At the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell tournament village, the Barcelona Institute of Sports (IBE) has presented the Protocol for preventing, detecting, and acting against sexual violence in sporting activities for adults.

This initiative is part of the 2021-2023 Action Plan from the IBE’s Office of Gender Equity, which aims to establish guidelines for preventing and detecting possible situations of sexual violence that may occur in the framework of sports activities in the city of Barcelona, as well as the actions to take when these are identified.

The objectives of the protocol are to make it easier for professionals who work in the world of sport to take the preventative measures and actions necessary to ensure that sports activities are held without violence of any kind, and thus succeed in having sports entities that are safe places for all participants.

The protocol complements the ones that were already launched in 2019 for children and teens, and it aims to include people of all ages. This tool will also be accompanied by annual training sessions organised by the IBE’s Department for the Promotion of Sport and geared towards sport entities.

Sexual violence in the world of sport continues to be a taboo topic that people avoid talking about. The first step in combating these situations is to recognise them and understand that they exist. That’s why we must talk openly about this issue and realise that there’s a need to establish protocols and procedures within entities.

The protocol, then, is just another tool that the IBE’s Office for Gender Equity provides sporting entities to foster equality in sport and make them places that are safe and free from violence in all its forms.