Speaking up against the person who sexually abused you for years can be daunting. It’s an act that requires immense courage. Simone Biles and her teammates, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Maggie Nicholas, have shown this courage by testifying against a former gymnast team doctor in front of a US Senate committee.
Lawrence Gerard Nassar, who was the team doctor of the US national gymnastics team for 18 years, sexually abused around 160 girls and women, including most of the members of the 2012 and 2016 US Olympics women’s gymnastics team members. Nassar is now serving a life sentence in prison for multiple sex crimes in what is clearly one of the biggest child sex abuse cases in US history.
In their testimonies against Nassar, Biles, Maroney, Raisman and Nicholas also pointed out how the US justice system had failed them, and especially criticised the role the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had played in reportedly shielding this serial molester. The Senate committee hearing at which they testified was specifically held as a part of the examination of the shortcomings of the FBI’s investigation into Nassar, which makes these testimonies extremely critical.
“To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar, and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,” said Biles, who is the most decorated Olympic gymnast the US has produced till date. “We suffered and continue to suffer, because no one at the FBI, USAG or the USOPC did what was necessary to protect us. We have been failed.” Asking the committee, “How much is a little girl worth?”, Biles called for the federal prosecution of the FBI agents involved in the initial investigation into Nassar. This, she said, would send a very powerful message: “If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe.”
Raisman, who served as the captain of the 2012 and 2016 US Olympics gymnastics team, testified that even after six years since first reporting her abuse, she was “still fighting for the most basic answers and accountability”. “I don’t think people realise how much it affects us, how much the PTSD, the trauma, impacts us,” she added. “Over the past few years, it has become painfully clear how a survivor’s healing is affected by the handling of their abuse,” she testified.
“I’m tired of waiting for people to do the right thing, because my abuse was enough, and we deserve justice,” Maroney said in her testimony, amplifying the sentiments and facts behind her teammates’ testimonies. She went on to describe in detail how and when Nassar abused her, revealing that he had abused her even at the 2012 London Olympics where she had won a gold medal. She was just 16 at that time. In 2015, when she was 19, Maroney described her abuse to an FBI agent during a three-hour phone call, at the end of which the agent reportedly asked, “Is that all?” Maroney described in her testimony that she felt crushed by this response and what followed. “Not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented my report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said,” she testified. “They chose to lie about what I said and protect a serial child molester, rather than protect not only me but countless others.”
The immense bravery shown by these women was also highlighted in Nichols’ testimony. Nichols, like her fellow teammates, stressed that everyone who tried to cover up Nassar’s abuse should be held accountable. “I want everyone to know this did not happen to ‘gymnast two’ or ‘athlete A’,” pointing out at the dehumanising jargon official reports can often end up using. “It happened to me, Maggie Nichols.” She revealed that she had reported her abuse over six years ago, and yet, she and her family received few answers, and this allowed Nassar to continue his abuse. “In sacrificing my childhood for the chance to compete for the United States, I am haunted by the fact that even after I reported my abuse, so many women and girls had to suffer at the hands of Larry Nassar.”
Once again highlighting the need for justice for survivors, Nichols said, “For many hundreds of survivors of Larry Nassar, this hearing is one of our last opportunities to get justice. We ask that you do what is in your power to ensure those that engaged in wrongdoing are held accountable under the law.” Biles resonated this sentiment when she said, “Nassar is where he belongs, but those who enabled him, deserve to be held accountable. If they are not, I am convinced that this will continue to happen to others across Olympic sports.”