After hearing 156 victim statements, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Larry Nasser, former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor, to 40 to 175 years in prison. Nasser had been accused of abusing these women, many of them college and Olympic gymnasts.
I pledge my allegiance to all those women who stood up in Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s courtroom, found their voices, stepped into the national spotlight and gave themselves an experience in courage; a sparkling courage that is rippling out to us all. What grit! What moxie! What lightning bolts of inspiration is each and every one of them.
Another set of accolades I send out to Judge Aquilina. Armed with her judicial power, she fostered an incredibly important act of empowerment in this movement for resistance to, and elimination of, the sexual exploitation that has existed as long as history has been recorded.
Both sides of this equation are absolutely necessary for the eradication of sexual exploitation in all its horrendous forms: Survivors standing tall, with cameras rolling, telling their stories, and a representative of the power structure clearing the room, providing unlimited space and time for those stories. Take as long as you need to say all you want to say, she told them. As a woman who survived incest, how can I even express the vast importance of that level of validation? It has ramifications – the yet-to-be-seen results and consequences of these acts of courage and use of power.
How many survivors witnessing these acts are being fed a dose of validation and inspiration? I love that these women are standing – heads held high atop strong spines. Such a grand contradiction to the years my spirit lived, well into my thirties, crouched in a fetal position doing all she could to hold down my fathers’ crime, because of his oft- repeated threat, “You tell anyone and I’ll kill you.”
I’m certain each time a survivor stands up and proclaims her experience, a thousand sister and brother survivors’ spirits unfold, take a deep breath and have a good stretch. I wish I could stand before each and every one of these amazing women, look them right in the eye and say “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The responses Judge Aquiline offered after the victim statements were a grand about-face to the victim-blaming that happens all too often. She underscored statement after statement with praise, gratitude, and support for the women who came forward. Things like, “The military has not yet come up with fiber as strong as you,” calling them “heroine” and “superhero” and “Mattel ought to make toys so that little girls can look at you and say, ‘I want to be her.’ Thank you so much for being here, and for your strength.” What really choked me up was when she said, “Leave your pain here and go out and do your magnificent things.”
Where, dear goddess, did this cowboy-booted judge with a terrific upsweep hairdo come from? No matter – all that matters is she is here, now. Here for these young women who survived childhood sexual abuse, here for the millions of us like them. Here too, as a shining example for all who have power, challenging them to use that power for the greater good, to help end this epidemic.
One thing about the man Lawrence Nassar: I believe he wasn’t born an abuser. Whatever brought him to commit his crimes – and those of all abusers – must be purged from our culture for this epidemic to be stopped.
We are living not just a #METOO / Times Up moment. This is a movement and the gymnasts and judge are major engines keeping the momentum going. You can, too. Join by giving gratitude to the doers, financial support to organizations serving survivors and your voice anywhere and everywhere you can use it. Come on along – this is one hell of a ride!
Donna Jenson is founder of Time To Tell, and the author of “Healing My Life from Incest to Joy. For more information, visit www.timetotell.org.