The courageous gymnasts who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week about their sexual abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar had a proud supporter in their corner.
Angelina Jolie shared a photo of herself on Instagram with five of the women on Thursday to express her admiration as they fight for change and accountability after the FBI admitted on Wednesday that it mismanaged the former doctor’s investigation American gymnastics.
“I was honored to meet some of the brave American gymnasts who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday,” Jolie wrote. “I am impressed by their courage and commitment to preventing future abuse investigation failures. As Aly Raisman said in her testimony,” over 100 victims could have been spared the abuse. All we needed was an adult to do the right thing. ”’
“Send support and respect to them, and to all who relive this trauma so that reforms to the system can take place. I was on Capitol Hill this week, engaging with Senators on the Reauthorization of the Act. violence against women and FBI reforms, including better protections for victims of child abuse, collection of unbiased forensic evidence, trauma care, and forensic training. “
Jolie is pictured with former elite gymnasts Kaylee Lorincz, Maggie Nichols, McKayla Maroney, Jessica Howard and Aly Raisman, all of whom said they were sexually abused by Nassar. The disgraced doctor is serving up to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing 10 of the more than 265 accusers who came forward.
Jolie has been a strong advocate for women’s rights and has spoken out against gender-based violence and abuse, spending nearly two decades campaigning for human rights around the world. In an essay for TIME magazine last year, she wrote about the pandemic potentially erasing decades of gender equality gains around the world.
Gymnasts are fighting to get accounts after it emerged that the FBI did not open an investigation into Nassar until nearly a year after learning of the charges. During this lag time, it is estimated that Nassar abused more than 70 additional gymnasts.
Raisman spoke TODAY Thursday of his frustration with the FBI’s handling of the case and his hopes for an independent investigation into how it happened so that a similar situation can be avoided at the ‘to come up.
“The agent kept cutting back on my abuse and telling me he didn’t feel like this was a big deal and maybe I should drop the case,” Raisman said.
“It just wasn’t a good experience, and listening to McKayla Maroney’s testimony was just heartbreaking to hear her experience as well. It’s devastating.”
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