Blog

Safeguarding in Combat Sports on the Conscious Combat Club Podcast

I recently recorded an episode of the Conscious Combat Club podcast, which discusses trauma-informed martial arts and mental health. Founder Georgia Verry provides trauma-informed kickboxing programs in Australia, and through her podcast, she talks with women in martial arts, including academics and those with lived experience of violence. This is the second time I’ve appeared on Georgia’s podcast. She first interviewed me in 2021 for what was then called The Fight Back Podcast. In that Read more

By Under the Ropes, ago

‘A Survivor’s Story’ Speech for Sport Safeguarding Officers in Croatia

I was recently invited by the Croatian Olympic Committee to take part in their GUARD: Safeguarding Children in Sport project, which provides education for child safeguarding officers from sports organisations in 8 different countries (Croatia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Greece, Latvia, Macedonia & Slovenia). The topic of safeguarding in sport has recently been gaining more of the attention it demands, which has led to the initial development of policies, frameworks and safeguarding officer roles. However, implementing Read more

By Under the Ropes, ago

Under the Ropes at the Ann Craft Trust’s Safeguarding Adults Week

Last week was the Ann Craft Trust’s annual Safeguarding Adults Week, during which they bring safeguarding professionals from across the UK together to share expertise and raise awareness of important topics. This year, the theme was prevention. Each day, they held free online seminars with safeguarding experts on various topics, including preventing abuse in sport, forced marriage, brain injuries in football, grief support, and more. I was invited to lead an online seminar on day Read more

By Under the Ropes, ago

Developing a Safeguarding Framework for Mega Sporting Events with UNICEF

In September, I was invited to take part in a roundtable meeting at the UNICEF UK headquarters in London with a pool of safeguarding experts. We got together for a two-day workshop to begin the development of a safeguarding accountability framework for mega sporting events. Mega sporting events involve a huge number of international stakeholders, including international federations, national sporting governing bodies, local organising committees, host cities, sponsors, media and many more. When it comes Read more

By Under the Ropes, ago