Abusive Gymnastics Doctors Sentenced to 175 Years in Prison- Victoria Gonzalez

    Dr. Larry Nassar, a former Olympic gymnast and Michigan State University doctor, has recently been under scrutiny and has also faced the verdict of 175 years in prison for molesting Olympic gymnasts. He is also accused of molesting the gymnasts multiple times while disguising it as “treatment”. Worst of all, his victims were at least 150 women and young girls from the past decade, out of which 156 of them spoke in court and told their stories about this man’s twisted, manipulative routines. However the only thing that makes this similar to other stories about child abuse if the ridiculous, horrifying amount of victims a single monster can harm as well as the most gut-wrenching aspect of each abuse case-complete and utter ignorance. Out of all 156 victims, majority spoke out earlier about the abuse that was spreading to corporations including USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University, and the US Olympic Commitee-all were ignored. Some victims had their parents taking the side of Nassar, and believing their daughters as mistaken or delusional, one college student was even told by the board of Michigan State University that she didn’t know the difference between assault and medical procedure, as if the victim wasn’t already betrayed too many times. However, these women were strong enough and brave enough to speak out and condemn this man to prison for the rest of his life.
My analysis is that child abuse is an issue within every community, every city, every town, and every country. The constant misconception is that it’s a few bad apples, a few bad places and a few bad communities when in reality those who are unaffected by this are either lucky or prefer pretending that this doesn’t exist in order to keep the facade going. The movie Spotlight, an Academy Award Winner based on a true story, and documentary, The Keepers, discusses the sexual abuse priests have participated in all around the world and the ignorance to all of it. But the issue is not just within our religious boundaries, but our entire communities. Ignorance is poisonous as it is dangerous, and it’s our responsibility to make sure these people have consequences to their actions.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/us/michigan-state-sexual-assault-survivors-march/index.html