4.1 Ethical and Safety Principles
What This Module Covers
This module focuses on the ethical and safety principles that guide responsible use of sport with VoTs. It supports coaches and practitioners in creating conditions where participants feel physically and emotionally safe, and where activities respect dignity, choice, and personal boundaries.
The module provides practical guidance on how to apply the principle of “Do No Harm” in daily practice. It addresses common risks that can arise in sport settings, including power imbalances between professionals and participants, and offers clear standards to help prevent harm, boundary violations, and re-traumatization.
It also introduces a rights-based approach to working with VoTs, helping professionals reflect on their role, recognize relevant legal protections, and understand the importance of supervision and ongoing ethical reflection when delivering sport activities in recovery settings.
Why This Matters in Work With VoTs
Ethical practice is essential when working with VoTs and is grounded in international and European human rights instruments. These frameworks require professionals to safeguard dignity, autonomy, privacy, and protection from abuse. The non-punishment principle plays a particularly important role because it ensures that survivors are not penalized for actions that were a direct result of exploitation.
Field consultations showed that many practitioners feel uncertain when managing confidentiality, disclosures, and boundaries in sport settings. Without clear standards, these situations can be difficult to navigate, especially when working with individuals who have experienced coercion or loss of control. Ethical practice therefore relies on predictable and respectful environments where participation remains voluntary and personal boundaries are consistently upheld.
Professionals also highlighted the need for organizational measures that protect staff from secondary trauma and burnout. Regular supervision, task rotation, and structured reflective practice help prevent ethical lapses that can occur under sustained emotional strain.
Together, these elements show that a sound ethical framework must address the needs of both professionals and participants. Recovery and reintegration go beyond immediate survival and require sustained, long-term, and ethically grounded support, which this module’s guiding principles aim to reflect.
