Part 8: Safe Sport and Equity-Seeking Groups

The experience of safe and unsafe sport is not uniform. Athletes have diverse needs and vulnerabilities that shape their exposure to harm. Part 8, a new section added to the Second Edition, critically examines how factors such as race, gender identity, sexuality, disability, and socioeconomic status intersect with safe sport concerns.

Part 8 challenges dominant narratives that frame safe sport as a universal experience, instead emphasizing the need for targeted interventions and policies that recognize and address disparities in access, protection, and accountability.

In Chapter 20, Jeff Tiessen, a Paralympian, and Maureen Connolly, PhD, Professor of Kinesiology at Brock University, discuss parasport athletes’ experiences and how the concept of safe sport can unintentionally reflect ableism. They address the challenges faced in implementing safe sport policies for parasport athletes, particularly in an environment where unconscious bias negatively affects the effectiveness of these policies.