Dr. Lawrence Nassar, the former USA gymnastics national team osteopathic physician, since September of 2016, has been accused of sexually abusing and molesting over 140 women, including 3 of the 5 Final Five: Raisman, Douglas and Biles. Many public allegations have been from former Olympic gymnasts. Nassar was also involved with Michigan State University as the athletic trainer. Currently, he has plead guilty to 7 counts of first-degree sexual assault and 3 additional charges of sexual assault, and has been sentenced to at least 60 years in prison for federal child pornography charges.
Also, there has been severe criticism (as there should be) due to USA Gymnastics’ and MSU’s handling of the situation. According to previous a 2016 investigation, USA Gymnastics dismissed the allegations and failed to report it to authorities. MSU reported that their first complaint was received in 2014, but after some investigating, no violation was found, and Nassar was allowed to continue practicing with restrictions. Yesterday, 3 members of the USAG Board of Directors resigned. Kathie Klages, the former Michigan gymnastics coach, retired in 2017 amidst the allegations and investigation. People are pushing for the current president Lou Ann Simon to resign, but seems unlikely as of now.
For the last few days, Nassar’s victims have been going up to the stand and testifying against him at his sentencing hearing. The hearing is being held at Ingham Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan. This event relates back to government and the courts obviously because of the current hearing. In my opinion, USA Gymnastics and MSU should have taken immediate action regarding the allegations, but as we have all seen recently, sexual abuse victims are often brushed off and disregarded. This is also connected to the recent #MeToo movement.
- What do you think that these organizations should have done and should do in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again?
- What do you think will happen to athletic doctors/trainers in any other field? Will more stricter restrictions take place? More background checks?
9 comments:
I think that the entire USA gymnastics board should resign/be fired. The second USA gymnastics and the MSU staff heard about rumors or allegations regarding sexual assault they should have been reported and investigated much more seriously. It is mind-blowing how someone like this could be in a position of power for so long, even after there were rumors circulating about him. I think that this is a wake up call for everyone, and it is shocking that it took so long for justice to be served. I think that anyone working for colleges and anyone working for/with a United States National team should have a through and frequent background checks, and I think colleges or teams should check in with the players themselves to make sure nothing bad is happening, and that they are doing their job correctly and professionally.
I think that the very fact that many of these people committing sexual assault are now being brought to light and accused publicly is already a step in the right direction. I think that it's good that we creating this culture, both in the public and private world, where people are comfortable reporting and accusing these perpetrators of sexual offenses, which I think can make many more people not only aware but also respondent of these issues that might otherwise be taken lightly. Ultimately, repercussions should immediately be taken against the board, not only as a form of justice but also to set an example and concretely solidify accusations, which too often just dissolve into nothingness. Of course, there will always be people who abuse the system by making false rape accusations, but that's a whole other topic entirely, and ultimately having the medium for these vulnerable people to speak out is very encouraging.
It is upsetting that the USA gymnastics and MSU staff disregarded the rumors or allegations against him. By not further investigating, they gave him the power to continue, which is horrific, as they heard about it and failed to do anything about it. It is disappointing that they did not notice this before as there could have been less victims and issues. I think that this is important to take note of as this has been occurring for so long now. I think it's important to look into the people they hire, but also to check in with the players multiple times to ensure their safety.
I do think that the board should be fired because this all happened under their control. The amount of girls that were sexually harassed and abused lets us know that the board did not try hard enough to see what was happening under their control which backfired on them. A group of people like them who are in higher power should know about sexual assault happening in their own facilities especially since it happened to so many girls.
I have been following this story for quite a while now and it is so appalling. Just watching all the testimonies on Youtube has broken my heart and I cannot fathom how Dr. Lawrence Nessar has gotten away with this kind of behavior for 30+ years. I definitely agree with all the comments above about the stricter regulations that need to be in place in all instances, not just organizations such as USA Gymnastics and MSU. I think that there are so many people at fault here. Obviously, the board and staff at USA Gymnastics are at fault for not further investigating and taking the side of the countless girls that raised concerns prior, but so are many of the parents or other adults that were around the girls. When I was watching the testimonies of the girls, many of them were saying that even when they did manage to raise doubts about it or question the uncomfortable feeling they got during their sessions with Dr. Lawrence Nessar, the people around them wouldn't believe them or would just brush it off because he was regarded as the best physician/trainer in the field and they were just young girls. I believe that this mindset is what needs to change first in order for any organization to prevent instances like this one in the future. Also, in Ali's testimony, she was saying how he was allowed to be in a hotel room alone with the girls and visit them whenever he wanted and even though this goes against USA Gymnastic's guidelines, they pretty much just turned a blind eye towards this unprofessional and illegal act because of his position and reputation as the "best physician" in the field.
In response to your second question, I hope that stricter regulations will take place in all fields, even in any old doctor's office to prevent events like this in the future. And background checks are a must, although I doubt that they will be much help since they don't reveal a person's true intentions and many people such as Dr. Nessar manage to get past them just fine.
As a result of this case, USAG has tried place new regulations on club gyms across the country to try to protect young gymnasts from sexual predators. However, as Valorie Kondos Field, the coach of UCLA gymnastics said, "The monster is the culture of USAG." Gymnastics is a really unique sport, and it teaches many life lessons, but it comes at a great cost. Ultimately, the tone is set at the top, and ever since USAG has become a stronger competitor at the Olympics and other World Championships, the culture of gymnastics has shifted to being focused on winning at all costs. Silence is one of the reasons Larry Nassar was enabled to keep treating these girls who were told he was the best of the best and that he could heal their injuries. The girls attending the monthly camps where Nassar worked, were the ones whose dreams were to go to the Olympics; they would do anything and everything that it took to achieve their goal. The coaches, like the gymnasts, are influenced by the intense culture at the ranch. These coaches look to successful coaches like Marta Karolyi and imitate her coaching style which results in an environment where there is always high pressure and fear. This harsh atmosphere leads to a lack of communication between coaches and their athletes who are afraid to speak up. In a perfect world, communication between coaches, doctors, athletes, and their parents would not be an issue, but this will not change until the entire culture of gymnastics changes. This change needs to be initiated at the top and hopefully, the future of USAG will be able to develop into a safer place for young gymnasts to chase their dreams. On a personal level, I have been to the Karolyi Ranch. It is extremely remote, but there is a certain level of pride that comes with being invited to train there. Gymnasts who go there expect to be trained by the best coaches, but it is the coaches, doctors, trainers, and everyone who enabled Nassar to continue treating them who have let them down. It is a good start on USAG’s part that they have parted ways with the Karolyi Ranch and have canceled all further camps until they find a new training facility. It is important to know that these problems do not only occur at the elite level. Many gymnasts who are not aspiring Olympians face emotional and mental abuse at the club level as they work towards their goals of doing gymnastics in college. Hopefully, with all that has happened with Larry Nassar, club coaches and elite coaches alike will be introspective of the way they treat their athletes as USAG works as a whole to repair and improve the culture of gymnastics.
The entire department must face the consequences that follow, no matter how harsh they may seem. Hundreds of girls were abused and taken advantage of by people they were told to trust. The department let this occur right under their noses and ignored all signs that something was not right. This is so upsetting but it also serves as yet another example of rape culture, blaming the victim and defending the abuser. I am glad the young gymnasts are at last taking a stand and disabling their fears from silencing them. As Natalie said, this problem is rooted much more deep than one can imagine and while changing the entire gymnastics atmosphere is incredibly difficult, we need to start somewhere. This could mean a lot of things but I think in this case we must start by punishing those who let this happen and offer support to the victims.
I think that USA gymnastics board should be fired for not speaking up and protecting their girls that lead them to win and gain them more money. I think it is partly their fault for allowing this to continue on for so long. I also find it very surprising that they did not think to investigate the situation more thoroughly after SEVERAL girls went to tell the truth. I do think that the board needs to start taking this more serious and impose background checks and actually listen to their gymnast so they hopefully don't ever have this issue again.
After watching the victims testimonies, it broke my heart to see so many girls who are now strong women, go through all that pain. I believe that the department should be held accountable for what has happened. There were so many girls that were sexually harassed and abused, and I just feel so disgusted when the department did not put enough effort into looking into the case. How could they just let this continue for so long?! In the future, I think more background checks on the trainers would help prevent something like this from happening again. But also as Allie mentioned, talking to the individual players would be the best to make sure they feel safe. There are so many cases like this coming out, and I hope that those who have been sexual harassed or abused in any field, speaks out about it, and hold their abusers accountable.
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