German Swimming Association commissions committee to deal with sexualised violence

Dhe German Swimming Association (DSV) has commissioned an independent committee to deal with cases of sexualised violence and is thus responding to criticism of how the subject has been dealt with to date. The team, which is made up of experts, will initially collect findings for a year and then report back. The resulting costs will be guaranteed from the association’s budget.

This was announced by the DSV. “We always emphasize how important the safety and well-being of all members is to us,” said DSV Vice President Wolfgang Rupieper: “That’s why we’re glad that we can now start the process of processing the allegations of sexualized violence mentioned in the ARD documentation .”

allegation of abuse

Among other things, the former water jumper Jan Hempel had reported in the documentary about years of sexual abuse by a trainer and accused the DSV of knowing about it but not having acted. “As an association, we want to deal transparently with mistakes in the past and do everything we can to prevent more such incidents,” said Rupieper. In addition, the DSV wants to do justice to its responsibility towards those affected with this approach.

The committee includes the sports sociologist Bettina Rulofs and the lawyer Martin Nolte, head of the Institute for Sports Law at the German Sports University in Cologne. Rulofs has already published important studies on sexual and interpersonal violence in professional and popular sports and is considered a leading expert in the field in Germany. You are entering “new territory with the processing team for organized sport” and are “aware of the special responsibility,” she said.