EMOTIONAl, psychological & physical violence against women in gymnastics.
Athlete abuse shows up in all disciplines of gymnastics, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, Team Gym, Rhythmic, Acro, Tumbling & Trampolining - however to date, there has been a critical mass of gymnast voices breaking the silence around abuse in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. In 2020, Gymnasts for Change’s Dr Natalie Barker-Ruchti took the opportunity to coalese her previous 20 years of research around the voices of the Gymnastics Alliance Movement. While the following presentation therefore focuses exclusively on the culture and practices of Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, the insightful unpacking of the power structures at play within the sport could equally be applied to all other gymnastics disciplines.
More specifically, in her following presentation on abuse in gymnastics - Dr Natalie Barker-Ruchti focuses on the processes of gendering that shape how individuals experience themselves and their lives in gymnastics; how gymnasts are expected to behave and are organised and represented by formal institutions; and how gymnasts are ruled and categorised by governing bodies and legal systems (Risman, 2018).
Through her Gymnast Alliance research, Natalie demonstrates how gendering in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics constitutes a pattern of violent behaviours and abusive practices. She discuss what this means for the protection and safeguarding of gymnasts (Barker-Ruchti, Schubring & Stewart, 2021) and explores how the unitard, the full body dress that several German gymnasts worn at the 2021 European Gymnastics Championships and the Tokyo Olympic Games is contributing to the cultural changes that are essential to transform Women’s Artistic Gymnastics and ensure gymnast welfare in the future.