UNITED STATES
New York Post
November 21, 2017
By Hannah Withiam
Gabby Douglas added her name to the long list of female gymnasts who said they were victims of Dr. Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse in a post apologizing for her misguided comments last week.
In walking back her controversial response to Aly Raisman’s message on victim shaming — in which Douglas said women should dress “modestly” and not provoke the “wrong crowd” — the three-time Olympic gold medalist indirectly noted she too was sexually molested by Nassar over the years he worked for USA Gymnastics.
“I didn’t view my comments as victim shaming because I know that no matter what you wear, it NEVER gives anyone the right to harass or abuse you. It would be like saying that because of the leotards we wore, it was our fault that we were abused by Larry Nassar,” Douglas wrote on Instagram Tuesday.
“I didn’t publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful. I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.