Sexual abuse case demands our attention
Richie McCaw is one of the most overrated All Blacks in history. The Black Caps are only playing well because they’ve had weak opposition. The Warriors should be kicked out of the NRL. A doctor has been jailed for 40 to 175 years in the US for abusing hundreds of female athletes.
You were probably having a lot of fun there, ranting away at my highly flammable comments until you got to the last line. That line has the yuck factor. You’d probably prefer it if it quietly took itself off to the world news pages where it belongs. It’s like a back trying to sneak into the sanctity of the scrum; they just don’t belong.
But ref, I would like a rule change. If the news is about someone or thing in sport, it should walk straight to the midfield of the sports pages, no matter what the subject. And yet the stomach-churning story of Dr Larry Nassar has struggled to even make the main news and the possible reasons deserve to be discussed.
Last week 54-year-old Nassar, who was sentenced yesterday after admitting he molested athletes, complained to the judge that listening to so many women testify was bad for his mental health.
I’m not surprised he felt ill. It must’ve been a shock to hear from the all victims of the despicable sexual assaults he’s carried out for decades at Michigan State University and as doctor to the US Olympic gymnastics team. He probably lost count but he’ll get better at it now more than 100 women and girls are suing Nassar. Michigan State and USA Gymnastics are defendants in many of the lawsuits and deny ignoring ‘‘red flags’’ and complaints over the years. You would think this would be one of the biggest sports stories in US history and yet it’s battling for space with NFL updates and snow storms. Why?
Before you get your jock straps in a tangle, I’m not going to blame this on most media sports departments not being womaned by women but manned by men. With endless yarns about team training, newsrooms are usually champing at the bit for controversy or criminal activity. And, according to reports, the courtroom is packed with journalists; they are there and paying attention.
Coverage did pick up, but only when former Olympian’s testified which only reinforces the reason why so many went unheard for so long.
Certainly it’s not the first highprofile sexual abuse case in America.
Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of the serial molestation of boys in 2012. Only last year Baylor University was accused of the mishandling of rape allegations involving its football team. Is gymnastics suffering from minority sport-itis? Would they get more coverage if they created an ultra-extreme version that involves large men in crash helmets?
There’s an even more uncomfortable, yet possible, explanation. Could it be because in this case the victims are young women and we’re just used to seeing them victimised in society? It’s been normalised.
What percentage of movies show a man being abused by a woman?
Apart from Wonder Woman, when do the ladies get to be the hero instead of the victim? It messes with our idea of what makes a real man, especially in the big, tough sporting arena. Nassar was also a doctor so they trusted him. Sexual abuse of girls and boys horrifies us, it’s just easier to pretend it’s not happening in sport.
This story does belong in the sports pages. There are many people who never stray into the news section so, like hiding vegies in a kid’s meal, editors need to slide these news events in where they can. As athletes, fans and parents, we need to know what’s going on or this nasty maul will collapse on top of us. We all have to be ready to blow the whistle.