Accusation against Alejandro Ramirez

[Carl Hibbard]

But please report posts I am back watching again.

It is just no longer possible to read every post fully so I have been skim reading maybe that is why the issues - do none of the people actually posting all day still work full time?

[Matt Bridgeman]

This is a lift from Sabrina's Twitter/X feed today;

UPDATE: I released 4 stories about some horrific experiences in the chess world, which involved sexual harassment on a minor, racism and rape. After these stories came out, several other women came forward about their own experiences, highlighting the toxic culture.

The stories were picked up by several major outlets including The Independent, BBC and The Daily Mail. It highlighted a major issue in the chess world - that misogyny and sexual harassment is overlooked and ignored. In some cases, it’s even encouraged. It is not just one federation, but multiple, with FIDE - the governing body right at the top, ignoring the issue and in some instances, rewarding the perpetrators. It’s been several weeks and many people have supported our cry for action and want to see some change.

I am happy to see that Aga Milewska has been working really hard to develop a safeguarding policy for the ECF. However, she appears to be the only one who cares about this issue. She’s reached out to me personally to offer support and clearly wants change. Meanwhile, there are threads on the English Chess Forum discussing the sexual assaults and the reactions are as follows: - People calling me a liar - People saying “what’s the big deal?” - People saying it’s not their issue if men are bad - People generally being disgusting.

It got so disrespectful, I felt I had to say something. I spoke up two times and spent an hour crafting each message with important things to say. The first message was completely ignored and no one responded. The second time, the moderator locked the thread after my post. Now, there’s a plea to completely remove all traces of that thread, and suggestions that I’m the bad guy in all this. So, once again, they just want to silence us. I feel as though I’m not allowed a voice and they will never care about the safety of women within chess.

It’s so incredibly sad to think of how many talented women do not play chess anymore due to the way they’ve been treated. And the “officials” in the English Chess Federation just don’t seem to care. Worse still… they are showing the behaviour that we’re complaining about. I do not understand how this can be seen as acceptable. In any company/organisation, there are laws against this. Why are there none in chess? Will chess continue to be a game where women will get abused, both physically and emotionally and no one does anything about it?

Or will someone finally stand up and do what’s right?! We need REAL ACTION before women feel safe. We need multiple allies to stand by us and help support us. If you think this treatment of women is wrong, then please speak up! Make your federation do something about it.

[Carl Hibbard]

I don’t think I did all that but accept Sabrina's frustration.

[Matt Bridgeman]

I won’t keep posting Twitter/X comments, but I thought Aga Milewska‘a response was worth adding;

I have just read it comments and I think I have to respond. With my ECF Director of Women’s Chess hat on… Of course you’re completely right about what’s going on about sexual harassment/abuse etc in the chess world. But I was disappointed by what you said about the ECF.

I have approach you personally as I know you and support you, but other ECF directors approached me to ask if I would be willing to reach out to you to offer support, which I responded that I already did that. I’m just one of the ECF team who are working hard with safeguarding.

Ecf team to review and update (note – not develop) our safeguarding policies. A lot of what has been said on the forum is disgraceful, but the ECF directors have no part in that. Which is sad. I sometimes read the comments and boiling inside but as a director I can’t respond.

We’re very unhappy with the comments that one ECF official has been making – but that person doesn’t report to the ECF Board, so we can’t stop it happening. The ECF Board are working hard to reach out to women in chess – we’re not perfect, but we’re absolutely taking the issue seriously. Just to say also that ecforum has nothing to do with the ECF - we have no control over what’s posted there. We can’t do nothing regarding what happened to you in the past , it’s so horrible but we can do everything to stop from happening now.

We will do everything that women’s and girls will feel safe and happy in chess world and if any issue will happen, I will be the first to react.

[Chris Goodall]

If you're a person of any gender who has experienced sexualised behaviour that violated your boundaries, and the people best placed to deal with it are the community of chess organisers, then please come forward and speak your truth. It should be clear even from this "disgusting" thread that you will find no shortage of people willing to advocate for you - certainly a higher proportion than in the general population. The idea that there is a monolithic "chess community" capable of enforcing toxic standards of behaviour - again, look around this forum; chess players cannot agree on the colour of poop. The particularly lurid claim that "when you beat someone, it's described as you raped them" is based on a retelling of a story about a small clique of male players three decades ago; there may be other schools of thought as to whether the entire chess world is like that, is all I will say.

[Matt Bridgeman]

I noticed in this weekends 4NCL Congress there’s only 9 female players out of 162 across all sections. Just 5.5%, which I’m sure is a bit unusually low for 4NCL congresses I’d imagine.

Generally England female chess is definitely on the upsurge, but I guess it would only take the bulk to stop on their late teens and it does wither on the vine. It’s probably quite a small group of around 20 we’re talking about, so it might not take a lot of negativity to have an impact.

Is the ECF confidentially at least making sure they know who the characters in Sabrina’s accounts are, and making sure aren’t routinely put into teams and coaching positions without a second thought?

For parents who are worried about the safety of their children, are freedom of information requests to the ECF about complaints regarding say players/coaches possible?

How long are the ECF actually retaining records of complaints made?

[Mick Norris]

Do chess bodies have formal complaints records?

I am not aware of any in the MCF (formal records, we have had a complaint about reducing entry fees at the recent congress to encourage female participation, some men really don't get it)

[NickFaulks]

For parents who are worried about the safety of their children, are freedom of information requests to the ECF about complaints regarding say players/coaches possible?

Have you considered just asking?

[Matt Bridgeman]

For parents who are worried about the safety of their children, are freedom of information requests to the ECF about complaints regarding say players/coaches possible?

Have you considered just asking?

Back in with your positive suggestions Nick?

Sabrina says I believe she twice made complaints regarding ECF members. Let’s say they sounded to a reasonable person a lot like a criminal offence. But Sabrina never had any positive action taken. What are the ECF doing when they receive complaints like that now? Are they making a proper written diary entry? Are they retaining that information for a set amount of time? Is that not a minimum an organisation should be aiming for?

[NickFaulks]

For parents who are worried about the safety of their children, are freedom of information requests to the ECF about complaints regarding say players/coaches possible?

Have you considered just asking?

Back in with your positive suggestions Nick?

I thought it was. If my children were still of that age and I were worried, it is the first thing I would do. How can it be wrong?

[Simon Myles]

I noticed in this weekends 4NCL Congress there’s only 9 female players out of 162 across all sections. Just 5.5%, which I’m sure is a bit unusually low for 4NCL congresses I’d imagine.)



-
I understand that there were also 9 female participants in the comparable 2022 event, so whilst numbers have not increased, they don't appear to be unusually low for this event and location.

[Pete Heaven]

This weekend sees the largest congress in Wales for a decade...and perhaps a lot more. 5 female participants out of 141. 3.5%.

[Roger Lancaster]

Have you considered just asking?

Back in with your positive suggestions Nick?

I thought it was. If my children were still of that age and I were worried, it is the first thing I would do. How can it be wrong?

As far as coaches are concerned, the ECF already operates a list of registered coaches, each of whom has had to submit an Enhanced DBS check. In other words, anyone with a past record suggesting he or she is a risk to children or other vulnerable people shouldn't be on the list. Of course, possession of a clear past record isn't a total guarantee - some perpetrators aren't caught for a long time so it's still caveat emptor - but it's probably as much as the ECF can reasonably be expected to do. There are, of course, plenty of entirely respectable coaches who for one reason or another choose not to register so their absence from the list isn't necessarily a negative factor but it's something parents should bear in mind.

[Matt Bridgeman]

Back in with your positive suggestions Nick?

I thought it was. If my children were still of that age and I were worried, it is the first thing I would do. How can it be wrong?

As far as coaches are concerned, the ECF already operates a list of registered coaches, each of whom has had to submit an Enhanced DBS check. In other words, anyone with a past record suggesting he or she is a risk to children or other vulnerable people shouldn't be on the list. Of course, possession of a clear past record isn't a total guarantee - some perpetrators aren't caught for a long time so it's still caveat emptor - but it's probably as much as the ECF can reasonably be expected to do. There are, of course, plenty of entirely respectable coaches who for one reason or another choose not to register so their absence from the list isn't necessarily a negative factor but it's something parents should bear in mind.

We do know this stuff. But on the flip-side both Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris would have passed a DBS check. These cases are about historical unreported matters that are coming to a head now. It’s more about what the ECF is going to do about reports coming to them, and how much more they can do to protect people if they are properly following up on information Sabrina (and others) are willing to provide.

[Roger Lancaster]

I thought it was. If my children were still of that age and I were worried, it is the first thing I would do. How can it be wrong?

As far as coaches are concerned, the ECF already operates a list of registered coaches, each of whom has had to submit an Enhanced DBS check. In other words, anyone with a past record suggesting he or she is a risk to children or other vulnerable people shouldn't be on the list. Of course, possession of a clear past record isn't a total guarantee - some perpetrators aren't caught for a long time so it's still caveat emptor - but it's probably as much as the ECF can reasonably be expected to do. There are, of course, plenty of entirely respectable coaches who for one reason or another choose not to register so their absence from the list isn't necessarily a negative factor but it's something parents should bear in mind.

We do know this stuff. But on the flip-side both Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris would have passed a DBS check. These cases are about historical unreported matters that are coming to a head now. It’s more about what the ECF is going to do about reports coming to them, and how much more they can do to protect people if they are properly following up on information Sabrina (and others) are willing to provide.

Pete - Unless you know more than I do, which I readily admit is possible, the assertion that "Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris would have passed a DBS check" requires qualification. I've no reason to doubt that they would have passed the basic DBS check, as neither appear to have had relevant criminal convictions, but my understanding is that the enhanced DBS check goes deeper than this (otherwise there would be no point in having an enhanced check) and for example accesses the social services database to check for such items as allegations of domestic violence or other relevant matters which are suspicious but did not lead to prosecution. Whether this would have flagged anything up for Messrs Saville and Harris I don't know. This is slightly off topic but, in the context of coaches, it's important to know what an enhanced check implies.