Jonathan Crane in Paris07/28/2024
Steven van de Velde, a Dutch beach volleyball player, did not receive a warm reception before his Olympic debut. His participation in the Paris Games is controversial due to a 2016 child rape conviction.
https://p.dw.com/p/4ipst
With cameras pointing at him, Steven van de Velde warmed up for his first match of the beach volleyball tournament at the Paris Olympics, alongside his playing partner Matthew Immers.
Under normal circumstances, such a warmup session would be of little significance and even less interest. But Van de Velde's participation at these Olympics is anything but normal.
In 2016, the Dutchman was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl whom he had met on Facebook in 2014 when he was 19. He received a four-year prison sentence but served only 12 months in the UK before being transferred back to the Netherlands, where he served just one month, as there, the crime was seen as less severe.
Away from the glare of the public, the warmup session was to be the calm before the storm.
Van de Velde, now 29, was loudly booed when he was introduced to the crowd by name before his country's pool match against an Italian pair on Sunday, although the Dutch fans in attendance tried to drown out the negative noise with some cheers.
Van de Velde's participation shows 'attitude of entitlement'
As the booing suggested, Van de Velde's participation in Paris has caused widespread anger and concern, with a petition calling for him to be disqualified from the Games nearing 100,000 signatures.
Sarah McGrath, CEO of Women for Women France, told DW it was "unacceptable that Van de Velde has been allowed to come to France to compete."
McGrath, whose organization supports victims of gender-based violence, added that Van de Velde's decision "to continue with this participation, despite calls from survivor advocate groups, shows an attitude of entitlement and a total lack of concern for the harm this will cause rape survivors."
However, sports authorities in the Netherlands have stood by Van de Velde, who returned to international competition soon after his release from jail.
In a statement released ahead of the Games, the Dutch Olympic Committee said that the player's return to action was made possible thanks to a "specialist treatment programme" and that Van de Velde had met "all the stringent risk assessment thresholds, checks and due diligence."
He is not living at the Olympic village with the other athletes to ensure a "safe sporting environment for all participants" and has been given a pass from the usually obligatory media duties.
Those instead fell solely to Immers, Van de Velde's 23-year-old teammate, who told reporters after the match that the pair were "disappointed" by the attention that the incident has created.
"What's in the past is in the past," Immers said. "He had his punishment and now he's really kind. For me that's a big example that [he] grew and learned a lot from it. Of course, what happened in the past is not good."
Olympic officials won't block Van de Velde's participation
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has so far chosen not to intervene, saying it was the responsibility of the Dutch Olympic Committee to pick its team.
However, that is despite the IOC's own rules giving it the final say on who competes at the Games.
Asked by DW at Saturday's daily press briefing if the IOC felt comfortable and happy with the idea of a convicted rapist taking part in the Olympics, the organization's spokesperson, Mark Adams, said: "To characterize it as comfortable and happy would not be correct."
Adams added: "This crime occurred 10 years ago. There's a great deal of rehabilitation that's taken place and there's also very strong safeguarding in place. We feel that the statement they [the Dutch Olympic Committee] have given us is correct and we will continue with the situation as it is."
For McGrath, sports authorities have failed to "fully grasp what a serious crime the rape of a child is," and she questioned their leadership and judgement.
"The International Olympic Committee must open an investigation into how this was allowed to happen and use this as a wakeup call," she said.
'Victims must bear a lifetime of trauma'
Some argue that Van de Velde deserves a second chance, having served his time and undergone "professional counselling." In an interview with Dutch public broadcaster NOS in 2018, he called the incident the "biggest mistake" of his life.
The Dutch Olympic Committee says there's no risk of a relapse into his previous behavior, and one of its press officers told reporters after the Italy match that the incident shouldn't be brought up at the Olympics.
"The general matter of sex convictions … is definitely a much bigger issue than sport," said John van Vliet, the press officer.
"But in his case, we've got a person who has been convicted, did his sentence and did everything afterwards to be able to compete again."
However, McGrath dismisses such attitudes as "misguided."
"Van de Velde was not convicted of theft of a car, he was convicted of raping a child," she said. "A child who was so distressed by the rape that she self-harmed.
"Van de Velde's participation tells survivors once again that a man's career and reputation is more important than their trauma; victims must bear a lifetime of trauma but perpetrators can go on to have successful high-profile careers representing their country."
In some acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation, Immers expressed concern for Van de Velde's victim when asked by DW how he thinks she feels when watching him compete.
"For sure, it's not nice," he said.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
Sixth Edition of ‘The Evidence’: We Need a New Approach to Preventing Sexual Violence
In this month’s installment of The Evidence newsletter, journalist Josephine Lethbridge explores recent research into sexual violence prevention programs and interviews experts on why it’s time to take a new approach.
Between 1985 and 2015, rates of sexual violence on U.S. university campuses remained constant. Worryingly, these figures may have increased in recent years.
This is despite the millions that universities and the US government have spent on prevention programs. Officials and researchers have been left wondering: why have these significant financial investments failed to produce the intended real-world impact?
A recent meta-analysis covering all previous global research on sexual violence prevention programs has the answer.
Up until now, the prevailing belief has been that changing people’s attitudes was key to lowering rates of sexual violence.
This is reflected in the approaches taken by many awareness programs. A central focus of these programs is on dispelling “rape myths” like “some women deserve to be raped” and “when women say no, they really mean yes.”
But as new research demonstrates, these interventions have not lowered rates of sexual violence because changing a person’s beliefs does not encourage them to act differently.
So, what lessons can we learn from this meta-analysis?
For some, this discovery is a “damning wake-up call to the field of sexual violence prevention.”
Yet for Elise Lopez, one of the authors of an accompanying comment piece, there are reasons to be positive about the findings.
Talking about the potential impact of the study, Lopez said, “When you identify a fundamental flaw, you can stop recreating the wheel and instead grasp the opportunity to create something new.”
Ana Gantman, who co-authored the study, reflected on past prevention programs. She commented: “Changing people’s perceptions is still important! But this just isn’t the right lever to pull to reduce sexual violence rates.”
Read this month’s full newsletter. An archive of previous issues can be accessed through Social Science Space.
Sage – the parent of Social Science Space – sponsors The Evidence, a bold new feminist newsletter that covers everything you need to know about the latest social and behavioral science research into gender inequality. The newsletter makes research accessible and understandable, empowering readers to respond to today’s crises by making changes in their communities, their workplaces, or in the laws of their country.
Joe Sweeney
Joe Sweeney is a corporate communications at Sage. Prior to working for Sage he earned a master’s degree in English literature, with a focus on photography, architecture, and fiction writing from 1900—present.View all posts by Joe Sweeney
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