Systemic Cover-up of Sexual Abuse in the USA Gymnastics
Before there was Athlete A on Netflix there was Rachael Denhollander’s book “What is a Girl Worth?”
Before “What is a Girl Worth?” There was a five-year legal and media strategy to bring charges against Larry Nasser who sexually abused approximately 200 women and girls. (He was eventually convicted).
Before this legal and media strategy, upwards of 200 survivors brought their complaints to the USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. Complaints that were discarded in a filing cabinet, later to disappear during the investigation.
Before the complaints, the legal case, the book, and the documentary, 500 women and girls were sexually abused. And this abuse was covered up not just by one or two people but by an entire system.
When abuse happens, and continues to happen, look for the system behind it. Who has the power? Who are the stakeholders? Who has something to lose? The usual culprits of money and power are frequently involved, but when you lay out the evidence—such as 500 victims—you wonder if there’s even more going on.
Rachael Denhollander used William Wilberforce’s speech to parliament—revealing the atrocities of the slave trade—as an inspiration for her own when she and nearly 200 women gave victim impact statements against Larry Nassar. Indeed, this same speech was part of my inspiration for Tears of Eden.
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
Photo by Pavel Kalenik on Unsplash