What constitutes abuse in sport?
The four main kinds of abuse are:
Verbal: words used to demean, frighten, or control,
Physical: when someone deliberately hurts your body or takes away your control of your body,
Emotional: a repeated pattern of fear, isolation, and intimidation, and
Sexual: unwanted sexual activity, where a person uses force or coercion to take advantage of another person who do not, or is not able to provide consent. Financial and reproductive abuse are examples of other kinds of abuse relevant to sport.
Abuse in a sporting context is the same as abuse in any other context; there are no special rules for sport. However, the sporting context creates unique opportunities for abuse to occur.
The special nature of the coach/athlete relationship, and the power imbalance that often exists in that relationship means that the lines can become blurred, and abuse can sometimes go on undetected. It can be easy to conceal or miss abuse when it is occurring under the guise of training and of creating winners.