Assault survivors pay steep price
Accusations often met with threats, derision
When rape and sexual assault survivors accuse a powerful man of a crime, they often pay an ugly price. Just ask Olympic medalist Jamie Dantzscher. When she reported being sexually assaulted, she was called an attention-seeking “whore” and feared for her safety.
“I couldn’t live without saying anything.”
Jamie Dantzscher, who sued Larry Nassar. The former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor was sentenced to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing seven girls.
Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has been threatened, harassed and forced out of her home and away from her children since coming forward, her lawyers said.
Rape and sexual assault survivors know severe backlash is often the ugly price they pay when accusing a powerful man of a crime, according to Laura Palumbo, communication director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. It’s not uncommon for survivors to lose their job, endure verbal and physical harassment and damage to their property and worry about their safety, Palumbo said.
When Olympic medalist Jamie Dantzscher reported being sexually assaulted hundreds of times by Larry Nassar, she was called an attention-seeking “whore.”
Before she reported the abuse, Dantzscher knew people would question her story against a well-loved physician in the Olympic community.
“I literally thought no one would believe me,” Dantzscher, 36, told USA TODAY in a phone interview.
Dantzscher decided to come out as a Jane Doe in September 2016 and filed a lawsuit against USA Gymnastics and Nassar. After an Indianapolis Star article revealed the first accusations against Nassar and reported on details of her lawsuit without naming her, friends and coaches outed her by name on social media and attacked her character in public comments.
“I didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” she said. “It was shocking. It was hurtful.”
USA Gymnastics attorneys called Dantzscher’s former boyfriends, asking about her sexual history. Dantzscher said she was concerned for her personal safety. She wondered if people who wanted to protect Nassar were “going to send somebody after me.”
Dantzscher said she goes to therapy twice a week to cope with the trauma.
“It’s something I will struggle with the rest of my life,” she said. “They stole my childhood. They stole my love for gymnastics.”
She doesn’t regret reporting Nassar’s abuse. “I couldn’t live without saying anything,” she said.
Dantzscher inspired dozens of other Nassar victims to come forward with similar stories of the doctor who touched them inappropriately. Nassar was sentenced Jan. 24 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing seven girls and listening to 156 victim statements.
The women who spoke out against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein inspired Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, 82, to accuse media executive Leslie Moonves of assaulting her when they worked together in the 1980s, she said.
Moonves forced oral sex on her in his car and exposed himself to her in his office at Lorimar Productions, she said. When she refused his advances, she said, her career suffered. Golden-Gottlieb left the entertainment industry to become a teacher while Moonves rose to the head of CBS.
Then, amid the #MeToo movement, Golden-Gottlieb told her story.
She said there was some harassment, but most of the reaction was positive.
Moonves denied the accusations but stepped down as CBS chairman this month.
Some survivors regret coming forward because “in an age of digital communication, there’s no option to take back going public,” Palumbo said.
Golden-Gottlieb’s advice for other women: “If I can do it, I can let others know that it can be done, that you can go up against these unbelievably powerful men.”
In her case, prosecutors declined to bring charges against Moonves because the statute of limitations had expired.
Actress Rose McGowan said she was “blacklisted” after coming out against Weinstein. Rebecca Corry said she received death threats after reporting fellow comedian Louis C.K.’s misconduct.
The trauma isn’t limited to the survivor. “Survivors of sexual harassment, assault and abuse are also children, parents and siblings. … Those loved ones might also experience the bashing of their reputation,” Palumbo said.
“I backlash) didn’t know was going how bad to be. (the It was shocking. It was hurtful.”
Jamie Dantzscher, who accused Larry Nassar of sexual assault