Our Impact
FOUNDED IN 2018, WE’VE CREATED A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO KEEP CHILD ATHLETES SAFE.
Advocacy
- Created and piloted the Trauma-informed Survivor Advocacy Training, where athletes and athlete survivors learned about the legislative process, found confidence in their voices, and learned to advocate as TAOS volunteers
- Held athlete survivor listening sessions to learn about their experiences with reporting sexual assault and how TAOS may help improve the system to be more trauma-informed
- Helped to pass SB 3103 – Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022, which eliminates the statute of limitations for a minor victim of a human trafficking offense or federal sex offense to file a civil action to recover damages
Helped to pass SB 3623 – The Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022
Helped to pass SB 4524 – The Speak Out Act, which prevents the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and harassment
- Helped to pass SB 2330 Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020
- Helped to pass Michigan Public Acts 180 and 181
- Addressed world leaders at the United Nations’ first survivor summit in New York in 2019 at the invitation of Rise Justice Labs about the need for a global bill of rights for survivors
Education
Educated coaches through the Compassionate Coach trauma-informed training program
Held trauma-informed sessions for physical therapists, deepening understanding of abuse within athletics and informing care practices
Recommended child athlete safeguarding policies and procedures to sports organizations (gyms, clubs, camps, and rinks) and helping parents advocate to ensure that policies are in place
Informed parents about sexual assault dynamics in sport, grooming, and coercive control tactics of perpetrators within sport
Raised media awareness about rampant sexual abuse within sport and related human rights violations across the globe
Supported survivors with media training, legislative advocacy, and financial literacy training sessions
- Serving on the International Olympic Committee Advisory Board for their Athlete Welfare Officer professional development program
- Partnered with the Michigan State University Museum to co-curate a well-attended exhibit, “Finding Our Voice: Sister Survivors Speak,” with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as an opening speaker
Resources
Created the Athlete Bill of Rights and Child Athlete Bill of Rights to spread awareness about the rights that athletes have to play sports in a SAFE (Say No, Act, Feel, Educate) way
Developed Power and Control Wheel of Sexual Assault in Sports, which explores the coercive control tactics used by perpetrators to gain–and maintain–power and control
Created print and web resources available for national survivors, survivor healing, LGBTQIA+ resources, BIPOC athletes, a Recognizing Signs of Grooming within Sports guide, and more (visit our Resources and Support tabs to access these publications)
Developed the Athlete Survivor Mental Health Crisis Safety Plan, which supports anyone vulnerable to a mental health crisis
Created What Now?, which walks survivors, allies, and professionals through supported options after abuse
Developed the Safe Sport Entity Guide in collaboration with World Players Association and Sport & Rights Alliance, which helps organizations that are creating new safeguarding and reporting systems with the principles and key functions to create transparent and survivor-centered tools
Collaborated with the Keep Kids Safe Coalition to create the U.S. National Blueprint to End Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, which outlines steps the federal government can take to prevent sexual violence against children and adolescents, and ensure that those who experience sexual violence have access to healing and justice
- Distributed printed and digital resources to nearly 3,000 survivors and allies.
- Hosted multiple Survivor Speak Outs with almost 100 participants
- Sent hundreds of Survivor Care Cards with notes of support and QR codes to online resources and hotlines
