The Athletes Association published the Safe Mode pages so that athletes would have a low threshold to report any grievances they experienced.
High jumper Ella Junnila encounter reasonably often grievances in sports. Either he notices them himself or hears about them from other athletes.
– The alarm rings unfortunately often.
Sometimes grievances can be small for non-athletes. Competitions or camps may have been poorly organized. The venue may not have adequate dressing facilities or athletes will not be able to protect themselves from the weather.
For an athlete, these deficiencies can be fatal. If Junnila slips on a slippery high jump site, the season could be interrupted by injury. The risk of muscle damage increases if the athlete does not get access to the rain cover.
– A pole vault is life-threatening if it is done in dangerous conditions and the pole vault is wet, Junnila describes.
One in three female athletes has experienced sexual harassment
Other forms of harassment have also been reported in public when athletes have experienced harassment, bullying, or inappropriate treatment.
For example, served as head of the Olympic Committee’s Center of Excellence for Sports Mika Lehtimäki received a warning in the fall about inappropriate behavior. Lehtimäki resigned in March after the matter came to light from Sport’s news.
A study completed in 2020 revealed that one in three female athletes and one in five male athletes had experienced sexual harassment in competitive sports. At the time, 9,018 competitive athletes over the age of 16 from 48 sports federations responded to the survey.
Harassment and inappropriate behavior in sports organizations have been hot topics in the early part of the year. The Finnish Sports Ethics Center SUEK said on Friday that it would launch a study on the subject. The purpose is to report on the experiences and observations of employees in the sports community regarding inappropriate treatment.
This is not uncommon, Junnila says.
– It is unfortunate to hear about serious ethical crimes such as those handled by SUEK.
The new service lowers the threshold
Until now, athletes have had a high threshold to report grievances.
There you will find information about the athletes’ rights and a contact form through which athletes can report any grievances they have experienced and perceived.
– All athletes can contact us, including those who are not members of our membership. We hope that the opportunity to report grievances to the athletes ’own representatives will lower the threshold for bringing them up.
According to Junnila, in the past there has not always been the courage to report grievances, and the problems have remained in discussions between athletes.
– The world of sports is a hierarchical world. Those in the sports association decide who will be selected for the competition and who will get support, Junnila describes the threshold.
“Our life”
A similar service has been lacking in athletics in the past. The union has had people to call for grievances. Calling is harder than telling things anonymously.
The Safe Space site is part of a whole where the voice of athletes is heard even more. Junnila rejoices that they have a channel to take things forward in the federation. He hopes that in the future, athletes will also be able to cooperate with the competition organizers, for example.
– I hope that athletes will be more involved in decision-making. It is our life where decisions are made.
Ella Junnila’s training season has gone well. According to him, the training competition at the Portuguese training camp went well. The competition season is scheduled to open in June.