OPEN LETTER: 500+ Canadian Gymnasts’ Concerns about a Toxic and Abusive Sport Culture Continue to be Ignored
Global Athlete has been asked to share this statement on behalf of 500+ Canadian Gymnasts.
Trigger Warning: Content contains reference to sexual, physical, psychological, and verbal abuse.
26 October 2022:
Dear Honorable Pascale St. Onge, Minister for Sport,
Since March 2022, over 500 Canadian gymnasts, who are survivors of abuse in their sport, have been calling on the Canadian Government to initiate an independent, judicial investigation to address the toxic culture and rampant child abuse entrenched in Canadian gymnastics. To date, these calls have been ignored.
In the intervening 7 months, Gymnasts For Change Canada has received stories from hundreds of current and former athletes, detailing their experience of maltreatment in this sport. Surely by now, their voices are too loud to be ignored and yet, their courage has been met with no action from your office.
Honorable Minister, we are disappointed that our email of 22 June 2022, sent to you, your Chief of Staff and a Sport Canada representative has gone unanswered. The email detailed examples of truly egregious abuse that we received from our community of survivors. The lack of response sends the message that these voices do not matter, and their experiences are not worthy of action. The attachment included with the June 22, 2022 email included shocking examples of abuse:
Child rape by coaches,
Stretching practices resulting in sexualized touch between child and coach, such as a child’s inner thigh being caressed and coaches insisting on crotch-to-crotch contact during coach-facilitated stretching,
Sexual grooming of child gymnasts guised as coaching, including gymnasts being required to kiss their coaches on the lips as a show of “respect”,
Children, as young as eight years old and all through their adolescence, being weighed, shamed for every pound gained even while growing, screamed at for eating carbohydrates and provided with laxatives, diet pills, and Ipecac for weight loss purposes,
Children, as young as six years old, deprived of food, water, and use of washroom facilities during competitions and lengthy training sessions,
Children receiving no medical attention after serious falls and injury, including gymnasts receiving no medical intervention after experiencing serious head injuries, leg fractures, and training-induced seizures,
Children forced to train on significant injuries such as broken bones and torn muscles; children developing septic infections after being refused medical treatment for lacerations suffered during training,
Children yelled at, told they are fat, stupid, ugly; publicly humiliated, including being forced to wear baby bibs or a too small leotard for failing to comply with coach demands.
Any of these examples should warrant the most urgent action from the Canadian Government. We are deeply disappointed that these examples did not spur action. As we have informed your office, these examples are not historical, and abuse continues in gyms all across this country today.
Just last week, we noted Gymnastics Canada’s announcement that they will sign onto the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissionaire (OSIC). This does not change gymnasts’ need for a judicial inquiry. The Commissioner is aware of our concerns, including OSIC’s limited resources, lack of independence, inability to compel participation of sport authorities or submission of documents, lack of subpoena powers, and inability to enforce sanctions. The Commissionaire and her team have graciously accepted our decision not to move forward with a Sport Environment Assessment, recognizing that gymnastics requires a mechanism equipped in substance and scope, to tackle the severe and systemic nature of abuse that plagues gymnastics.
Today we call for your action. You have the power to initiate the judicial investigation gymnasts are seeking. Every day without that action from the Canadian government is another day children suffer the most despicable forms of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Every day without that action is another day that the brave survivors of this sport must find even more strength against a system that failed to protect them as children, now invalidates their experiences, and threatens to leave the next generation at risk of horrific abuse.
We will continue to push for change and use our collective voices to bring truth to power. However, we know that without your action and your leadership, our voices can only call out abuse – they cannot stop it. This is an important moment in Canadian history and one that will define your legacy as Sport Minister. For the wellbeing of every gymnast in the country, we urge and implore you to initiate an independent third-party judicial investigation. It’s time to act to protect every gymnast in Canada.
Sincerely,
Gymnasts For Change Canada
Media inquiries and survivor support: gymnasts4change_canada@outlook.com
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