TOKYO (JAPAN) – A Human Rights Watch report has revealed shocking details of abuse suffered by child athletes in Japan. After documenting the experiences of over 800 athletes in 50 sports, the report states they often undergo, physical and verbal abuse and sometimes even sexual molestation.
Running into 67 pages, the report, which was released on Monday, titled “I Was Hit So Many Times I Can’t Count” examines the country’s history of physical punishment in sport.
The report was published in the week that would have witnessed the beginning of the Tokyo Olympics if it was not postponed following the pandemic spread.
“The specific abuses we documented include punching, slapping, kicking or striking with objects (and) excessive or insufficient food and water,” Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said.
After an internal survey revealed that more than 10% of its athletes had undergone bullying or harassment, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) announced in 2013 that it would take steps to eliminate violence among its sports federations.
After finding that coaches physically abused female students, it slashed funding to judo federation.
HRW said not enough had been done since then to curb the abuse and it urged the Japan Sports Council and the JOC to use the upcoming games as a catalyst for change.
“Human Rights Watch is calling on Japan to take decisive action and to lead in tackling this global crisis,” Worden said.
The report was prepared based on interviews with more than 50 current and former athletes, an online survey that involving 757 responses and meetings with eight Japanese sports organisations.
Of the 381 respondents aged 24 or younger, 19% indicated they had been hit, punched, slapped, kicked, pushed to the ground or beaten with an object.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field