Institutions Against Women
Former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor, Larry Nassar, accused of sexually abusing over 150 young women.
Recently, the former doctor of the American gymnastics team and Michigan State University, Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual abuse of over 150 women. In the course of seven days, which was initially scheduled for four days, the women including, Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, and Aly Raisman, spoke up at Dr. Nassar’s hearing about their own sexual abuse stories. The women were told that they had to go to this osteopathic doctor that was going to help them move their muscles and joints with the technique of stretching, pressure, and resistance.
One woman, Rachael Denhollander, said Dr. Nassar, “groomed [her] with the purpose of exploiting… for his own sexual gain.” Another woman, Angela Povilaitis said, “He penetrated his patients’ vaginas and anuses with his bare hands,” and since he was in a position of power, it was easy for him to coerce his patients into believing that what he was doing was his job. According to three women, he was being accused of touching the patient’s breasts and was sexually aroused during at least one of these “appointments.”
Following the testimonies, there were multiple resignations from USA Gymnastics executives and the Michigan State University president. The university’s president, Lou Anna Simon apologized to the survivors through a letter, and the USOC CEO, Scott Blackmun, also apologized for not preventing any further abuse and poor response to the trial. He expressed deep sorrow and adds, “the Olympic family is among those that have failed you.”
At the end of his the hearings, Nassar made a statement that in the last seven days, the statements he had heard changed him. He couldn’t describe, “how sorry [he was] for what has occurred,” but before he declared his statement, Judge Aquilina read a letter that Nassar had wrote to the court. He defended himself by claiming that his treatments worked and that the patients that were speaking out were the same ones that, “praised and came back over and over… The media convinced them that everything [he] did was wrong and bad… Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” He was not upset for his wrongdoings, rather he was upset he has finally been caught.
These young women felt that they had no voice to speak up with. There had been over a dozen Michigan State officials notified, since 1997, about Nassar, but “accusations were brushed off.” Nassar was in a position of power that he used to his convenience by manipulating others into believing that the accusations were false. He apologizes for the pain he caused his victims, but the truth is that Nassar is “only sorry he got caught”
The Judge, Rosemarie Aquilina, has been praised for listening to the victims, which many had failed to do so. She allowed everyone to have a chance to testify even if it meant stretching out the hearing from four days to seven. Reading Nassar’s letter, Judge Aquilina responded that Nassar still “[has] not yet owned what [he] did… [he’s] a doctor…entitled,” and for the three charges he will never be a free man ever again.
Angela Y. Davis writes about women in federal institutions, much like the national gymnastics team as an institution, that are put into jail for the act of self defense. Not only have these women had to experience sexual abuse/harassment in their homes, but if they are put in prison, they fall victims of sexual abuse by the guards as well. Having no power, these women usually have to just accept that it’s “just the way it is” because no one believes them or choose to brush it off.
The women’s federal prisons and the national gymnastics team are institutions that have the responsibility to keep the people safe from abuse or assault. The majority of the time, those who have the power in these institutions feel like they may have a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, and this would be the case in a lot of situations. Institutions protect their board members when they commit a crime, therefore, it increases the chances of something like the Larry Nassar story to happen all over the world.
Why have the need to punish the women who have already been punished by their aggressors? It doesn’t make sense, and punishment doesn’t mean only putting them in jail for defending themselves. For example, the survivors of Larry Nassar, went through the torture of being sexually abused time and time again. Some survivors reported their abuser to the Michigan state, but Nassar had manipulated the police and university officials that it was all a misunderstanding. It is the people with power that we need to watch out for.
It is astonishing to hear that these institutions choose to turned a blind eye, and in some cases pressure the victims to keep quiet. It is hard to speak out about such tragic events, but when women come together, like the survivors of Larry Nassar, they create hope for other victims and survivors.
I strongly believe that there needs to be a change in the justice system because it is unfair to survivors and victims that have to go through such traumatic events and not have hope that justice would be served. We, as a society, need to stop brushing off such an important topic that is happening all the time. We need to stop questioning whether it could have been a misunderstanding, and we need to learn to come together in these times of distress for the survivors.
