From Clare Scott, Safeguarding Case Officer.
Information for Club Safeguarding Officers and Safeguarding Assistants:
You may have seen that the issue of sexual activity between sports coaches and children over the age of 16 years is again in the media. As a reminder, there is no specific offence of a sports coach engaging in consensual sexual activity with a person over the age of 16. However, the RFU Safeguarding Children Policy is clear that if a rugby coach has an intimate relationship with a person under 18 in their care, this would be regarded as a grave breach of trust and may result in disciplinary action or their removal from the children’s workforce.
For the purposes of Safeguarding in rugby, a coach would be considered to hold a position of trust. This is distinct from the definition of Position of Trust specified in the Sexual Offences Act which does not encompass sports coaches. However, mindful of the authority and power invested in their role as a coach, the RFU has safeguarding procedures in place to mitigate the risk of an abuse of that power.
The Government has previously announced a review of the definition of Position of Trust with a view to capturing sports coaches, but at the moment there is a gap in the law. The RFU Safeguarding team will update you as and when more information is received regarding any developments in the legislation. For now, when teaching the Play it Safe course, please be aware of the above.
For further reading please see below and join the campaign to ‘ Close the Loophole’ .
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/news-opinion/abuse-of-position-of-trust/
Any questions, please contact the RFU Safeguarding team.
Kind regards
Clare Scott
Safeguarding Case Officer
There are no events to show yet.