A Critical Analysis of Gender-based Violence Training Sessions for University Men’s Team Sport

Existing research has consistently demonstrated a correlation between participation in men’s university sport and reports of gender-based violence including sexual violence perpetration, as well as misogynistic beliefs, views, and attitudes. To address this significant issue on university campuses, some universities have begun developing educational training programs that men’s team athletes must complete to remain eligible for competition. To date, no research has examined the experiences of participants of the education programs on genderbased violence focused on educating them on sexual consent, healthy sexual relationships, and sexual violence. This study begins to fill that gap by examining experiences and perceptions of athletes and coaches who have attended a mandatory sexual violence training session at a single university site drawing on theoretical perspectives rooted in feminist masculinity studies of sport. To explore participant experiences and perceptions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four university men’s team sport athletes and two coaches. The analysis of the interviews focused on understanding participants’ reflections on the educational sessions, including their perceptions, perspectives, and suggestions for improvement. The collected data were analyzed using a thematic analysis to identify patterns across the interviews. The key findings of the study include: a lack of consistent prior experiences with gender-based violence education within the minor sport system; that some new information was presented around consent, but that most of the information was already common knowledge; experiences with the training as being one of many mandatory requirements athletes must complete, making it just another box to check off; the influential role of authority figures, cultures, and team dynamics on athletes perspectives and behaviours; and, participant driven suggestions to improving experiences in training sessions including increased personalization, integration of experiential learning, more peer interaction, smaller group sessions, allowing for voluntary engagement, and addressing barriers and limitations to effective learning. This thesis concludes with recommendations to further enhance gender-based training programs for athletes to continue improving safe sport initiatives on Canadian university campuses. This study contributes to sport management literature by revealing the perspectives and experiences of university men’s team sport athletes and coaches who have participated in a gender-based violence education initiatives.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. Applied Health Sciences

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

Department dc:contributor.department

Applied Health Sciences Program

Grantor dc:publisher

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Alan

• Gender-based Violence

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10464/20438

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/20438