IOC encourages athletes to report harassment

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday urged athletes to come forward and report any harassment case in the wake of sexual assault allegations in the athletes village at the Rio Olympic Games.

Brazilian police arrested 22-year-old boxer Jonas Junius, who was the flag bearer for the Namibian national team on suspicion of attempting to sexually assault a room maid in the Olympic village, organisers confirmed on Monday.

It was just a week after Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting two room maids at the Olympic Village, reports Xinhua.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the athletes will be trained to guard against harassment and can report it through various ways.

"There are a number of trained staff on site to assist the athletes to report incidents of harassments and abuse and lead the athletes through the whole reporting process. There are many options for reporting," said Adams, adding that the athletes can report through email and phone or call the Olympic integrity hotline.

Prior to the Games, the IOC announced it would put in place of a mechanism for the Rio Olympics participants to report incidents of abuse or harassment in a bid to protect the athletes, for the first time in the Games' history.

--IANS

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