One in Five Student Athletes Faces Physical Violence... 'Human Rights Violations in the Ice Skating Community' Revealed in National Human Rights Commission Investigation

Special Investigation Triggered by Former Coach Jo Jae-beom's Sexual Assault Case
"Hit until three ice hockey sticks broke"
Widespread Verbal, Physical, and Sexual Violence
Due to Closed Structure... "Establish Human Rights Protection Measures"

Former national short track coach Jo Jae-beom. Former coach Jo was prosecuted on charges of sexually assaulting athletes and was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial last January.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A special investigation by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) into ice skating sports, prompted by the sexual violence case involving former national short track coach Jo Jae-beom, revealed a shocking result that violence is more widespread in the ice skating community than in general sports.

According to the "Special Investigation Results on the Human Rights Situation of Ice Skating Athletes" announced by the NHRCK on the 15th, it was confirmed that ice skating athletes are seriously exposed to various forms of violence.

In particular, professional athletes experienced a higher degree of violence compared to general sports athletes. 31.2% reported experiencing physical violence, and 17.1% reported sexual violence. Verbal abuse was reported by 57.8%, well over half.

Moreover, even minor athletes in elementary, middle, and high school were affected, with one in five experiencing physical violence. The rates were 26.2% for elementary students, 20.2% for middle school students, and 22.1% for high school students.

Physical violence mostly took the form of beatings using hands or feet, or using sports equipment or tools. While the overall frequency was mostly "1 to 2 times per year," among professional athletes, 45% reported "1 to 2 times per month," and 25.0% reported "almost daily," indicating a pattern of habitual violence, according to the NHRCK.

During the investigation, some athletes testified about their experiences, saying things like "I was hit so hard that about three ice hockey sticks broke," "Two people had helmets broken from being hit with hockey sticks," and "After putting on double leather guards on the skate blades, they took me into the locker room, made me put on skates and assume skating posture, then hit only the unseen areas like the buttocks and thighs."

However, despite being victims of violence, most athletes were unable to take any action, with responses such as "could not do anything," "pretended to be okay and smiled," or "just let it go." This tendency was highest among professional athletes, at 85.0%.

Student athletes also routinely suffered violations of their rights to education and rest. The NHRCK pointed out, "Due to long training sessions of 4 to 5 hours daily at dawn, afternoon, and evening, normal school life and the necessary sleep time for growing adolescents are difficult to secure," adding, "This not only infringes on their right to education but also causes mental and physical exhaustion, injuries, and discontinuation of sports, amounting to child abuse-level human rights violations."

The NHRCK judged that the root causes of these severe human rights issues in the ice skating community stem from ▲ monopolistic use of ice rinks by some coaches, arbitrary control over national team coaches and athlete selection, and recommendation rights for professional teams and university special admissions ▲ rigid hierarchical structures between athletes and coaches ▲ a culture where coaches' violence is openly tolerated for the sake of performance and medals ▲ incompetence or tacit approval of the Korea Skating Union regarding human rights violations and sports corruption.

Accordingly, the NHRCK recommended that the president of the Korea Skating Union, the Minister of Education, and heads of local governments where ice rinks (public sports facilities) are installed prepare measures to protect the human rights of ice skating athletes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.