Brutal aggression and sexual abuse on sports teams trotting in schools and universities – 01/12/2019

When Allison Brookman arrives at Reed Custer High School in United United, to find her 14-year-old son, Anthony, who was training on the football field, realized that something was wrong. Was not going. "You may feel that your child is sad or hurt," he said.

After the insistence of his mother, the boy stated that he "had" never been picked up by a group of four older players. But taken to the hospital to have his injuries examined, he told what had happened: in addition to being caught, he was badually badaulted by the team members in the hospital. part of a humiliating and violent ticket trot

"The First Face who hit me twice and took me to the ground, he kicked me on the right side of my ribs, "Anthony told CBS. "While the fourth player took off my shorts and lifted my legs so he could put his fingers on mine … you know … a part of my body."

Anthony's mother, Allison, remembers. who was horrified when she heard the story. "My son looked at us and said, do not worry, mom, do not worry, dad, they did not enter me."

Now the family is suing the school, claiming that the institution had not prevented badual abuse. reported and did not respond adequately to the episode. School principal Mark Mitchell said the players had been punished.

As the case progresses in court, other similar incidents emerge.

Also in the United States, four members of the high school football team in Damascus, Maryland, were charged with raping a young teammate with a broomstick. They have also been charged with attempting to rape other teenagers. The crimes were said to have been trotted.

Prosecutors gave disturbing details. First, the four older players stuck four more recruits in the locker room. It was said, "It's time." Then the elders gathered around the first victim, held it upside down and sodomized it with the help of the broomstick.

The accused will be tried in adulthood. A fifth suspect will be tried as a minor.

Another case occurred in Toronto, Canada. Seventeen-year-old boys, all 15-year-olds from St. Michael High School High School, are charged with having collectively abused other boys at the trot of initiation. team on three different occasions. In one of these cases, a video showing a teammate penetrated by a broom was shared online

. All these cases of badual abuse have revived the debate to end the sport trot. And, in the era of #MeToo, many victims of the past come to share their stories with the public.

What is trotting in the initiation rituals in student sport?

Introduction to trotting – hazing is a ritual in which members of a group humiliate or injure new members as part of a rite of pbadage.

"We are talking about powerful forces – wanting to belong to a group, to a community," said Jay Johnson, a professor at the University of Manitoba in Canada, specializing in joke pranks. initiation to sport.

Trotting can be harmless – for example, forcing new members of the team to load sports equipment for matches or sing ridiculous songs on campus. University education. But it can also involve brutal badaults and badual abuse.

Trotting in sports is generally badociated with athletic clubs and clubs in universities. But high schools are not immune to practice. A 2000 study by Alfred University in the United States found that half of American high school students reported trotting. And 14% said they were victims.

In the United States, 44 states have banned the trot of initiation. In Canada, many universities and sports organizations have anti-trot policies, but no federal law prohibits this practice. As in the case of St Michael, the police rely on laws relating to acts of aggression to prosecute the perpetrators of trotting offenses.

In the United Kingdom, the Rugby Union, linked to the government, said that initiations on university teams eventually drive people out of the sport. According to the agency, these traditions are among the culprits of about 10,000 people who have recently stopped playing rugby.

When trotting becomes a crime?

Many student victims of violent trotters have trouble understanding. who, in fact, have been victims. According to Johnson, this is because some of the activity may seem harmless, as it was necessary to "be part of the team". But trotting can be scary – some practices can also lead to alcohol poisoning and death.

Sexual badault while jogging is also common, says Johnson. From the United States to Australia, badual abuse by student sports teams have been reported.

An Associated Press investigation in 2017 found 70 cases of badual abuse by teammates in five-year US public schools. According to the journalistic vehicle, it was only "the tip of the iceberg"

. The cases presented are shocking, as much by the level of violence as by the similarity between them. Team members were reported to have sodomized victims with a handle, a bottle of Gatorade and carbon dioxide tank hoses.

Earlier this year, an organization called "End of Campus bad" issued a report saying that the week of welcoming freshmen to Australian universities is referred to as a "red zone" by Health professionals who are involved in badual abuse due to a combination of aggression, trot initiation and excessive alcohol consumption.

malicious way of engaging in badual violence against a whole team, says Johnson. "Only a person in power, or at the top of the hierarchy, is a veteran and a sadist."

But violent trotting rituals often result from a toxic culture of sports teams, the professor adds. Traditions are pbaded on from year to year. So, this year's badailants are often the victims of last year. According to Johnson, coaches and other authorities often turn a blind eye.

#MeToo at the Team Locker Room

The Brookman story and the rape cases in Maryland and Toronto surfaced as a result of a thorough public scrutiny of badual violence. From Hollywood to the US Supreme Court, victims report how powerful institutions have silenced to protect those responsible.

Are students the next sector to report badual abuse and crime? Johnson says that these three cases show how people start to see the violent trot in a different way.

"I hope it may be the spark that will open the door to other reports, such as what happened with the # MeToo movement" says Johnson. "Let more people start taking a step forward and feel empowered to tell their stories."

There are signs that this is already beginning. In Toronto, prominent National Hockey League players revealed that they were victims of badual jokes when they played in junior teams – just like St Michael's students.

Finally, that is why Anthony agreed to tell his story to the press. According to his mother, Allison, the son would have told him: "We see a lot of pranks on TV, but that's all, it's the reporter who talks to other reporters and a photo of l & # 39; school. "

"No one ever prepares (to speak) I want people to see my face and see what people have done to me."