stopharassmentinssports

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Op-Ed: Inconspicuous, Not Insignificant

I hope you have paid attention to the countless accusation’s athletes have made regarding sexual assault in their respective sports. You likely have seen social media platforms discussing the aspects of these accusations. The perpetrator could have been a coach, staff member, or a fellow athlete. You may have heard of these acts, but you probably did not go and research any particular case. Chances are, you also did not reflect on any of the significant number of cases to help yourself bring awareness of sexual assault within your sport of choice, whether you watch or participate.

The cases you have seen are the tip of the iceberg compared to the total amount of cases of sexual assault in sports. So many cases go unreported and unnoticed.  Why is that?  Assault charges and cases in sports go unnoticed possibly because it is difficult to determine exactly how many cases of sexual assault are not reported by the victims.  However, given the lack of available statistics, a number of anonymous surveys suggest the problem is much bigger than is being reported. An article titled Sexual Assault of Young Athletes stated, “2%-8% of children are currently being sexually assaulted in the context of sports”. That data demonstrates that approximately 2 out of every 25 minors in sports are sexually assaulted or harassed in some way. It is very difficult to get exact data on sexual assault at college level sports because there are certain laws that do not allow that information to be open to the public. But with some of the cases discussed later, it shows that sexual assault is happening at that level, as well.

It could also possibly be that there is little press on these cases because no charges have been filed against the perpetrator. Some victims, understandably, want to go through the process of identification and reporting quickly and quietly. But it also may suggest no one really cares about sexual assault in sports. Or maybe no one is holding these perpetrators accountable for their disgusting actions at all. Or there could possibly be some sort of bias towards these victims of sexual abuse in their sport.

We may never know what is truly going on with sexual assault in sports because of the very small number of reported cases, but we can hope that people are beginning to awaken to an understanding that these vile actions come with vile consequences. We need more press on these topics because it will be the only way for athletes, and the communities surrounding them, to truly learn that they are being seen and heard and allow those indirectly affected to reflect on the problem of these sexual assaults in sports cases.

The Opposite Argument

Some may say that there are good and valid reason why these situations and cases of sexual assault in sports are not and should not be in the mainstream media. Their main reasoning seems to argue that giving the cases of sexual assault in sports a prominent space in public reporting would fundamentally change the way we look at sports or perceive certain athletes.

We idolize our sports heroes, including coaches, and though we know they are human and fallible we absolutely don’t want them to be so.  Indeed, in many ways our society has chosen to use sports as an escape from some of the harsh realities of life.  These instances of abuse, then, invade that ‘escape.’  In addition, some might also argue that we are actually protecting the victims by discouraging publicity.

My Argument

“You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain”        

— Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight

The answer to the opposing argument is, yes, of course, more publicity is going to change how we look at sports and certain athletes. When there is justice for these victims, especially where the perpetrator is otherwise well-loved by the media and spectators, the community should roundly turn on them and condemn their actions because their “god”-like status is a revocable gift that has meaning and consequences.

It can and must change for the better. That day will only be worth celebrating when the perpetrators are banned from their sport, lose their job, tarnish their reputation, and/or have extreme media backlash. If an athlete, coach, or staff member does choose to sexually assault someone, they deserve to be punished. Such punishment should come swiftly and completely.

The most publicly, well-known, sexual assault cases in sports are cases that could have some sort of “appeal” factor.  These cases might draw more of an audience than cases of sexual assault that do not have that same variable. The factor could include a celebrity athlete being the predator or the victim, the situation or event that relates to the assault, or anything that will make a good headline.

Throughout my time researching cases, observing people’s and the media’s responses to sexual assault in sports, it seems as though there might be some sort of bias. There is a positive bias that could be towards sports, the positivity of sports, and what sports do for individuals.  

With the love of this sport, there absolutely is a bias that blinds what is happening behind closed doors in their beloved sport: sexual assault, harassment and discrimination. Some try very hard to “look on the bright side” of everything and only look at the positive. What I have theorized is that some almost purposefully “skip over” or do not look at the information that could possibly change the overall view of sports.

Those individuals do not want change in viewpoints because they do not want anything to “distract” them from what is really important, the actual playing of the sports. The assault and harassment forces people to look at sports for what they really can be, flawed. Just like any system that is praised for its excellence.

We ultimately have to change this “look on the bright side” view because it is invalidating these victims’ trauma and enabling further abuse. Those who have been assaulted by the coaches, fellow athletes, or sport staff members are looking for justice. We have to care, show empathy, and change our mindset so we can prevent any further form of assault or harassment in these sports.

Larry Nassar v. Scott Shaw

The main difference between the sexual assault case of Larry Nassar and Scott Shaw is how widespread their actions are known. Even if someone is not part of the sports community, they inevitably know what happened with Larry Nassar. Even if someone is part of the sports community, they likely don’t know what happened with Scott Shaw.

Larry Nassar was a U.S. Gymnastics physician from Michigan. A lawsuit filed in 2016, which became more public in 2018, alleged that he sexually assaulted over “250 women and girls dating back to 1992”. Nassar is now serving his life sentence for those crimes.

Scott Shaw was an athletic trainer for the women’s swimming team at San Jose University. He has been accused of sexual assault by over 17 female swimmers since 2009. There have been NO charges filed against h im and he WAS NOT fired from his position as an athletic trainer. He actually resigned from this position on September 2nd, after old and new allegations were revisited by a new administrator.  

To be certain, there is a difference between the numbers of females sexually assaulted by each of these men. Does the number of victims really define how much sympathy towards the perpetrator we show? Are we really talking about showing sympathy towards sexual predators in specific sports? Why is the media so focused on numbers? Even one assaulted athlete should engender significant community outrage.  Why are overwhelming and shocking numbers required?  Are we so desensitized that only catastrophic loss is worthy of attention?

Heightened media coverage of these sexual assault cases does not mean that it is the “worst case we have seen so far”. Heightened media coverage merely means that there is a certain aspect of the assaults that is eye catching to most of the population. In Larry Nassar’s sexual assault case, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and Simone Biles are some of the most well-known Olympic gymnasts in the world who came forward in the media with their experience of assault with Larry Nassar.

Scott Shaw’s case did not grab most of the media’s attention because there have been no official charges filed, no legally recognized “proof”, and no current investigations. Therefore, no appeal. Seriously? We can do better.

What follows is what media is not showing you. Even though these cases are not mainstream, they are still so extremely important.

Jerry Sandusky v. “The Unknown”

Jerry Sandusky was the founder of the organization The Second Mile, which helped care for young boys who have an absent father figure in their life. He was also the former President of Penn State University. He was convicted of 8 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, 7 counts of indecent assault, 1 count of criminal intent to commit indecent assault, 9 counts of unlawful contact with minors, 10 counts of corruption of minors and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of children. That is 45 total charges against him.

I am comparing the case of Jerry Sandusky to “The Unknown” (an “as yet undisclosed” assault).  Based on what we do know, there is inevitably another case like it, but no one has talked about it and there is no media attention about it. We know that there are more sexual assault cases in the United States and in the world that have not yet come to light. That is the media’s fault for not digging into and fully covering these topics and our fault for not insisting that they include such stories. We absolutely must talk about these incidents otherwise they are going to be repeated endlessly without any meaningful change.

High profile cases shine a light on what the public might actually be interested in, a compelling story (often defined by its extreme and horrific level of tragedy). It absolutely can be something to tell your children for which to watch out. Something that will scare them enough so that it impacts their child to the point where they will learn from it. Something that will teach them how to respond to these types of dangerous situations. This is a positive side effect of a terrible case, but can it really be that this is the only way to educate and reach large numbers of people? I hope that is not true.  We do this work to ensure it will never be true.  We have to learn to make ourselves care about the smaller and less high-profile cases or we will never stop the big ones.

What You Can Do to Help This Cause

The best thing for you to do to help this cause is talk to every athlete you know and those close to them about this problem and how to identify and avoid it.  In addition, do your research and write columns, letters to the editor, or suggestions to media outlets to bring attention to the countless cases of sexual assault. Just because these cases might be inconspicuous does not mean the cases should remain insignificant in our consciousness. We must demand that the media and ourselves care about these sexual assault cases in sports, or else nothing will change in our society. Change is necessary to prevent our children, and their children from being put in these traumatic positions.

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Letter to OSU Athletic Director

September 20, 2020

Gene Smith

Director of Athletics at The Ohio State University

Dear Mr. Smith,

The recent lawsuits that have been filed against The Ohio State Universities athletic doctor, Richard Strauss, show that there has to be change in the way this university deals with sexual assault allegations. Because Richard Strauss took his own life in 2005, his victims cannot get justice in a more traditional way of charging him with assault. But, a way of recognizing and provide closure to these victims is by creating new rules, regulations, and ways to prevent sexual assault and prioritize sexual assault accusations in these sports.

With over 160 allegations of sexual assault, it’s disturbing that it took so long for someone to report these acts so that a proper investigation could be undertaken.  As you now know, there were many staff members who saw clear signs of a serious problem and willingly chose not to intervene to stop Strauss and his destructive behaviors.

Mr. Smith, you are someone who has the power to make a dramatic difference because you have such sweeping influence over one of the most storied athletic departments in the country. If you were to support creating new preventative regulations and processing steps, and ACTIVELY enforcing them, you could potentially save many of your own student athletes, and hundreds like them, from enduring life-long trauma. An example of legislative requirement that could be added to further protect these athletes is making reporting mandatory, not unlike child abuse reporting in schools. Such a rule could be applied to any staff member or fellow athlete that becomes aware of sexual abuse/assault/violence. With this rule, the person that has acquired that knowledge would be required to report this conflict to a higher ranked staff member, such as yourself, Janine Oman, Urban Meyer, or anyone who is reliable and can be trusted to protect the athlete. Once this incident has been reported, it could dovetail with existing law and the whistleblower could file a report with the U.S. Center for Safe Sport (https://uscenterforsafesport.org/report-a-concern/

or call (720)-531-0340 for further action can be taken.

I have lived in Ohio for most of my life. I have also been an athlete for about half of my life. Unfortunately, I have worried about my own protection in my sport of figure skating when it comes to sexual assault.  I have looked up to The Ohio State University for their top-tier athletic programs and facilities. Naturally, the ice-skating rink is my personal favorite athletic venue because I figure skate. I have competed at Ohio State skating facilities many times and loved it. I have personally seen the positive side of the athletic department. Sadly, I now also see the negative side of the athletic department through these events. This has drastically changed my view of the athletic department and the University as a whole. We can and must do better together.  

If we can’t actively make and enforce rules and regulations when it comes to sexual assault, abuse, violence, and other harmful acts, we should not bring in these athletes into our midst.  They deserve our absolute best.  We cannot change now what happened to those who have gone before, including the Strauss’ victims, but we can move forward in wisdom and ensure that what happened before will not happen on our watch again.  I would love to partner with you and the University in passing meaningful new legislation in this area.  

If you have any questions or would like to meet to discuss this with me further, please feel free to contact me. I can be reached at ahlstrommadalyn00@gmail.com, or (480)-363-7790 (cellphone).

Sincerely,

Madalyn Ahlstrom

A Concerned Athlete and Ohio State Supporter

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Voices Against Violence Event

There are women and men everywhere that have been sexually abused, assaulted and raped. 1 out of every 5 women and 1 out of every 71 men have been raped in their lifetime. If that is the case, shouldn’t there be resources available to those suffering from post-assault trauma, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and other effects?

In Dayton, Ohio as well as cities and countries all over the world, YWCA is a non-profit organization that is actively fighting for protection over women who have experienced sexual assault and rape. They have group sessions, clubs and resources for these women and girls. 

Since 1886, this organization has fought for equal rights, pay and treatment between males and female. Originally called the Young Women’s Christian Association, they are now just called the YWCA because they no longer have any religious affiliation and are religiously inclusive.  

Recently, they have branched out their resources as well as their missions. They are now actively working to eliminate racism in our world. The “Black Lives Matter” movement has been something that YWCA is participating in. 

An event called Voices Against Violence will be taking place on October 8th from 7:00am to 7:00pm on the online platform, Zoom. This event was made to “better reflect the platform it provides for both survivors and supporters to be a voice for change.” There will be many speakers and discussions throughout the 12-hour time period. 

Because of the long run time, they have made it more accessible by allowing you to come and go as you please. Unlike the even that has taken place in the past, where most will have to stay for the entire event. 

Please join this event on the 8th of October. It will bring to light issues that you may not be aware of, information that will shock you, and stories that will make you want to stand up and fight for change in our world.

For more information on this event, visit: https://www.ywcadayton.org/event/voices-against-violence-breakfast-3/?instance_id=13933

To register for this event, go to: https://www.ywcadayton.org/news-events/signature-events/domestic-violence-awareness-month/ywomen-breakfast/2020-voices-against-violence-registration/

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Open Letter to Parents of Young Athletes.

Dear Parents of young athletes,

What would you do if you knew your child was going to be approached by a sexual predator as a young athlete? Wouldn’t you do anything in your power to prepare your child for that encounter? There is no way for you to know for sure, so the best thing for you to do is to prepare now and assume that it may happen to your child. While the thought of that may make you feel helpless, there is a lot that you can do to help prepare your child if that does happen. Are you interested in knowing how to do that? Read on.

The first and the best thing that you can do to for your child to help prevent sexual assault in the future is to be close to them. What I mean by being close to them is having a relationship with your child where you can openly communicate. A way that you can start this open and positive parent-child relationship is by asking your child simple questions about their day, practice or how your child is feeling. Over time, your child will start to open up about how they are really feeling and how their day really went.

This open communication is likely the best thing we can do to prevent a predator from attacking.  You’ll learn that your child will give off cues. Those cues could be as simple as discomfort around certain people in their sport such as a coach, peer, opponent, or supervisor. Because you are close, you will recognize those cues as a warning sign, indicator, a potential problem and something that you will have to look into. Then you will be able to openly discuss the issue and determine if something more serious or inappropriate is going on. Don’t miss this opportunity to know your child and help them prevent a situation like assault from escalating.

Another great way that you, as a parent of a young athlete, can create a safe and secure environment is by talking openly about abuse, assault, and boundaries. Teaching your child the importance of boundaries could protect your child from a potentially traumatic experience.

Just a warning here. This next part will be a difficult but it must be done.

Start by discussing parts of their body that are not okay for others to see, touch, brush up against, or anything like that. Remember, you’re having this discussion so that if anything like this ever happens to them, they know how to deal with it because you have already told them what to do. Knowing that it is wrong will help them fight back and speak up. Make your child very aware that it is okay to say no. Then, when an uncomfortable or inappropriate situation with a coach or superior happens, or even in real life, for example, where a person forces themselves onto your child for a hug, saying no will be much easier and almost automatic. Having these uncomfortable conversations is the only way to building strong boundaries.

So, know that we have talked about what to do, now let’s talk about how to do it. Here is a conversation on how to go about a situation.

Your son is an 11-year old soccer player and has been playing for a little over 6 months. You two have always had a very close relationship and you recently had a conversation with him on boundaries and knowing/defining what sexual assault is. He brushed it off, but still confirmed that he understood what you said. One day after a successful game, the coach came over to your son, slapped him on the butt, twice, and said “Great job today, bud!”  He felt very uncomfortable about this situation, but determined that it was not sexual assault because he had said words of affirmation. He kept this incident a secret for two weeks. You started to notice that your child had discomfort around this coach, and started to play poorly in games. When the coach confronted your child by saying, “What happened out there? What are you doing?”, he started crying and ran off of the field straight to you. On the car ride home and at home, he revealed that he was assaulted by his coach.

How do you deal with this?  Let me tell you.

You never ask personal details. Since you and him have established a very open and close relationship, he will tell you what happened to the best of his abilities. The best way to respond to this is by giving them comfort. If this is a traumatic experience for him, he does not need you to give him advice or critique him for not telling you sooner. He is a child and has gone through something that most people don’t talk about. Please comfort you child. The next steps that you have to take is to make sure that this coach is reported to the U.S. Center for SafeSport and the supervisor of your team.

These are some straightforward but effective ways to try to protect your young athletes from a lifer altering encounter with a predator. Your kids deserve your best efforts here. Time to get to work because your child needs you more than ever.  

Stay safe, stay strong.

Sincerely,

A friend in the fight

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Stigma Surrounding Sexual Assault In Sports

“Why didn’t you say no? Why didn’t you stop them? Were you asking for it? What were you wearing? Did you reciprocate? Why didn’t you tell anyone? They are your coach, they would never do anything to harm their athletes. There are precautions that could have been taken, there are rules, if they were aware of the rule and precautions, they obviously didn’t sexually assault you”.

These are some statements that could have been said to some of the sexual assault survivors in the sports.

Imagine having one of the scariest, most traumatizing, and terrible moments of your life QUESTIONED BY SOMEONE WHO WAS NOT EVEN THERE. 

If a coach, fellow athlete, supervisor, or staff member has sexually assaulted you, you should report it as soon as possible because there are consequences that these predators will face. The coaches are required to take a SafeSport course that brings awareness to sexual assault, misconduct and coercion.  

There are ways you can prevent sexual assault in sports, before it even happens. Communicating with the athletes, defining what sexual abuse is, describing how to handle situations when in an uncomfortable setting, and teaching the athletes to say “no”. 

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Letter to the USA Today Editor

What if your story was the final piece needed to topple the terrible reign of a serial predator?

“The San Jose Reinvestigates Claims Athletic Trainer Inappropriately Touched Swimmers” article by Kenny Jacob and Rachel Axon describes that in 2009 at San Jose University, 17 women from the women’s swimming and diving team amassed a 300-page description of alleged acts by the Director of Sports Medicine, Scott Shaw. 

In 2018, the new University President sent the file to the Title IX office to reopen the investigation. The investigation remained inactive for a lack of evidence. 

Well, what if just one more voice was needed? What if your story could corroborate the other women’s stories and provide sufficient evidence to convict Shaw and ensure he could never work in sports medicine again?

But what difference would it make if one person came out with their experience with Shaw? Why would my situation change the investigations conclusion? Because what if your experience was so different from the others, and showed harsher effects of sexual abuse. Your story can show San Jose State that this man is a dangerous predator and needs to be criminalized. 

To the women who may have had a similar experience with Shaw, PLEASE SPEAK UP. Your courageous, powerful words could result in Shaw’s conviction and could provide closure to all of these now unheard victims’ voices.

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Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017

This bill was introduced to congress in May of 2017. Throughout the rest of 2017, the Senate and House of Representatives worked together to create a reformed bill that was eventually passed by the House of Representatives, Senate and signed by the President (Donald Trump) by the beginning of 2018. 

This act directly impacts “youth sport organizations or individuals that participate in interstate and international athletic competitions”. Organizations and individuals that are not interstate or internationally competitive are still under the protection of the Safe Sport Act. 

The ways this act combats sexual assault are:

1. Requiring all adults that are directly involved and have direct contact with the athletes that are minors to take a sexual abuse prevention training. 

2. Enforcing a mandatory reporting rule where in a situation where any adult directly involved and has direct contact to athletes that are minors sees any form of sexual harassment, abuse, or violence HAS to report it to the US Center for Safe Sport as well as applicable law enforcement agencies. 

3. Enforcing sexual abuse, harassment, assault, or violence prevention policies. An example of these policies is limiting one-on-one interactions between a minor (athlete) and a superior without another adults supervision. 

I have experienced combative effort #3 first hand. I am an athlete and at points I do have to communicate with my coaches or superiors via phone or text message. Since I am a minor, I either have to have a parent or another adult on the chain to supervise the conversation. As a coach and a minor, I am still required to have another adults supervision when I am contacting a parent of a student or the adult student.

Although there is still plenty of work to be done, the law is taking major and important steps in protecting these young athletes from acts of sexual assault, harassment, abuse, and violence. 

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Abuse in Sports is Starting to Get the Attention it Needs in Order to Create Change

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we demand social change

Hello :) This page was created to demand social change and bring awareness to the severity and numerous cases of athletes that have been sexually harassed or abused by fellow athletes, coaches, trainers and other adults.