Everyone in Sport Deserves Respect

Last week, the New York Times reported that the cheerleaders of the Washington Redskins were subjected to and placed in unsafe sexually charged situations in 2013. Cheerleaders are both team employees and important members of that team’s community. They should be treated with respect and to be safe in their workplace. They are also a part of the sport experience, the experience that all of us share in whether it is playing as an athlete, cheering as a fan or working as an employee.

Raliance’s Sport + Prevention Center highlights how sport can be part of the solution to end sexual violence. Creating a positive culture in sport  must not only focus on athletes and coaches, but must include everyone at all levels of the game. Administrators, leaders and owners must see that cheerleaders, trainers, employees and fans are participating in a culture that does not tolerate sexual harassment or violence.

Raliance sees the sport experience as an opportunity for all participants to promote and reinforce respect, character, and healthy relationships at sporting events and as members of the sport community. Sport and all who experience it are part of the solution to ending sexual violence in one generation.