Opinion | Dani Bostick: The Olympic child abuse prevention plan is too flawed to protect child athletes. - NBCNewsTHINK
A gymnast performs on the uneven bars during the Artistic FIG Gymnastics World Championships at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 2, 2018.May 28, 2019, 8:24 AM UTC"Every parent thinks their child will tell them if someone touched them inappropriately," Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an Olympic athlete and CEO of Champion Women, recently told me."But by the time that happens, the child is well-groomed, and it is too late. Research shows that children do not tell their parents.
As documentaries such as"Leaving Neverland" and"Abducted in Plain Sight" showed, abusers do not just groom individual victims, they also groom entire families and even communities. Parents do not intentionally expose their children to harm, but often feel honored that a respected adult has taken a special interest in their child.
In the context of the Olympic movement and children’s dreams of gold, the special attention of experts in the sport is often welcomed by parents and children alike, interpreted as a sign that a child has exceptional athletic potential. When perpetrators have the trust of parents and the community — as serial sexual predator Larry Nassar did — they have unquestioned and unencumbered access to their victims, often when those children are far from home or help.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The kids aren't alright: Japan struggles to protect its most vulnerable childrenMiwa Moriya was 6 when social workers told her she was going to a Christmas part...
Read more »
Rockefeller University Investigation Finds Doctor Abused Many ChildrenA prominent Rockefeller University pediatric endocrinologist, now deceased, sexually abused many of his patients over a period of decades, according to the results of an investigation the university released Thursday.
Read more »
Kansas Jury Acquits Christian School Leader Accused Of Child Sex AbuseFive young girls testified that Dennis Creason, co-founder of Shawnee’s Oaklawn Christian School, touched them inappropriately.
Read more »
Opinion | Audra McDonald: A homeless child is more than a statisticOpinion | Audra McDonald: Every homeless child is more than a statistic. Our treatment of them matters. - NBCNewsTHINK
Read more »
Another female Olympic athlete slams testosterone rules, refuses medicationWithout medication or surgery, some female runners won't be allowed to compete at anymore int'l meets this season, including this year's world championships: 'It's wrong of (the) IAAF to ask us to take medicine to alter our natural body function.'
Read more »
The measles infected nearly every child in the US — until the vaccine was introducedMeasles infected almost every American child until the vaccine eliminated the disease from the US. Now some parents are refusing to vaccinate their children, threatening to allow measles to make a comeback.
Read more »