I am a former athlete. “Former athlete” as in I spent hours every week doing the various sports I was involved in for all of my memory until recently. I loved the sports I did and felt happy and privileged to spend all of the hours in the gym training. I was lucky to be a female athlete after Title IX was passed. I was lucky to have many great coaches; however, many athletes are not so lucky.
We live in a time of the #MeToo era, where men are being held increasingly accountable for the damages they caused. In light of this era, many athletes have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against coaches and doctors who they worked with. If you type “*any sport* sexual abuse” into Google, there will be a myriad of stories. In the examples of gymnastics and swimming, there are entire Wikipedia pages dedicated to the abuse scandals within the spheres of these sports.
The power dynamics between athlete and coach or athlete and doctor are very stark, and something that allows abusers to exist in their sports for years. Coaches control practices and who gets to play or compete, in addition to having a lot of emotional power over athletes. For many athletes, especially at the collegiate level, they are permitted (or at least strongly encouraged) to see one doctor. Doctors obviously have a lot of power over their patients — patients are dependent on doctors to improve their physical wellbeing. Many athletes must continually see doctors in order to stay successful in their sports.
At the collegiate level, institutions may try very hard to cover up these scandals. One example is the doctor at Michigan State University, (MSU) Larry Nassar, who was the doctor of the women’s gymnastics team. Since September 2016, more than 265 women filed against him reporting sexual harassment and abuse dating as far back as 1992. It would be very hard to believe that MSU did not receive any Title IX complaints in the time leading up to this. In fact, during trials in 2018, eight athletes at MSU accused the institution of dismissing their sexual abuse complaints.
It takes a lot of courage for athletes, especially women athletes who may already feel that they have to prove themselves more than their male counterparts, to stand up against sexual violence within their sport. The most important thing to do when an athlete comes forward about sexual abuse or harassment is believe them, because there are so many who may stay silent for the love of the sport.
Wooster is not immune to these sorts of events. The school must make sure that Title IX cases are handled with care in order to keep student athletes safe. When there are Title IX cases that involve only students, everyone involved in the case is allowed a summary explaining the decision. However, with cases involving staff/faculty (including coaches) and students, this right is not given to the student. I think this is one way the process of Title IX could be improved. We need to ensure that our athletes are safe by creating a Title IX system that works and allows justice for the athletes and coaches alike.
Morgan Day, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at MDay19@wooster.edu.