Portraits for Change Sexual assault culture in athletics needs attention. BY DARCIE ZUDELL | PHOTOS BY SAM WARREN | DESIGN BY RACHEL RECTOR CONTENT WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS MENTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
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rent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond went from being established members of Steubenville High School’s football team to being found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl, who was reported to have drunk to the point of unconsciousness. The incident happened at a party, where those involved posted incriminating videos, pictures and tweets about the event. The story blew up when a local crime blogger, Alexandria Goddard, made a post showcasing some questionable social media posts made by those at the party. When the story blew up, the digital activist group Anonymous hacked the high school football team’s website. Anonymous then posted a video detailing the crime committed by the community-beloved football players on the website. People from all over the country flocked to the town, which has population of less than 20,000, to protest the harmful idea that dreams and promising futures were wrongfully destroyed. In the 10 years following the Steubenville case involving twostar high school athletes, a more nuanced discussion has taken the forefront: How does sexual assault culture impact sports? The Ambassadors to the Survivor Advocacy Program (ASAP) at Ohio University has been asking the same question about abuse within sports teams on and off
the field during their meetings. “The intention was to create a workshop to inform athletes about how they can support each other in instances where something like that would happen,” says Mary Kate McElroy, a current graduate student at OU. McElroy is getting their Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting. McElroy strives to support survivors of sexual assault in any way they can. They are a member of ASAP, which is a student-run organization serving the Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP) on campus. This current initiative hits home to McElroy as a former college athlete and a survivor of sexual assault. McElroy understands the stigmas that follow when reporting crimes of sexual violence. “You want people to think well of you,” McElroy says. “The way that sports can exacerbate that is, if it's a prominent sports person that is the perpetrator, then it makes it even more difficult because of their position.” McElroy recounts how no reports were filed when they told trusted coaches at their previous university about their experience. “My coaches knew that this was going on,” McElroy says. “They were mandated reporters and no one said anything or filed a case on my behalf.” In the state of Ohio , school staff members are
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