The former USA Gymnastics doctor & osteopathic physician, Larry Nassar, has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women. These include Mckayla Maroney, Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman (as pictured below). These women will be speaking at the Sept 15th hearing. This case is about how the FBI handled the investigation into Larry Nassar. This article, also lists that Simone Biles withdrew from some events in the Olympics because of the trauma that was triggered by Larry Nassar.
Upon further research on this topic, I found that Larry Nassar has been accused of sexual assault and grooming since the 1990s, and only in 2015 did the USA Gymnastic team take it seriously. Also, In a Michigan court in 2018, Larry Nassar pled guilty to sexually abusing ten minors. Larry Nassar is so far serving 40 to 175 years in prison (Ingham County) and 40 to 125 years (Eaton County). Nassar will also serve time for his federal sentence. This is relevant to class because we talked about the gymnasts that accused Larry Nassar of sexual assault.
Sources
The article discussed in this blog – (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/simone-biles-testify-senate-about-larry-nassar-n1279076)
Larry Nassar – (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Nassar)
Another Article on this topic – (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/olympics-star-gabby-douglas-says-team-doctor-larry-nassar-abused-n823091)
Simone Biles Clip of her stumbling (why she needed to take a mental health break) – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO-vMUApyJQ)
I think this was a great topic to discuss because it relates back to the “MeToo Movement and is a great example of how people in higher job positions can abuse their positions to sexually objectify/assualt women.
The fact that the USA gymnastics doctor would feel so comfortable as to sexual assault members of the USA team is disheartening. A lot of men feel entitled to the body of women so they are more willing to take risks . I’m glad that these women were able to come out and expose what he thought he could get away with.
This was a relevant topic. I think it’s disgusting hearing about this. What makes this even worse is that it goes to show no matter what level you’re at, accolades, and accomplishments still doesn’t prevent women from being taken advantage of. Nassar abused his position of power and probably assumed with that power, these women would not tell what he did, or that he’s above it all. I’m glad this was taken seriously and he was charged.