Can we please stop defending known sexual assailants? As an activist and educator who has long been involved in the domestic and sexual violence movements, I do understand the nuances of these issues and the need for a more careful, less stigmatizing approach to those who have been accused but yet to be found guilty. But in so many cases, the accusations are clearly founded, and criminal justice, albeit a flawed system in its own right, it clear about one’s guilt.
Yet, as a culture, the U.S still manages to defend known assailants. No better indicator of this is in the recent comments made by Michigan State University’s Interim President John Engler. Engler proclaimed that the victims of Nassar’s assaults were enjoying some type of fame from their challenging time confronting not only USA Gymnastics and Nassar but MSU as well. He said, “You’ve got people, they are hanging on and this has been … there are a lot of people who are touched by this, survivors who haven’t been in the spotlight,” Engler told the Detroit News. “In some ways, they have been able to deal with this better than the ones who’ve been in the spotlight who are still enjoying that moment at times, you know, the awards and recognition.” It was, sadly, not the first time Engler fought against recognizing the realities of sexual assault or affording resources to victims.
Granted, MSU’s Board of Trustees quickly decided to ask Engler to resign and he did, but the problem remains that he and others actually believe that victims report sexual assault and share their stories publicly out of some need for attention. Engler did not mention the comments in his letter of resignation, however.
Without a doubt, the magnitude of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal is overwhelming. Former USA Gymnastics Team Doctor Nassar was given a prison sentence of 40 to 175 years in Ingham County, Michigan, for sexually assaulting hundreds of athletes in his charge over the course of decades and later a 60-year sentence on child pornography charges. Nassar, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who performed osteopathic manipulation, which involves a doctor using his or her hands to move a patient’s muscles and joints with techniques that include stretching, gentle pressure and resistance, maintained for over a year after the allegations were first levied that he was performing legitimate therapeutic services.
Nassar did eventually plead guilty to criminal sexual conduct, acknowledging that he assaulted victims who were all no more than 16 years old and some younger than 13. At the sentencing hearing, 156 women, including Olympic gymnasts, shared their outrage about Nassar, USA Gymnastics, and MSU.
The scandal embroiled more than just Nassar himself, however. Athletes alleged that they repeatedly reported Nassar’s assaults to coaches and administrators in the athletic department, starting as early as 1997, to no avail. Yet, despite the replacement of MSU President Lou Anna Simon and several USA Gymnastics Board Members, Engler had the audacity to suggest that the scandal was little more than a publicity grab. This is not only appalling but is surely indicative of rape culture, whereby many males, and some females, believe that false allegations based on regretted sexual encounters or financial gain are far more common than they are in reality. While the FBI says approximately two to eight percent of rape allegations are false, many believe that nearly half are. This disjuncture between fact and reality lies at the heart of rape culture.
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Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Engler_(cropped).jpg