@article{ref1,
title="Helping athletes affected by sexual violence: my challenge to the sports and exercise medicine community",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2020",
author="Name Withheld, ",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="If you saw me in clinic as a young kid, you would almost certainly describe me as healthy, active, energetic and high achieving. I wore a smile as wide as my face and talked excitedly about my friends, sports and summer plans whenever asked. What you wouldn't know about me was that in third grade, I was raped by a member of my extended family; and throughout middle and high school, I was sexually and emotionally abused by an alcoholic parent. You would not know this as a clinician because I always wore an impenetrable shield in order to get through my visit with you. My smile and kindness served as a mask to hide what I felt were the shameful, dark parts of me, and my costume always included some combination of athletic clothes and sports equipment.   Contrary to many recent high-profile cases,1 I was not subjected to sexual violence in sport. Yet sport was fully enmeshed in my experiences of sexual violence. Beyond the genuine joy and happiness I felt while playing sports, they provided me a necessary sense of safety and belonging outside my home and important safety from my unrelenting shame and fear. Simply put: sports saved my life...<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsports-2020-103301",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-103301"
}