Violence prevention can transform Canadian hockey culture — but only if implemented properly

• The recent charges against five members of Canada’s gold medal-winning 2018 world junior hockey team in connection with an alleged sexual assault has thrust Hockey Canada and its issues back into the public eye.
• A woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she had been sexually assaulted in a hotel room by eight Canadian Hockey League players, some of whom were members of the 2018 world junior team.
• While coverage of this case continues to raise important questions about the systemic failures within Hockey Canada, many have been left wondering what can be done to prevent gender-based and sexual violence in the future.

Hockey Canada lacks accountability

• But, as some critics have already articulated, their plans lack transparency, accountability and foresight in preventing violence.
• In November 2023, Hockey Canada said they would not release their third-party report on the alleged 2018 sexual assault to the public.

The spectrum of violence

• This Hockey Canada issue is not isolated; there have been many high-profile domestic and sexual violence cases in professional and competitive sports, including claims of hazing, harassment and sexual violence all the way down to the amateur level.
• Gender-based violence doesn’t occur in a vacuum; it thrives in environments that facilitate it — particularly the normalization of hazing that is predicated on sexism, racism and homophobia.
• Practices like hazing also create an environment where misogyny, homophobia and racism can escalate into tangible forms of violence outside the locker room.

Violence prevention programs

• In my experience running gender-based violence prevention programs with young male athletes, many initially balk at violence prevention programs as they are seen as vilifying boys and men.
• These findings contradict current models of violence prevention in professional or competitive sport, such as the OHL’s mandatory Onside training, which is a two-hour workshop for new players on sexual violence.

Addressing violence in sport

• To meaningfully address violence in sport, gender-based violence programs must be ongoing and dynamic instead of being treated like a mere checkbox.
• Investing in violence prevention that is evidence-based and sustainable is the key to ensuring that this violence stops.

Maddie Brockbank works at Interval House of Hamilton in the MentorAction program. Maddie is a Vanier Scholar and received doctoral funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).