Dr Vertommen holds an MA in Ethics, an MSc in Criminology and a PhD in Health Sciences. She is a senior researcher in the Safeguarding Sport and Society team at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium, and director of Arch Safeguarding, a consultancy supporting sport organisations in strengthening their safeguarding policies and practices. Her research focuses on the prevalence and prevention of interpersonal violence against children and adolescents in sport. She currently leads SPARK, a multi-year international research and subgranting initiative building the evidence base for the prevention of child sexual abuse in competitive sport. Dr Vertommen has consulted for major international sport organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, contributing to the development of safeguarding tools, policies and procedures, and was among the experts who drafted the 2024 IOC Consensus Statement on Interpersonal Violence and Safeguarding in Sport. At the international level, Dr Vertommen is a member of the Council of Europe’s Safe Sport Pool of International Experts, the Academic Advisory Board of the IOC Certificate Safeguarding Officer in Sport, and the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on Gender Equality in Sport.
