Picture Series
Martina Cirese The Dark Side of Sport
A French swimming champion, 21, at practice. In 2017, she told the police that she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 14 by her swimming teacher, Mathieu D. “He asked me to take off my underwear and massaged my groin. His hands went really far down, just for a few seconds.” Later, the police found photos on Mahieu D.'s computer clearly depicting female minors. The legal inquiries against him continue. According to the law, he must be presumed innocent throughout the entire duration of the procedure.
A Breton triathlete, 15, in her apartment in Lorient. She has accused her former coach of raping her in his car during a competition in January 2018. “When I got in his car, I knew there was no escape. I have never said the word ‘no’ so many times. Afterwards, he drove me home as if nothing had happened.” French law prohibits revealing the identity of the victim in this project.
Archery practice at the new gym in Pleubian, where the victims of sexual harassment by their former coach, Roland F., have moved. The investigative collective Disclose has published an alarming statistic: in 78 per cent of registered cases of sexual violence, the alleged perpetrators have continued to work despite ongoing investigations. Some convicted offenders have even got their jobs back. This is forbidden under French law, but sports managers do not seem to be particularly aware of this.
Medals in the bedroom of two sisters, both of whom were victims of sexual assault by their former coach, Roland F. “After the competitions, they would come home with sweets and presents”, their mother remembers. “We didn’t notice anything for months.” Not until the day the sisters told their parents that their coach had touched them on their buttocks and under their clothes. Solène Guyomard acted immediately. During questioning, Roland F. said his hand might have slipped into one of the girls’ trousers “by accident”.
A victim of sexual violence, 43, stands in front of the Maurice Scève sports club in Lyon, where his former table tennis coach, Yves R., raped him several times. He had just qualified for the national finals when the nightmare began. According to the investigative collective Disclose, between the ages of 11 and 14 he was inappropriately touched or forced to perform fellatio around 150 times and anally violated 20 times. In 2000, as an adult, the victim revealed his story to his brother in a letter and pressed charges against the coach immediately afterwards. After a six-year investigation, Yves R. was convicted to five years’ imprisonment, three of which will be spent on probation, on multiple counts of rape.
The sports club in Pleubian, where Roland F., 72, taught archery. According to the investigative media collective Disclose, in 2000 he had already been convicted of sexually assaulting minors in his family. In 2007, Roland F. joined the archery club in Paimpol without having his criminal record examined. In 2016, he founded the club in Pleubian. On 19 August 2019, he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for sexual assault. This time, he will definitely not be allowed to work with children again.
The father of a victim. His daughter, a 15-year-old Breton triathlete, was raped by her coach in his car in January 2018. For a year, she did not dare tell her parents. They immediately reported the crime to the club. Nothing has happened yet. The girl’s assailant has not yet been arrested and is still active as a coach. According to the investigative collective Disclose, he denies everything and is considered innocent in this phase of the procedure.
In 2017, a French swimmer reported to the police that she had been sexually assaulted at the age of 14 by her swimming teacher, Mathieu D. The legal inquiries against him continue; according to the law, he must be presumed innocent throughout the entire duration of the procedure. This is the swimming pool where the victim now practices – far from her old pool in Clamart. The location and identity of the victim must remain anonymous.
Amélie and her mother, Muriel Le Gallou, at the archery clubhouse in Pleubian. Amélie’s former coach, Roland F., tried to assault her. “She screamed at him and managed to get away”, says Amélie’s mother. On 2 April 2019, Roland F. was arrested. The investigators found images of child pornography on his hard drive. They also found an entry in the police records. As far back as 2000, Roland F. had been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for sexually assaulting minors in his own family.
A symbolic representation of a tennis court at a French sports club. Over a period of eight months, the investigative collective Disclose examined the topic of sexual violence in the world of French sport. This venture into the closed world of amateur and professional clubs demonstrates the inability, and the unwillingness, of sports clubs and authorities to address a real problem.
A ten-year-old victim of sexual violence at archery practice in Pleubian. Former coach Roland F., 72, molested both this girl and her eleven-year-old sister, touched their buttocks and put his hands in their trousers. On the night it happened, the two children were visiting their coach’s home in Lanmodez. Pursuant to the charges pressed by the girls’ mother, Solène Guyomard, Roland F. was charged with sexual assault of minors on 2 April 2019.
It is a story of shattered dreams and traumatised young athletes: Martina Cirese photographs victims of sexual violence, and their families, in France. A 21-year-old swimmer, two triathletes, ten and 15 years old respectively, and a former table-tennis player in his forties tell their horrific tales, which Cirese captures in sensitive portraits. The photographer visits her subjects at home, accompanies them to their training sessions and to the places where the sexual attacks took place. She hides their faces to protect their identities, yet nonetheless shows their resilience. Many of the culprits continue to coach children – in football, gymnastics, track and field, archery, roller skating or chess. Every second one has already been convicted of earlier sexual crimes. This reveals grave defects in the clubs, local and national authorities and the justice system. The victims seek justice and struggle to be heard.
- Abuse
- Youth
*1988 in Rome, Italy
Martina Cirese studied Photography at the ISFCI in Rome and History at the Sorbonne in Paris, where she researched totalitarian regimes. Since 2012 she has been working as a freelance photographer, primarily for women’s and LGBTQ campaigns by the Unhate Foundation of United Colors of Benetton. Her works have appeared in GEO, The Guardian, National Geographic, Time and other publications.
