Pedophiles Like Nassar, Not Leotards, The Problem: Aly Raisman

Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman says retiring leotards won’t do anything to stop sexual predators like Larry Nassar, the convicted pedophile sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing scores of women and girls under the guise of “medically necessary” treatments.

Raisman, who is among 260 women and girls who say they were molested by Nassar, is a leading voice in the call for reform at USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Both groups looked the other way for years and failed to act on tips that Nassar was molesting athletes, she and other elite gymnasts have said.

Several other Olympic gymnasts have accused Nassar, including her 2012 teammates Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney, and 2016 gold medalist Simone Biles.

Leotards aren’t the problem, according to Raisman, who was recently asked about one of the suggestions being kicked around to prevent sexual abuse in Olympic sports.

“The problem is the many pedophiles out there & the adults who enable them,” Raisman tweeted. “By saying clothing is part of the issue, u are victim shaming/implying survivors should feel it's their fault.”

Twitter user Kristi Amstuz wrote that “the fact someone actually thinks that what gymnasts wear is the problem for why they are being assaulted just enrages me.” Another user pointed out that women who wear burkas are raped and sexually assaulted, too, so clothing isn't the central issue in the Nassar scandal.

Several people commenting said that wearing leotards is a matter of safety and injury prevention, and that loose-fitting clothing can snag on equipment.

Not everyone agrees with Raisman, though.

Former gymnast Amanda Hunt said she thinks athletes’ “leotards are incredibly revealing and in bad taste.”

“In fact,” she wrote, “I think that uniforms in many sports and even children's clothing is incredibly sexualized. It's not the wearer's fault. But this kind of image invites sexual misconduct.”

“Obviously, skimpy leotards do NOT excuse sexual abuse,” Ann Ladenberger replied to Raisman’s tweet. “That said, I’ve noticed that they’ve gotten very revealing. They may tend to draw potential sexual abusers to gymnastics programs. It’s not victim shaming to say discussion of less revealing leotards could be useful.”

Raisman followed up with a tweet elaborating on victim shaming that provided a link to FlipTheSwitch, a campaign that responds to “the lack of support and attention being devoted to the issue of sexual abuse within the sport of gymnastics, particularly at the grassroots level.”

The campaign calls for all adults involved in youth sports to complete Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children training, the leading child sexual abuse prevention program in the country.

Raisman, 23, spent months prodding USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee to take a closer look into how Nassar’s abuse went unchecked for so long. Raisman filed a lawsuit against both organizations earlier this year, saying they “knew or should have known” about a pattern of abuse by Nassar.

Nassar, a once prominent sports doctor, is also named in the lawsuit. He is serving his sentence in a maximum security prison in Arizona.

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Photo of Aly Raisman at the 2016 Rio Olympics by Elsa/Getty Images Sport