ABOLISHING "SAFE SPORT"
Through this research, we argue that Canada’s current "safe sport" approach is not in need of reform, but rather abolition. By bringing police and prison abolitionist theories to a sporting context, we demonstrate how Canadian "safe sport" initiatives do the opposite of what they are intended to do. Specifically, we demonstrate how, rather than reducing harm, Canadian "safe sport" initiatives perpetuate inequity and injustice, deepen trauma, and legitimize structural cases of harm. Using this information, we then argue for the widespread adoption of abolitionist alternatives for reducing sport-related harm.
Conference Presentation
Presentation Citation: Peers, D., Bridel, W., Fawaz, N. V., Joseph, J. McGuire-Adams, T., Dixon, S., & The Re-Creation Collective (2023, Nov 4). Abolitionist Critiques of Canadian 'Safe Sport'. North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference.
This research was supported by the Government of Canada's New Frontiers Fund.