“Faced with this violence, we have been silent for too long” : fourteen French chess players denounce the sexist or sexual violence they have suffered, on the part of “chess players, trainers, arbiters or managers”. In the open letter that the signatories published on Twitter (renamed X) on Thursday August 3, we can read that it took ” time “ and gather ” courage “, for this speech to exist. “We, chess players”, is titled the open letter, as well as the X account created to make the press release visible. But those who have suffered this violence, “whether verbal, written or physical”, are players, coaches, referees, leaders who all evolve in the world of this sporting discipline that is chess.
“For fear to change sides”
Today, these women speak “so that fear and guilt change sides. So that the perpetrators of this violence can no longer act with impunity. » To denounce “this harassment and aggression” as one of “main reasons” why young girls and women stop playing chess.
The French Chess Federation encouraged the release of this word by stating in a message published on X to stand “alongside the victims and witnesses of gender-based and sexual violence”. The Federation, which provides its “full support”has set up, as can be read in the open letter, “available resources” on his website, “as well as a reporting procedure to the Ministry of Sports”available at the site of the association Colossus with feet of clay. The association, which recognizes this “courageous speech”, announced on his account X that she would work with the French Chess Federation to be “heard and followed by action”.