interview
An independent investigation commission is investigating allegations of sometimes serious sexual assaults in the German Swimming Association. The sports sociologist Bettina Rulofs is part of the four-person committee.
sports show: Ms. Rulofs, you are one of the leading experts in Germany when it comes to the subject of sexualized and interpersonal violence in sport, and you have presented the relevant studies on the subject. Was it planned that you now also get involved in the review commission of the German Swimming Association?
Bettina Rulofs: That wasn’t planned. But it certainly seemed to me to be a logical consequence of our own demands. Because one result of our studies was that an organization-related processing of sexualized violence in sport is important. And if sports associations are faced with such a situation, then I would also like to meet our own demands and support them as best we can.
sports show: That is, when they were asked, was there no way around it?
Rulofs: Yes, we have weighed it up very carefully. First of all, it was important to me that I couldn’t do it alone. A legal perspective is very central in such a review process, which is why I approached my colleague Martin Nolte as a lawyer and was then also very happy that he agreed to take part.
And then we first spoke in great detail with the board of directors of the DSV, but also with the contact person for the topic of preventing sexualised violence at the DSV. What does this mean for the association? What is the association’s position on this? We wanted to be very sure that the DSV was behind the project. And that’s the impression we got.
sports show: What questions do you now base your work on and what are your goals?
Rulofs: We are initially interested in: what kind of violence actually took place? What were the acts of violence? Who and how many are affected? Who were the perpetrators and, above all, what were the conditions under which the acts of violence could take place? What encouraged the use of violence, but also helped cover it up? These are the questions we ask ourselves. And the aim is first and foremost to give the people concerned an opportunity to be heard.
It is also about recognizing the violence they have experienced and the suffering it has caused, so that the Commission can now deal with it calmly. And it is also about learning from the reports of those affected, but also from contemporary witnesses. We want to show where a structure or an organization has failed. What were mistakes? What can we learn from this for the future with regard to preventive measures, but also with regard to intervention, i.e. dealing with disclosures? That would be very important to us.
sports show: Completely without any influence from the association?
Rulofs: The DSV is in no way authorized to give instructions to the processing committee. The committee will submit an initial interim report to the DSV after six months, and then a balance sheet report after a year. And in this report we will then try to summarize the knowledge available up to that point and to make suggestions as to how to proceed now. It is also quite possible that the processing is not finished after a year and that further steps are required. This has also already been discussed with the DSV.
sports show: Will this report be published?
Rulofs: There will be careful consideration of what can and cannot be published. We also have to pay attention to personal rights. But it is planned that essential findings from the review process will be published.
sports show: This team, which now forms the review commission, comes entirely from the Cologne Sports University. Does it make things easier that you already know each other and also work in the same place?
Rulofs: This is important for us at the operational working level. That we have a good collegial relationship and can also rely on each other and know how we cooperate and work with each other. In addition to Martin Nolte and myself, two other experienced employees, Fabienne Bartsch and Caroline Bechtel, will be part of the processing team. It is very important for me to emphasize that there is an advisory board in addition to the review team. This advisory board is also very central to all the work that we have ahead of us.
For example, a former athlete is represented on the advisory board, who can contribute the perspective of athletes and also has expertise in this area because she campaigns for the rights of those affected, of victims of violence. There is a sports psychologist and a representative from the professional association of coaches in German sports. It is very important to regularly capture these different perspectives on the issue of reappraisal and also to receive concrete support from this advisory board.
sports show: The questions and the methodology of the procedure have already been worked out. You can actually get started right now. What are the first steps?
Rulofs: One of the first steps will be to review the documents that DSV has on these incidents. This will give us clues as to the direction in which we need to look and ask questions, and also which people are important for the interviews and hearings. And then we will go into a phase of hearing those affected, but also question actors in the environment who may have held important positions at the time or observed something.
sports show: What insights do you hope to gain from those affected with whom you will speak?
Rulofs: From the perspective of those affected, it is very important for us to find out what acts of violence they have experienced. What these acts of violence also meant for her life, how it affected health and psychological aspects, but also her sporting development. Then it is important for us to find out whether those affected have passed on information, i.e. whether they have disclosed this and whether they have received help and, if so, what help they have received.
Of course, if they didn’t get any help or not enough support, that’s the point where we want to take a closer look. Why didn’t that happen? What were the reasons and conditions for not helping? It is very important for us to uncover this in such a reappraisal process. We know from the biographies of those affected that it is difficult to get support, especially after experiences of sexual violence. We would then like to play that back into sport. What does sport have to do for such disclosures to take place?
sports show: When are you satisfied with the work of this review commission, with your own work?
Rulofs: I am particularly satisfied when those affected say after this processing project: ‘We had an opportunity to be carefully listened to. We were also able to get rid of a piece of our burden.’ That would be a very nice result. And if we then manage to make recommendations that the German Swimming Association can implement, then I think we would have a very good result.