Let's chat about SafeSport shall we

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People were already cranky about SafeSport before last week, when a well known hunter/jumper trainer committed suicide. His death sparked quite a bit of controversy, as people blamed his suicide on his situation within SafeSport and allegations made against him.

You can read the statement released from USEF here.

And here is a quote from an article about Robert Gage's suicide:
“(Gage) was fighting SafeSport for allegations against him back in the late '70s, early '80s,” Emily Karp, a longtime friend and former pupil of Gage, told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday night. “It was very depressing to him, and it was really wearing him down, especially on social media. It was like cyberbullying. A lot of people didn’t know the whole story and didn’t know him. It was pretty devastating to him.” (USA TODAY)

Suicide is always tragic. And cyberbullying is not ok. But this is not a result of SafeSport, this is a result of him BEING CAUGHT, and secondly social media. I love how this person implies that it was a "long time ago" ... as if the victim(s) should forget about it?

Here's what I've been reading on the interwebs.

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"SafeSport is a lynch mob"
FALSE: What you are referring to is social media and the internet. That's where you find the internet lynch mobs, and on those platforms I totally agree that innocent people are drug over the coals, and once you are labeled something, it's hard to recover. Innocent people do get accused, even jailed and even executed. But SafeSport is not the problem here.

Here is a statement that really hits the nail on the head. Credit to Heath Curry.

USEF’s Safe Sport program is supported by grants from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, it is incumbent on all sports to have their Safe Sport programs in compliance not only with U.S. DOJ policies, but practices as well. In juvenile justice, the law does not take the same approach to accusations of wrongdoing, where minors are concerned. The due process is different, the burden on the reporter, organization or mandatory reporter and the agencies that carry out the investigation is “reasonable suspicion”. That’s the law. If you want it changed, I suggest you take that up with your state and federal legislators. So, any talk of “innocent until proven guilty” etc. is not relevant because prior to a trial, there must be an investigation. In almost all jurisdictions, the welfare of the minor is paramount, therefore, the adult can have no contact with that child, and all manner of protections are implemented to protect that child while the investigation is under way. This includes individuals who have pending investigations against them who will, or may, have contact with other children, regardless of the age of the current accuser.

Now, as to USEF’s program, it mirrors other the national Safe Sport program, as that is the cost of participation. We can all agree that there are pedophiles, ephebophiles, and all manner of sexually deviant people in our sport. We like to pretend that it’s “rare”, yet I can name at least 4 nationally and internationally competitive riders whom I know from firsthand experience with their victims or the families of those victims, that have committed any number of sexually inappropriate offenses. I am not a current trainer, or competitive rider. If I can name 4, I’m guessing you can name as many, if not more. 

The point of Safe Sport is to protect children and others who by their participation in this sport could be made vulnerable by a person who holds power over them. 

This includes clients that are children, clients that are women, clients that are men, employees that are women, or men and therefore particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment or assault.

You may not like the process the sport uses to investigate these allegations; however, it would be impossible to protect these victims, or current and future victims, without full disclosure of their claims, publicly. USEF, cannot go into each program, each barn, and confidentially suspend that alleged abuser’s contact with every potential or current victim, including the one making accusations, to say nothing of notifying the victim’s family, so they can take steps to protect that victim. This is the very reason why the program makes allegations public. To protect the victims, notify parents, and others, so they can take steps to remove their child from that environment. 

We all know, and I do particularly well from both personal and professional experience, that many, including parents, would allow their children and their wives, daughters, sons etc. to remain in an abuser’s orbit, simply out of a desire to not “rock the boat”, or “make things worse”, and some will even flat out refuse to believe their own children, in order to maintain access to powerful abusers. That is a reality. Therefore, Safe Sport removes that shelter for abusers, alleged or otherwise, because we know from law enforcement data, juvenile court data, and psychological data that parents and other non-victims will not always do what’s best for the victim. This is a sad reality, but it’s played out every time there is an accusation in the news when people attack the victim. Just imagine in a country where every 9 minutes, DHS,CPS substantiates a claim of child sexual assault. So, if we are defending and gaslighting and otherwise not believing these PUBLIC claims, imagine what happens in homes around the country every 9 minutes, despite proof that allows the case to go to court.

We have an epidemic in this country of sexual assault against children, it’s not a new problem. Families cover it up to avoid embarrassment or loss of access to the power and influence of the abuser, think Michael Jackson and the parents who allowed their young children to share A BED, behind closed doors with a grown man, simply because he bought them houses, paid for their travel etc. This IS NOT a unique phenomenon; it is in fact UBIQUITOUS among victims’ families. We DAILY FAIL our children, women and men who are sexually assaulted.

Our legal system is not perfect. I know this, I have seen firsthand what can happen with an overzealous parent, and a sympathetic prosecutor. I have seen children go to juvenile hall, removed from their homes, and left to sit waiting adjudication, all for having photos, or videos, that they did not take themselves, on their phones. They just happened to be the unfortunate one that didn’t delete the material or were known to be the last to possess it. 
No, the system is not perfect, for either victims, or alleged abusers. For too long, children and women, and yes, men too, have had their claims of sexual assault dismissed, in deference to their abuser’s “rights”. Now, the pendulum has swung back, perhaps too far, time will tell. 

The system isn’t perfect, but until this country starts believing victims, as vehemently as we believe abusers, there will continue to be an inequity of justice. I, for one, would prefer, given what I know of this plague of sexual assault on children in this country, to believe the victims, until such time as the courts prove otherwise.

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"If your kid is being abused, why don't you call the police, not SafeSport?"
Ummm you should call both.

"I'm a parent and I would NEVER allow someone to touch my kid while I'm in the room"
(a la Larry Nassar).
WHAT? Is that what you think? Do you think the parents of the gymnasts would have answered "oh sure!" to that same question if they were asked that before their children were abused? Don't be naive. You aren't immune to grooming and manipulation.

"There are just as many false accusers as they are actual victims."
NOPE. More stats on false accusations.


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What is really disgusting is the way the ASHA (American Saddlebreds) and its members have been reacting. Threatening to leave USEF (still won't exempt them from FEDERAL LAW), throwing fits, and posting ignorant comments. The American Driving Society already up and split.

It BLOWS MY MIND that some organizations and its members are claiming they cannot function under SafeSport. Why is that?

And then I read this:

USEF just reported that memberships were up to approximately 146,000 members. However, three groups have been the primary targets of Safe Sport convictions which include; 1) Saddlebreds 2) Hunter/Jumpers 3) Morgans.

No wonder they are angry. They are being exposed.
(I grew up with Saddlebreds and Morgans love the industries and I was never abused nor witnessed anything, however there were rumors that most certainly went around... just full disclosure) Are they being "targeted?" I don't know. I do know that in these particular industries, the trainers have more "power" than some other disciplines. Clients often buy them vacations, gifts, etc. There seems to be this mentality of trainer worship, where clients are always trying to be "cool" with the trainers and make sure they always like them. That's another can of worms though.

The president of ASHA did release a letter that was well written, (ie. some lawyer did a good job)  and I it seems like they want to do the right thing. So hopefully, they do.

You can read that letter here, along with the Protecting Young Victims from Abuse and Safe Sport Act of 2017.

Saddlebred people break all sorts of USEF rules at their shows but I think they should comply with this one FFS. I adore the Saddlebreds and many of my friends in that industry but good grief people.

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My thoughts are this. SafeSport is provides a checkpoint to help stop the rampant abuse in sport. If t helps one victim, f it prevents one incident, then it is worth it. Is is perfect? No. But it's a start. It's something.

There seems to be some corruption on the SafeSport board and that clearly needs to be addressed.
You can read more about that here.

Perhaps we all need to remember that competing under USEF is a privilege. It is essentially a club, and if you don't want to play by the rules then smell ya later.

But most importantly ....

Believe victims.

If you see something, say something.

To read more check out:
US Center for Safe Sport
USEF Safe Sport