On November 21st, I had the honour of taking part in a consultation with UNESCO and the Sport & Rights Alliance along with fellow athlete-survivors at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
I was invited to take part as one of 11 athletes from 9 different countries who have been impacted by violence in sport.
The consultation was held as part of the development of UNESCO’s Global Policy Standards for Inclusive, Equitable and Safe Sport and Physical Education, which will provide a guiding framework for national governments to prevent harm and promote accountability. By providing a concrete framework, UNESCO aims to harmonise safe sport approaches globally, with clear benchmarks for policies and practices.
Through constructive group discussions, we shared insights from our lived experience, our hopes for safer sport polices and procedures, and our recommendations for creating systems that are safe, effective and intersectional. Together, we explored how sports governance can be made survivor-centred, trauma-informed principles can be embedded into investigation, and institutional accountability can be upheld.
The insights and recommendations we shared will directly inform the final draft of the Global Policy Standards, ensuring they’re inclusive, equitable, survivor-centred, and equipped to meaningfully address violence in sport. Once finalised, the standards will be presented at the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS) for endorsement by UNESCO Member States in 2027.
The consultation was facilitated with an intersectional, trauma-informed approach, with a number of support measures to ensure the prioritisation of the well-being of participants throughout. This reinforced the person-centred ethos of the project, which was emphasised by Joanna Maranhão, fellow athlete-survivor and coordinator of the Sport & Rights Alliance’s Athlete Network for Safer Sports. In a press release following the consultation, she described the importance of this initiative in working towards safer sport.
Participant Emma Oudiou, a steeplechase athlete from France, shared her thoughts on the project.
Lola Mansour, a Belgian participant and judoka, also described the importance of the framework in deconstructing harmful sports cultures.
Here, our presence wasn’t tokenistic or performative, as is so often the case for many of us as survivor representatives. Instead, we were valued as experts with a lived-experience lens which brought unique and crucial value to the perspectives we shared. Survivors who speak out are often viewed as ‘troublemakers’ in sports communities, which can result in our experiences being dismissed and our voices being silenced. This consultation made a welcome change by not only creating a safe space for us to speak openly, but also honouring our contributions and using them to inform concrete global standards that will make a lasting impact for the wider sports community. On a personal level, it was healing to feel heard and to find solidarity in that space. I’m grateful to UNESCO and the Sport & Rights Alliance for facilitating this groundbreaking initative, and hope it will lead the way for future systems founded upon the lived experiences and expertise of survivors.
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Emma Thomas- Founder of Under the Ropes
Emma is a sports ethicist specialising in safeguarding in Muay Thai. She’s also a former fighter, athlete-survivor and advocate, and has been writing about gendered issues in Muay Thai since 2013. After living in Thailand for 12 years, she completed a master’s degree in Sports Ethics & Integrity in Europe, conducting the world’s first study on sexual harassment & abuse in Muay Thai.
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