, that there are far too many people who do not know that there is a place they can speak up. So we certainly have a big job to continue, concludes Lunde.
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– Many feel ashamed – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
