The New York Times tells us that U.S.A. Gymnastics is trying to put the Lawrence G. Nassar scandal (in which hundreds of women and girls were assaulted with impunity) behind them:
www.nytimes.com/...
“With less than five months left before the Tokyo Olympics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United States has proposed a multimillion-dollar legal settlement to close a dark and painful chapter in which hundreds of gymnasts were sexually assaulted by a former team doctor.
Details of U.S.A. Gymnastics’ $217 million settlement offer became public last month.... The proposed payouts to Nassar’s 500-plus victims range from $82,550 to $1.25 million,”
So the payouts vary. Why do you think that is? Maybe depending on how many times the person was assaulted? Maybe the victims are grouped by age when first victimized and the youngest get more? Combination?
Nope.
“with the highest tier of payouts going to gymnasts molested at the Olympics or world championships.”
There are a lot of other problems with this settlement offer as the NYT article details but this one — the better gymnast you are, the more your sexual assault is worth — is not mentioned and it makes me sick. Those who were assaulted were all equally human and equally valuable as human beings. Age when assaulted, number of times assaulted, and a other ***assault-related*** issues should be considered when deciding settlement claims but how good a gymnast you are should not apply. Consideration of such criteria is yet another way to dehumanize and humiliate victims.