Over the past year, hundreds of women have stepped forward and finally reported sexual assault that, in some cases, had been happening for years and years.
Some will say it is because women want the attention, that it's the new "cool" thing to do, and that most of these cases don't even qualify as sexual assault.
The issue is not the women coming forward - the issue is society as a whole, the people who truly believe these women are just complaining.
Sexual assault is defined as an act in which a person sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will.
This means that YES - the case of Aziz Ansari is, in fact, sexual assault.
What is becoming even crazier to me is the length people are willing to go to in order to keep victims from stepping forward publicly.
In the case of McKayla Maroney, she was offered a nondisclosure agreement by USA Gymnastics as a part of a settlement to keep her from testifying against Larry Nassar (her abuser). What is shocking in this case is that USA Gymnastics did so with the intent of letting Larry Nassar remove himself from the organization quietly and without any media attention.
Are you kidding me?
They looked at a young woman, one of over 140 accusers, and thought the best solution was to let him keep his pride? They effectively attempted to silence her and her story. Hoping that placing a fine on her testimony would keep her from embarrassing the doctor any more than others already have.
What a joke.
The issue runs so much deeper than a non-disclosure, however.
Imagine all the victims around the world. The ones who haven't quite put words to what happened to them. Who hasn't been fully able to comprehend or explain to even themselves the events that occurred.
Now you are showing them, across national television and news media, that even the most famous US Olympic athletes are having a hard time being listened too, being heard for what they know to be the truth.
Why would anyone else ever step forward?
It's hard enough to come to grips with the situation they found themselves in. But to finally have the courage to come out and tell your story and see all over the media how hard it is for even famous people?
Just horrific.
Now, USA Gymnastics has agreed of January 16th that they will not be seeking any fine payments from McKayla Maroney and that she is able to testify as she sees fit.
Unfortunately, this is the least of USA Gymnastics issues right now.
After Simon Biles also came out as a survivor of Larry Nassar, it has also been brought to light that the training camp at which most of these women were sexually assaulted remains the training camp they must attend monthly.
Now, it is fully understood that changing locations for training is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to do. However, under the current circumstances, making athletes continue to come to a facility that they suffered sexual abuse it is just completely unacceptable.
Biles came out saying, “It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart, even more, to think that as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I was abused".
It is just completely vile that they will have to relive those memories in order to continue to pursue their passion.
It is time to stop shaming victims who come forward.
It is time to stop saying that they simply "over reacted".
It is time to start acknowledging society's role in helping victims of sexual assault.
It is time to start asking for consent.
It is time to understand what consent actually means.
It is time to put our foot down.
USA Olympic teams are meant to be the best of the best in our country. Is this really the best we have to offer?
