'We're in crisis': Safe sport advocate Allison Forsyth says feds must be preventative in tackling sexual abuse
CBC
WARNING: This article contains details that may affect those who have experienced sexual abuse or know someone affected by it.
Less than a week after Canada's sport minister Pascale St-Onge announced a number of new measures to combat what she calls a crisis in the country, sexual abuse survivor-turned-safe sport advocate Allison Forsyth is questioning just how effective the measures will be.
St-Onge highlighted a number of steps Sport Canada is taking to begin the process of changing the country's sport system, including changing the contribution agreements with national sport organizations (NSOs). That means there will be enhanced checks and balances and heightened accountability in place that will directly impact sport organizations and their funding.
Sport organizations receiving federal funding will have to meet specific governance, accountability and safe-sport standards.
While all of this looks good on paper, Forsyth worries it won't translate into meaningful change quickly enough.
WATCH | Forsyth discusses her safe sport advocacy:
"To be completely honest and frank, it's been frustrating for me of late. If you've lived it, you know. If you are Kyle Beach, you know. If you are a Larry Nassar survivor, you know. If you're myself, you know," Forsyth told CBC Sports.
"And I wish I could say all the decisions being made right now are being made by people with lived experiences and survivors of abuse, yet they're not. I'm not here to make anyone wrong for that. I believe there are a lot of very good people trying to help with this massive issue."
Forsyth was an Olympic skier who competed at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. Skiing at the highest level was her life and she was willing to do whatever it took to get to the pinnacle.
Charest was found guilty in 2017 on 37 sex-related charges stemming from the complaints of nine women who were between the ages of 12 and 18 at the time of the crimes.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was later released on parole in 2019.
It was around that time Forsyth began her work in the world of safe sport, wanting to be a vessel of change for those athletes coming after her. She was somewhat optimistic, but also skeptical, that the measures introduced at that point by then-Minister of Sport Kirsty Duncan, including a national toll-free helpline to address abuse in sport, would lead to tangible action.
Three years later, Forsyth has lost a lot of faith and says these new measures and the performative nature of the announcements feel all too similar to what happened a few short years ago.
"How are we going to learn from the last three years and do it differently this time? Back then, all I kept thinking was 'this is not going to work.' Because what the government has been focused on is dealing with the problem once it happens. We need to be preventative," Forsyth said.
