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.