Athletes for Equity in Sport remains dedicated to our mission of reviewing and reforming the operational procedures of the U.S. Center for SafeSport in order to improve safety and equity for all participants. Do you have any questions about our nonprofit?
I feel it is important to have an organization like SafeSport to protect victims of abuse in the sports. How does SafeSport work and can their platform be unfair?
We agree! Abuse in sport is unacceptable and establishing protocols to protect minors and advocating for safety in sport is essential. To take a step in the right direction the U.S. Center for SafeSport opened its doors in Denver, Colorado, in March 2017, and became a federally authorized organization under the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 (which became Public Law No: 115-126 on February 14, 2018).
However, SafeSport is a new organization with broad authority and we believe it is important for Congress to conduct oversight to ensure SafeSport is effectively achieving its mission and treating all those under its jurisdiction fairly and equitably. If stakeholders subject to SafeSport jurisdiction don’t have confidence in SafeSport to fairly and competently fulfill its mission, that undermines the ability of SafeSport to achieve the objectives Congress intended which is to improve safety for athletes.
We are confident that SafeSport can operate in manner that protects athletes and treats all of those who are participants in the SafeSport resolution process fairly. AES is committed to working with both SafeSport and Congress to achieve that goal.
The changes Athletes For Equity In Sport seek are to ensure a better process for both the person making a charge and the person being named in a charge. We want SafeSport to implement more appropriate safeguards and establish impartial procedures in their investigations that will enable SafeSport to achieve the objectives Congress intended.
What sports are represented by Athletes for Equity in Sport?
Athletes for Equity in Sport currently consists of U.S. Olympic and Paralympian female and male athletes, trainers, managers and enthusiasts from the sports of cycling, figure skating, fencing, wrestling, gymnastics, boxing and the equestrian disciplines. The AES mission is to ensure any person involved in the SafeSport reporting and resolution process is afforded participation in a timely, equitable, and confidential manner. If you have engaged SafeSport or been the subject of a SafeSport investigation, we would welcome hearing from you about your experience and whether you believe the process was fair and equitable.
How do you utilize donations?
SafeSport passed with bipartisan congressional support and we are dedicated in taking it a step further by recognizing ways the organization can improve. Our goal is to address issues with SafeSport in order to help improve processes SafeSport policies were built on. In order to do so, we hired an expert team of business professionals, attorneys and congressional lobbying experts to raise awareness and bring forward questions on how SafeSport can execute integral changes. SafeSport receives more than 200 reports of sexual misconduct or abuse in U.S. Olympic & Paralympic sports per month and changes need to be put in place so the organization can better cope with the scope of the reports and implement positive change to better protect athletes. Thank you to the gracious donors who stepped up to support AES’ mission as it has afforded us the opportunity to make a difference.
IN THE NEWS
“Three Years In, Center for SafeSport Faces Controversy” – Pulitzer Center
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