PWRC SAFESPORT POLICY
Beginning January 1, 2015, all USRowing member organizations were required to have their own athlete safety program. BY CREATING THE POLICY BELOW, PWRC HAS JOINED USROWING IN THE SAFESPORT CAMPAIGN.
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PURPOSE
There are many reasons to participate in sport at any level, including rowing. As a life‐long activity, people often play sport to have fun, spend time with friends, and stay fit. Sport encourages a healthy lifestyle and builds self‐confidence; athletes often do better off the field. They learn goal setting, teamwork, and time management skills. Unfortunately, sport can also be a risk environment for misconduct. At PWRC, we are committed to creating a safe and positive training environment for all participants. This document discusses the requirements for implementing the SafeSport policy. These requirements are in addition to those delineated for coaches (in coaching contracts) and for all PWRC members (PWRC Code of Conduct). In conjunction with the US Olympic Committee’s “SafeSport” policies, USRowing has identified six primary types of misconduct:
DEFINITIONS Misconduct ‐ Conduct which results in harm, the potential for harm or the imminent threat of harm. Age is irrelevant to misconduct. There are six primary types of misconduct in sport: emotional, physical and sexual misconduct, bullying, harassment and hazing. Bullying ‐ Bullying is an intentional, persistent and repeated pattern of committing or willfully tolerating physical and non‐physical behavior that is intended, or has the reasonable potential, to cause fear, humiliation or physical harm in an attempt to socially exclude, diminish or isolate the targeted athlete(s) as a condition of membership. It includes any act or conduct described as bullying under federal or state law. Harassment ‐ Harassment is a repeated pattern of physical and/or non‐physical behavior intended to cause fear, humiliation or annoyance, offend or degrade, create a hostile environment; or reflect discriminatory bias in an attempt to establish dominance, superiority or power over an individual athlete or group based on gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression or mental or physical disability. It includes any act or conduct described as harassment under federal or state law. Hazing ‐ Hazing involves coercing, requiring, forcing or willfully tolerating any humiliating, unwelcome or dangerous activity that serves as a condition for joining a group or being socially accepted by a group’s members. It includes any act or conduct described as hazing under federal or state law. Activities that fit the definition of hazing are considered to be hazing regardless of an athlete’s willingness to cooperate or participate. Emotional Misconduct ‐ Emotional misconduct involves a pattern of deliberate, non‐contact behavior that has the potential to cause emotional or psychological harm to an athlete. Non contact behavior includes verbal and physical acts, as well as actions that deny attention or support. It also includes any act or conduct (e.g., child abuse and child neglect) described as emotional abuse or misconduct under federal or state law. Physical Misconduct ‐ Physical misconduct involves contact or non‐contact behavior that can cause physical harm to an athlete or other sport participants. It also includes any act or conduct described as physical abuse or misconduct under federal or state law (e.g., child abuse, child neglect and assault). Sexual Misconduct, including Child Sexual Abuse ‐ Sexual misconduct involves any touching or non-touching sexual interaction that is non consensual or forced, coerced or manipulated, or perpetrated in an aggressive, harassing, exploitative or threatening manner. It also includes any sexual interaction between an athlete and an individual with evaluative, direct or indirect authority. Last, any act or conduct described as sexual abuse or misconduct under federal or state law (e.g., sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, rape) qualifies as sexual misconduct. Please reference the SafeSport website for further explanation of the above forms of misconduct and specific examples. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
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