POLICY AGENDA
POLICY PRIORITY AGENDA
119th Congress
The Army of Survivors (TAOS) is the only national organization advocating on behalf of child athlete survivors of sexual violence. Founded and led by athlete survivors, TAOS’ mission is to bring awareness, accountability, and transparency to sexual violence against athletes at all levels.
Through its work, TAOS is committed to ending sexual assault against athletes by ensuring perpetrators and enablers are held accountable, creating transparency in reporting, and advocating for investments in prevention strategies and institutional accountability to better protect athletes. TAOS is dedicated to working within a trauma-informed and survivor-centered approach.
Nearly 6 million children and young adults in the U.S. are survivors of sexual violence through their participation in sports or nearly 13% of all student-athletes (2021 World Players Association study). And we know this crime is consistently underreported. The culture of sports often makes athletes feel that they have to say yes to whatever they are asked to do because otherwise, their career, their love of their sport, or their identity within that sport could be threatened.
There remains the necessity to shift toward a comprehensive change in sports with athlete- and survivor-centered, trauma-informed solutions. Preventing and addressing sexual violence in connection to educational systems and student-athletes requires institutional and national policy change. Through its advocacy work, TAOS hopes to address the deficiencies in our current system and how it is failing athletes.
Led by and informed by survivors’ experiences, the policy priorities of TAOS are:
Preventing Sexual Violence, Including Education and Culture Change
- Advocate for creating meaningful culture change to better protect young athletes by encouraging the adoption of model policies and best practices developed with input from athletes and survivors to address sexual assault and abuse in sports in institutions that interact with athletes. These efforts should include trauma-informed and evidence-based approaches to prevention, education on reporting processes, athlete rights, and effective responses to incidents. Recognizing that many sports programs operate outside traditional school settings, prevention strategies should also involve outreach to parents, coaches, and other key stakeholders. One example is Compassionate Coach™, an educational training course piloted and administered by TAOS.
- Increased investment in prevention initiatives is essential, including programs that promote safe environments, support for those who intervene, and resources to assist individuals who may need care and services.
Intervention, Healing, and Service
- Invest in survivor-centered and trauma-informed services so survivors can engage in processes that help them heal, which can include evidence-informed or evidence-based counseling and mental health services to process trauma.
- Support the passage of an Athlete Survivor Bill of Rights.
Community, Institutional, and System-Based Accountability
- Improving the US Center for Safe Sport reforms will improve the Center’s process and the system of prevention and accountability.
- Strengthening reporting procedures and the governance structure of sports systems.
- Improve international mechanisms of reporting and accountability for those who cause harm and systems that allow abuse to continue.
Criminal responses
- Ensure that people who cause harm and institutions that enable abuse are held responsible and provide criminal legal and civil systems remedies for survivors.
- Support survivor empowerment legislation such as statutes of limitation reform and expanded victims’ rights legislation.
International Policy
- Reflect the same policy principles for change with international sports organizations and governments so there is more transparency, better alternatives, and protections for athletes from abuse and retaliation that include survivor voices in policymaking.
- Support the broader Brave Movement to end childhood sexual violence that includes a focus on creating a safe and secure internet for all children and adolescents.
Led by and informed by survivors’ experiences, TAOS is thoughtful in its policy engagement and will only support policies that adhere to the following guiding principles: survivor and athlete-centered, research-based, and trauma-informed.
