Ministry of Sport launches hotline for sexual abuse cases

This Thursday, March 31, the Ministry of Sport launched the line 018000 11 40 60, #NiSilencioNiViolencia, a special attention channel for cases of harassment, abuse, maltreatment or discrimination in the National Sports System.

The launch ceremony was led by portfolio minister Guillermo Herrera, who was accompanied by ICBF director Liliana Pulido and Deputy Minister of Sport Daniela Maturana.

The hotline, which will be enabled from this Friday, April 1, 2022, will receive complaints from athletes, managers, health professionals and other actors whose work is carried out in sports, recreation and physical activity in the country.

In addition, Minister Herrera referred to the four additional channels that, parallel to the line, Mindeporte will put into operation to receive information and provide guidance on cases in the sector. Among them, the email nisilencioniviolencia@mindeporte.gov.co, virtual chat, web form and face-to-face attention.

“The launch of this line is an articulation in defense of children, young people and all people who are part of the National Sports System, in order to monitor and record cases of gender-based violence. We do everything to prevent these events that are unacceptable,” said the minister, Guillermo Herrera. For her part, the Deputy Minister of Sport, Daniel Maturana, stressed: “When a complaint is received, a characterization of the person and the violence of which he was a victim will be carried out.”

The Ministry of Sport will then file the complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office and, if necessary, to the ICBF. Psychopedagogical support will be provided so that whistleblowers know what their rights are.” The contact center shall be composed of professionals who will provide psychological and legal support to the victim and guide the victim during the process of filing the complaint with the competent authorities.

“The launch of the line is the result of intersectoral articulation, between the ministry and the ICBF, to work with the generation of protocols and codes of conduct to prevent gender-based violence from occurring,” said Liliana Pulido, director in charge of ICBF.

This hotline is part of the actions envisaged in the “Protocol for the Prevention, Attention and Eradication of Gender-based Violence in Sport”, which is in the socialization stage with 28 workshops, in 14 municipalities of the country.

Four athletes reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office that they had been victims of sexual abuse and maltreatment for more than two years. The facts date back to 2019 to date by the coach of the sports institution.

One of the victims reported that he began to make sexual advances to him, knowing that he was 16 years old: “I was wondering if I was still a virgin, that he wanted to be my first man and when was I going to give him the chance. Very annoying and tiring things.”

According to preliminary investigations, so far 30 athletes, mostly women with limited resources, were harassed by the coach and are waiting for the prosecution's investigation and judicial decisions to be taken in this regard.

This led to the deputy minister of sport, Daniela Maturana, providing pedagogical support to deal with cases of gender-based violence in the sports sector and promoting the #NiSilencioNiViolencia campaign.

The presidents of the Santander sports leagues were the first to receive training on gender, prevention, detection and attention to violence, harassment, abuse, maltreatment and discrimination.

“In the ministry, we need clubs and leagues to feel that it is also their responsibility so that there are clear and forceful sanctions in the fight against these violence,” said Deputy Minister Daniela Maturana Agudelo.

The participants were trained in basic concepts of gender, types of violence, how to detect them and what are the avenues of assistance and reporting that the authorities and the Ministry of Sport have at their disposal.

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