Expert comment: Steven van de Velde

30 July 2024

Sarah Blakemore, Research Fellow in the 色狗导航 School of Law, and Chief Executive of Keeping Children Safe, comments on the news that the Dutch Olympic committee has decided that convicted child rapist, and beach volleyball player, ‘isn’t a risk’ and should represent his country in Paris.

She said:

"Convicted child rapists have no place at the Olympics, nor do the officials that protect them.

"Tragically, the news that a senior official with the Dutch Olympic committee has decided that convicted child rapist and beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde ‘isn’t a risk’ will not come as a surprise to sexual abuse survivors and child safeguarding advocates.

"All organisations are responsible for safeguarding children. This means building an organisational culture that takes child safeguarding risks seriously and prioritises the best interests of the child, not the organisation, and never the sporting ambitions of child rapists.

"The decision to allow a convicted child rapist to represent the Netherlands at the Paris Olympics is likely to be extremely distressing for survivors of child abuse across the world, including other athletes at the event. It sends a message to the world about the distorted values and priorities of the decision-makers.

"Potential face-to-face or online contact between a convicted child rapist and athletes under the age 18 may also represent a serious child safeguarding risk, despite those insisting otherwise.

"Every day in every country, children are abused, raped, beaten, neglected, exploited and even murdered because leaders in organisations put reputation, power, and status over creating safer organisational cultures.

"The Netherlands’ Olympic Committee has pointed to Van de Velde’s engagement in a rehabilitation programme saying that he had ‘grown and positively changed his life’.

"But child sexual abuse is a devastating crime with often lifelong impacts for the child, and many survivors face extraordinary challenges in rebuilding their lives. There is no excuse for making this even harder.

"Competitors have been banned from the Olympics for a variety of reasons including allegations of doping, marijuana use and mistreating a horse. Representing your country is a privilege and athletes are rightly expected to be role models.

"It is difficult to see how the IOC can justify not banning an athlete convicted of grooming then raping a 12-year-old child, and putting regulations in place to make sure no one convicted of such a crime is ever selected again."

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