'No one should ever feel alone': Survivors say Nassar case sends powerful message

When Larry Nassar was sentenced Wednesday to a maximum of 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting girls and young women in his care, some watched the proceedings in disbelief.

Maya Weinstein, a 23-year-old law student who followed the case closely, felt relief wash over her when Judge Rosemarie Aquilina handed down the most severe sentence possible to the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor. Weinstein, a survivor of sexual assault, felt a kinship with Nassar's victims, one that drew her to the case. She wasn't sure at first whether they'd see justice, or be met with doubt and blame. Some of the survivors who spoke out against Nassar in court include Olympic gold medalists Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.

"I think that survivors have this bond, whether we know each other or not," said Weinstein. "I don’t know any of these women or girls, but I can kind of imagine how they feel."

Throughout the week-long hearings that culminated in Nassar's sentencing, Weinstein was among countless survivors who experienced that same solidarity and felt a knot of emotions that included solace, vindication, and inspiration.

The widespread condemnation of Nassar, the outrage aimed at the institutions that protected him, and the praise for the 156 women who read aloud their victim impact statements in court as part of a plea deal, sent a profound message to survivors: Maybe public attitudes about abuse are changing, maybe more people will believe survivors.

That's how Weinstein, who was raped in college, felt. She knows the pain and exhaustion of reporting sexual violence. She knows that the court of public opinion is often unkind, if not cruel, to survivors.

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Just a few years ago, Weinstein said, Brock Turner, the assailant in another prominent sexual assault case, seemed to receive sympathy from the judge, along with a sentence of six months in jail. Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at Stanford University. Weinstein has been reflecting on contrasts between the two cases, both of which have dominated headlines.

Aaron Persky, the judge in Turner's case, faces a voter recall in June for how he handled sentencing. Meanwhile, survivors are celebrating Judge Aquilina as a hero.

At one point, Aquilina told a young woman who'd given a statement, "Leave your pain here and go out and do your magnificent things."

"To see a judge say something like that has a significant impact on the survivor community," said Weinstein.

While some argue that Aquilina overstepped her role, survivor Raquel Fatiuk said watching her preside over the sentencing was an incredible experience: "She’s making survivors feel like we’re human, finally."

Fatiuk, a 28-year-old victim's advocate for the Houston Area Women's Center, said she became emotional while watching a Facebook Live broadcast of the women delivering their statements in Nassar's case. Survivors described their own feelings in the comments, and some said they were disclosing abuse or assault for the first time. As part of his plea deal, anyone who reported abuse could address Nassar in court, although this sentencing was limited to his assault on seven people.

For Fatiuk, whose assailant has not been identified by the police, witnessing other women confront their abuser led to a profound moment.

"I don’t know that I’m ever going to have that chance to look at that person and tell them how they affected my life," she said. "It felt like vindication to watch someone else do that."

Fatiuk is hopeful that coverage and discussion of Nassar's abuse and sentencing will help change public attitudes about sexual assault, starting with the importance of believing victims when they report their experiences.

She believes that the judge's treatment of survivors, along with Nassar's sentence, may encourage victims to more readily disclose abuse and assault.

"A lot of survivors are going to gain confidence from this and feel like they can tell their story, be heard, and get a conviction, for once," she said.

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And while the most dramatic element of Nassar's sentencing has concluded, Weinstein expects discussion of his case to persist as officials investigate how he continued to work despite multiple reports of molestation, over nearly two decades, against him. Some of Nassar's victims, including Raisman, have fiercely insisted that they won't stop until those institutions are held accountable.

"I hope that survivors see that there is power in numbers, and that there are people who have similar experiences and know their pain," she said. "There are people who will believe us. No one should ever feel alone in this, because they are not alone."

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.