The Dark Side of Sport

The Dark Side of Sport is an on-going research on sexual violence in the world of French sport. The series combines anonymous portraits of the victims with photos of the places connected to their memories.

The Dark Side of Sport is an on-going research on sexual violence in the world of French sport. I started to work on this topic in November 2019 in collaboration with the NGO Disclose – the first non-profit investigative media organisation in France.

My assignment was to photograph the most emblematic victims and their families. I asked them to share with me their stories and to pose for a series of portraits in their apartments, during their trainings or where the assaults occurred. The challenge was to hide their faces to protect their identity, while showing at the same time their resilience.

The investigation by Disclose looks at 77 cases of sexual violence in France which were either covered up or which could have been avoided. Numerous perpetrators involved remained in their jobs. Beginning in the 1970s and up to the present day, the cases involve 276 victims and 28 different fields of sport.

Disclose shows major failings by clubs, federations and the justice system. These include the lack of monitoring of sexual delinquents and the inaction of officials and sports bodies. The extent of sexual abuse and the recurrent nature of the problem calls for urgent preventive action.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS

Over a period of eight months in 2019, the NGO Disclose has explored the issue of sexual violence in the world of French sport. I have been commissioned to be the photographer of this investigation called "The Dark Side of Sport" , featured for the first time on December 11, 2019 (https://abus-sport.disclose.ngo/en/).

My assignment was to photograph the victims and the places connected to the abuses, protecting the identity of the subjects, in a team of two journalists and a director, supervised by an editor, during two different trips across France in November 2019. Since 2020 I have been carrying on the project on my own, following the map of the 77 cases reported by Disclose throughout France.

Disclose's journalism is entirely independent, without subscription and accessible to the greatest number. It has one objective: to reveal abuses and hold financial and political powers to account.