Main trigger is the smell of a sweaty man – Hewitt victim

THERE isn’t a day that goes by where Olivia Jasriel doesn’t relive being sexually abused by world-renowned tennis coach Bob Hewitt, even 39 years later.

She was 12 years old when she was raped and sexually assaulted by Hewitt. Now 50, she still has flashbacks.

“My biggest and most devastating trigger is the smell of a sweaty man,” she said. “It sneaks up on me every time I am on the tennis court and it causes a reaction of some sort.”

Jasriel was on her way to becoming a top tennis player when Hewitt abused her. He is now a convicted rapist. Jasriel is one of the driving forces behind the newly launched Women and Men’s Athletes Against Child Abuse (WMACA) division in South Africa.

The abuse took an emotional and physical toll and derailed any hope of her becoming a professional player. “As a player who was always at least in the top three in the country and who, at one point, was number seven in the USA in college tennis, I most certainly had a future.

“The abuse impacted me more emotionally than physically, to the point where I became repulsed by tennis. I could not even watch it on TV.

“I have struggled all my life with depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders and terrible abandonment and rejection issues. I’ve struggled with relationships, but with a lot of hard work and perseverance, this is all becoming much easier.”

It took Jasriel several years to gain the courage to speak out. Her bravery later led to Hewitt’s arrest, conviction and sentence of six years in jail. The elderly tennis coach served only three years before being released on parole.

“Hewitt did tell me that nobody would believe me. I was afraid, yes, because as a little girl I did not want this very big, present man to get into trouble. It took me about two weeks before I did try to speak about it. And when I was shut down, I never really spoke about it again until I was about 18 or 19. I was so afraid.”

Speaking out about her abuse did come at a cost. “It cost me my family, my employment and I lost contact with my son for about eight years. It cost me more than money.” She has made it her life’s work to expose and fight child abuse in South Africa.

The organisation will help safeguard, monitor and seek accountability for the children of South Africa who have been or may be impacted by abuse in sport.

Reports of child abuse in sport in the country over the past few years have been on the rise. Most recently, a prominent South African swimming coach was accused of sexually assaulting girls as young as 10 since he was 13.

Two women, who are now in their fifties, have opened a case of sexual assault at Pinetown police station in Durban. WMACA is working on eight cases of child abuse in sport.

It has also been endorsed and backed by sports stars including Springbok rugby player Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira, former Bafana Bafana star Benni McCarthy, former Olympic champion swimmer Penny Heyns, Midmar Mile winner Robyn Kinghorn and female Springbok rugby star Babalwa Latsha.

Jasriel knows they face a huge task, but hopes they can make sports a safe space for children. Jasriel said WMACA planned to provide a safe space for children to speak out. “If we don’t speak about our abuse, the coaches and teachers will continue to do what they do. I know it takes a huge amount of courage, but with our knowledge and expertise, we can help overcome what has happened and do our best to stop it from happening to others.”

WMACA’s head of advocacy, Luke Lamprecht said before its launch, there had been no system in place to investigate child abuse in sport. “We recognise that sport poses particular risks for abuse and that young people are at risk of abuse, particularly by coaches.

“Coaches often choose jobs that give them access to children to abuse them. We also want to highlight the fact that there are no necessary systems in place to investigate and manage when there are allegations of abuse in sport.

“The most important thing is for the child to tell a trusted adult, because the big issue is that, when it comes to reporting these cases in terms of the legislation, there needs to be an adult who is a duty-bearer in terms of the right of the child to protection, and that adult needs to assist with facilitating that process because often, when children do it on their own, they do not get access,” said Lamprecht.