Nancy Hogshead-Makar and the Safe Sport Act

Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act, also called the Safe Sport Act, was made law on February 14, 2018. The bill was introduced in the Senate in March 2017 by sponsor Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and makes members of amateur sports organizations—including Olympic sports—legally responsible to report sexual abuse and requires all organizations to implement protections for all athletes.

The legislation came on the heels of hundreds of highly publicized sexual abuse accusations against Larry Nassar, a former doctor with USA Gymnastics (USAG). Nassar is currently spending what is effectively a lifetime in prison. Both USAG and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) have come under intense scrutiny for their lack of action regarding Nassar’s crimes, and the Safe Sport Act aims to remedy this issue.

Protecting young women against assault

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former Olympic swimmer, has been advocating for young female athletes for decades. In a profile for Outside Online, she says, “The passage of this statute is just the beginning. Abuse is in every single sport, but we now have protection for 8 million children.” After surviving her own rape in 1981, Hogshead-Makar turned to swimming as therapy and moved on to the Olympics and later, law school. She worked her way up the ranks at the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), taking on issues like coach-on-athlete abuse, Title IX enforcement, and protecting athletes from harassment and sexual assault.

She worked on behalf of several athletes to keep notorious abusers out of coaching and administrative roles. She litigated to have alleged serial sexual abusers banned from activities and tournaments. Because there were no standard guidelines of how to deal with abusers before the Safe Sport Act, Hogshead-Makar was central in protecting many young women.

Now, under the new law, youth sports organizations must report allegations of abuse to law enforcement within 24 hours, instead of leaving it up to internal board members to handle (or ignore). More importantly, the Safe Sport Act provides the USOC with immunity from defamation claims from those removed from the sport for violating sexual abuse policies. The Act also requires the guilty party to pay a minimum of $150,000 to the victim if they are found to have committed the offense in a civil suit.

Explains Hogshead-Makar, “The U.S. Olympic Committee wanted to save money, period. The organization didn’t spend money on investigations, education, background checks or investigating lawsuits. The Olympic movement, including administrators and coaches, have adamantly denied protecting athletes from pedophiles, leaving it to parents, clubs, and the police.”

The new law also created an independent body called SafeSport, responsible for holding organizations compliant and investigating complaints. Due to its outsider status, SafeSport aims to bring less bias into any investigations of abuse.

If your child is being sexually abused or harassed by a coach or other authority figure in Southern California, he or she is not alone. Let us help you bring the guilty party to justice. The Los Angeles legal team at Taylor & Ring are here to fight for you and your family. Call us today at 310.776.6390 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation.