[TW] Sexual Abuse & Misconduct in Figure Skating

[Veveco]

3 hours ago, Sombreuil said:

French coaching issue has made it into the Times.  Can’t seem to link it unfortunately , but it says the report will be passed to prosecutors and is likely to lead to criminal investigations.  It also quotes the report as denouncing the ‘ concentration of power’ among ‘very few’ FFIS executives who allowed abuse and violence to develop and whose ‘way of functioning could only .......favour a culture of secrecy .....(which) led to the absence of disciplinary action’.  

 

 

This one? (There is pay wall)

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/21-french-ice-skating-coaches-suspected-of-abuse-586mdb8qm

 

[Sombreuil]

That’s the one - I am a subscriber so I suppose the paywall might have blocked me from sharing it - though user error is probably equally likely !

[Veveco]

I had missed it before, but Sarah Abitbol, who had denounced Gilles Beyer as her aggressor, was interviewed by the French press following the report of the 20 suspected coaches. In short, while she doesn't blame N. Péchalat in particular, she finds the reaction from the fed insufficient. She mentions that the roller blade federation, in comparison, made a public apology to the victims at least which was important even if only symbolic. The police investigation is ongoing and several victims have come forward to her knowledge but she fears that the limitation period will allow some of the culprits to get away with it.

 

This is based on this short article from l'Obs, but I have seen other articles in the press with similar content.

https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20200804.OBS31861/sarah-abitbol-reagit-au-rapport-sur-la-federation-des-sports-de-glace-je-suis-soulagee.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1596563585

[Fay]

This video isn’t about figure skating, it’s about rhythmic gymnastics, another aesthetic sport, in Ukraine. One of the former leaders of Ukrainian team speaks out 

 

[EisElle]

On 8/21/2020 at 1:43 PM, Fay said:

This video isn’t about figure skating, it’s about rhythmic gymnastics, another aesthetic sport, in Ukraine. One of the former leaders of Ukrainian team speaks out 

 

Painful.

Nataliia Godunko makes a lot of good points in those 18minutes.

For some reason one of the parts that saddened me the most was the bit about going to OG. That she just wanted for Olympics to be done Like, athletes train their whole life for something like that, to compete at OG. And then, when they finally got there, they couldn't even enjoy it. After sacrificing everything for a dream, and even when they reached it, they were stripped of that very dream
The story about the girl who wanted to break her hand, and the other girl who accepted to do that for her.... just how desperate someone must be to go to such lenghs to get away from training? How huge the fear for consequences if they themselves chose to say "I quit"?

 

All these stories that are finally being told only now, and yet they must have been known for long by every insider of the sport, and by the sports governing bodies too.

The news about the 20 french FS coaches accused of abuse are not surprising in the slightest. We've said it already, it's the system that is rotten to the core, that allowed abusers to get away and prosper.

 

It feels like both in gymnastics and FS awareness is spreading among a younger generation of former athletes who are now starting to coach: they might be the people in the best position to finally bring a real change through their "inside" work as coaches -- not only they can refuse to be abusive, they can also further educate the upcoming generations of athletes, teach them that abuses are NOT ok -- and thorugh their words.

As we are seeing in gymnastics, the more the issue of abuse is talked about, the more media covers the stories and gets tractions among general public, the more athletes will start feeling empowered and speak out. Even just make them question if the way they have been trained was truly acceptable is a step forward. Sports governing bodies are fossils most often than not: rather than hoping that change will start from them, athletes and media need to kick their arses in motion

[rockstaryuzu]

4 hours ago, LadyLou said:

Sports governing bodies are fossils most often than not: rather than hoping that change will start from them, athletes and media need to kick their arses in motion

And even then, change will be a long time coming. 

 

There have been so many child sex abuse scandals in my lifetime, in so many different sectors of society, from religion to community organizations to schools to sports, that I'm now of the opinion that the problem is much broader and deeper than any one 'culture of impunity' and really speaks to a general issue of moral fibre and the lack thereof. 

 

To put it simply, there's a subset of humanity that thinks it's perfectly okay to victimize those who they hold power over, and that victimization can take many forms. Some forms - such as abusive training methods - are unique to a certain setting, but they all stem from that same basic evilness of "You're weaker than me so I can do whatever I want to you" .

 

So how do we build a world that eliminates this idea from people's minds so completely it will never rise again? because that is how you end abuse. 

[SitTwizzle]

56 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

And even then, change will be a long time coming. 

 

There have been so many child sex abuse scandals in my lifetime, in so many different sectors of society, from religion to community organizations to schools to sports, that I'm now of the opinion that the problem is much broader and deeper than any one 'culture of impunity' and really speaks to a general issue of moral fibre and the lack thereof. 

 

To put it simply, there's a subset of humanity that thinks it's perfectly okay to victimize those who they hold power over, and that victimization can take many forms. Some forms - such as abusive training methods - are unique to a certain setting, but they all stem from that same basic evilness of "You're weaker than me so I can do whatever I want to you" .

 

So how do we build a world that eliminates this idea from people's minds so completely it will never rise again? because that is how you end abuse. 

I know a case, in France and in a particularly (and early, one can say since around 1990 in US and later elsewhere, before that, in France and probably elsewhere, sexual abuse was somehow considered okay as long as there was no evident physical violence, horrible as it sounds) targeted institution which in most of its parts managed to change the culture of silence. A teacher in a Junior High School showed a weird interest in a 14-year-old pupil, his colleagues noted it and spoke of it to the headteacher, who convoked the teacher, and the latter confessed his attraction. The headteacher told the parents what had happened, and advised them to go to the police. The police told them that as long as there had not been indecent touch, not even proposal, there was no infraction so they could do nothing. Of course the teacher was barred from teaching — and never taught anymore. Well, he was not basically a predator, he had not organised a web of collusion to protect wrongdoings, but this shows that aware adults can efficiently alert before any irreversible act is perpetrated. What is necessary is awareness of the risk (also for children), and well-oiled processes to act against, or better to prevent wrongdoings.

Of course, this is not as good as if nobody thought of ill-using the weaker.

Much can be done early, and I regard the "new" (a bit more than ten years I think) Early Years Foundation Stage in England as highly promising (sorry if this is seen as political, I think it is supported by the three government parties though, maybe others), it may prevent a great deal of bad habits starting from bullying, as well as detect parental abuse, when fully implemented because not every preschool is able to, to this date; yet we are told that there will always be tares and we cannot eliminate them totally, or we would waste good grain in the process — although the parable has a religious origin, I think the thing itself is hardly questionable.

[Veveco]

 

[sweetwater]

French Prosecutors Open Rape, Assault Inquiry Over Skating Claims
AFP - Agence France Presse  September 10, 2020

https://www.barrons.com/news/french-prosecutors-open-rape-assault-inquiry-over-skating-claims-01599749105?tesla=y

 

Quote

The Paris prosecutor's office said Thursday it had opened an investigation into alleged rape and sexual assaults by around 20 figure-skating coaches in recent decades, after receiving evidence from the sports ministry.

The inquiry will also aim to identify other potential victims or alleged abusers, the office said, after several skaters came forward in the wake of claims by the former Olympic medallist Sarah Abitbol.

Quote

... But last month, the sports ministry said that its own investigation and questioning of dozens of people had uncovered evidence about 21 coaches.

More than half were accused of sexual harassment, and others of "physical or verbal violence."

The investigation also lambasted the way the FFSG was run, with "a strong concentration of powers involving only a few managers," which could only "encourage a form of omerta over the suspicions about coaches."

 

[EisElle]

On 9/12/2020 at 3:26 AM, sweetwater said:

French Prosecutors Open Rape, Assault Inquiry Over Skating Claims
AFP - Agence France Presse  September 10, 2020

https://www.barrons.com/news/french-prosecutors-open-rape-assault-inquiry-over-skating-claims-01599749105?tesla=y

 

 

good to know!

Let's hope that the inquiry will finally manage to uncover all the truth, stop abusers and send a clear signal (to the french FS establishment too) that the old ways belong ot the past

[rockstaryuzu]

Seriously in disbelief that it's that many coaches. 

[SitTwizzle]

1 hour ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Seriously in disbelief that it's that many coaches. 

From the only survey I know, in US in 2004, and there was still an omertà in most domains, a "flat rate" a bit under 2% of sexual abusers in all functions (with numbers enough to be statistically significant) giving access and some authority on children... Either teachers (public and private schools), coaches, educators, clerics... Only one category had a proportion twice lower but I don't think it was low enough to mention it here, nearly 1% is still enormous. I don't know if US have more or less abusers than such or such country, but I remember well these were the times when in artistic gymnastics, the US fed was flatly refusing to take complains into consideration, and I just happen to know it because I like the sport and followed some complaints. Now they have managed to focus public attention on Dr Nassar, and at last barred a great many coaches from coaching, some definitely, others not.

This is why people must be aware of the risks and implement policies. There are many predators around children.

[rockstaryuzu]

9 hours ago, SitTwizzle said:

There are many predators around children.

You can say that again. 

[EisElle]

he's a Canadian Pairs coach. Among others, he has coached Duhamel/Radford

[ralucutzagy]

9 hours ago, LadyLou said:

he's a Canadian Pairs coach. Among others, he has coached Duhamel/Radford

wtf i going on? him too? omg