The IOC is facing calls for an investigation into how a convicted child rapist has been allowed to compete at Paris 2024, on the eve of the opening of the Games.
Amid growing public outrage at the presence of the Netherlands beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a British 12-year-old girl in 2016, at the Paris 2024 Olympics, groups have warned that sporting bodies are sending a dangerous message to rapists and causing “collateral damage” to victims of sexual abuse.
Ciara Bergman, the CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales said the “irresponsible” inclusion of Van der Velde at the Olympics created an “enormous sense of impunity”, adding: “If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking,” she said.
The inclusion of Van der Velde in the Dutch team would have a “serious impact”, she added. “There is always an impact on the individual victim survivor, but every act of violence against women and girls is a crime against society. It has a collateral and collective impact on all other women and girls.”
Bergman called on the International Olympic Committee to carry out an investigation into how Van der Velde had been allowed to compete. “How did we get here? How did we get to a place where raping a child is seen as less important than the medal someone might win at the Olympics? It’s just extraordinary,” she said. “I think there has to be some kind of investigation into this and how it was allowed to happen. It has to be a moment for real thinking and real change.”
The backlash has cast a shadow over one of the Olympics marquee events, which starts on Saturday in an outdoor stadium at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. On Wednesday Paula Radcliffe apologised after being asked on the Andrew Marr Tonight show about outright bans at the Olympics. She originally said it was a “tough thing to do to punish [Van der Velde] twice” adding that she wished “him the best of luck”.
Andrea Simon, executive director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) said Van der Velde’s inclusion in the Games sent a “worrying message” to men who commit rape “that there will unlikely be any consequences, and therefore no deterrent”.
She supported calls for an investigation into Van der Velde’s inclusion at the Olympics and called for mandatory consent training for sports players and education around healthy sexual relationships for young players in sporting academies.
Van de Velde, who is now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping the British girl. He had flown to England to meet her in 2014 with full knowledge of her age, having met her on Facebook.
When he was sentenced Judge Francis Sheridan told him: “Prior to coming to this country you were training as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country now lie as a shattered dream.” The court heard that his victim had self-harmed and taken an overdose.
Van der Velde served 12 months in a British prison, before being transferred to his home country where he was released after a further month. He has since gone on to play internationally for the Netherlands.
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After coming out of jail, he gave an interview to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, and said: “I do want to correct all the nonsense that has been written about me when I was locked up. I did not read any of it, on purpose, but I understand that it was quite bad, that I have been branded as a sex monster, as a paedophile. That I am not – really not.”
Anti-violence against women and girls campaigner David Challen, whose mother, Sally Challen, spent decades as a victim of her husband’s coercive and controlling behaviour, said allowing Van de Velde to compete “tells young women and girls that the harm men inflict on them will be easily forgotten about in men’s paths to their dreams and glory.”
The IOC has said the selection of athletes for the Games was the responsibility of individual committees. The Netherlands Olympic Committee, which selected Van der Velde, said he had served his sentence, completed an extensive rehabilitation programme and experts had concluded there was no risk of him reoffending. The volleyball player had shown that he had “grown and positively changed his life”, they said.
The British Olympic Association would not have permitted Van der Velde’s inclusion in Team GB owing to its safeguarding rules and the Australian Olympic team confirmed that it had the same position.