Steven van de Velde: Is Paris 2024 sending a dangerous message to rapists?

Paris 2024 opening ceremony is set to begin in just a handful of hours. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is under pressure to launch an investigation into the inclusion of a convicted child rapist, Netherlands beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde.

There is a deepening public outrage at the presence of the athlete – convicted of abusing a 12-year-old girl in 2016 at the age of 19. People are concerned that sporting bodies are sending a dangerous message to rapists and causing “collateral damage” to victims.

“If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking,” stressed Ciara Bergman, the Chief Executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales.

Paris 2024 sending a concerning message to rapists

Bergman has called on the IOC to carry out a probe into the inclusion of Steven van de Velde. “How did we get to a place where raping a child is seen as less important than the medal someone might win at the Olympics. It’s just extraordinary,” she added.

Andrea Simon, Executive Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, noted that the presence of the Dutch athlete at Paris 2024 sends a concerning message to men who commit rape “that there will unlikely be any consequences, and therefore no deterrent.”

She also called for an investigation and stressed the need for mandatory consent training for sporting figures and education around healthy sexual relationships for young players in sporting academies, according to the Guardian.

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‘There is no risk of Steven van de Velde reoffending’

Dutch player Steven van de Velde, 29, received a four-year prison sentence in 2016 after pleading guilty to sexually abusing the British girl. He had travelled to England to meet her in 2014 and had a complete idea of her age, having met her on Facebook.

After coming out of jail, the Dutch citizen said: “I do want to correct all the nonsense that has been written about me when I was locked up … that I have been branded as a sex monster, as a paedophile. That I’m not – really not,” reported Algemeen Dagblad.

The selection of athletes is the responsibility of individual committees. The Netherlands Olympic Committee said the van de Velde had served his sentence, completed a rehabilitation programme and experts had concluded that there was no risk of him reoffending.