A Western University sociology professor is hoping the disbanding of a London minor hockey team fuels more conversations about appropriate behaviours. The West London Minor Hockey Association confirmed Thursday that a U-15 team was disbanded in January. Reports indicate the step was taken after videos were allegedly recorded in a dressing room shower area and posted to social media. Western researcher Kaitlynn Mendes specializes in violence and youth and tech-facilitated sexual violence. “I think that it says something about how the people involved probably thought it was a joke and maybe weren’t really thinking through the ways that taking secret sexual photos of people violates their right to privacy, their bodily autonomy,” she told CTV News. Mendes respects people who volunteer to be coaches but says the incident highlights the need to be vigilant. She stresses that messages should be stringent and repeated frequently to reach young people. “I think it’s important to be reinforcing these messages several times. At the beginning of the season. Especially as the season goes on. Maybe teens kind of forget. So, just kind of like having reminders. But it is also difficult because, yeah, many of these coaches are volunteers. They’re parents. They’re busy,” she said. Mendes also believes it’s important to have conversations around what to do if sexualized images do get posted online. “Do your kids know that even if they don’t ever want to come talk to you that there’s other places like the Kids Help Phone online where they can get support,” she said. “If those images do get out there are some ways of getting them taken down. So, within Canada there’s a website called Project Arachnid that actually scans the internet. If anybody tried to post those pictures to Instagram or a public website there are ways of getting those images removed,” she explained. “Because if you’ve had those secret sexual photos of you taken, and they’re circulating, probably the key thing that you want is to have them taken down.” Mendes doesn’t believe that criminal charges will be necessary in this circumstance. Three coaches are suspended pending the disciplinary hearing and two players will be subject to Hockey Canada’s independent third-party process.
