Has Felipe been harmed or abused?

Answer:

• Yes, Felipe has been harmed and abused.
• Both aggressive language and being hit can cause emotional harm. Hitting someone is considered physical harm, even if no marks are visible.
• These are examples of poor coaching practice and are a form of abuse.
• Felipe will probably remember being humiliated in front of others forever.

The appointment, training and management of Felipe’s coach, even if he is a volunteer, should be in line with clear safeguarding standards. You can view the World Rugby Safeguarding policy and procedures by visiting: https://www.world.rugby/organisation/governance/safeguarding

Later in the course, we'll look at the importance of agreed behaviours in preventing and addressing poor practice.

What is safeguarding about?

Safeguarding is about the things we can do to prevent Felipe’s coach behaving like he does, and the way we respond if we find out an athlete or player like Felipe is at risk of harm. 

Next, we'll move on to consider ‘what does safeguarding include?’