Testimony from Simone Biles and Team USA gymnasts is important for women around the world

Why Simone Biles’, other Team USA gymnasts testimony is important for women around the world.

On Wednesday several USA gymnasts went in front of the United States Congress to give their accounts surrounding the sexual abuse they and hundreds of women suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar, the Team USA doctor. They took the time to lambaste the FBI who they felt did not do a good enough job investigating Nassar.

Among those women were Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols.

Some might wonder why they even bothered, after all, Nassar has been sentenced long ago but what many might not realize is how powerful an image it was to have these women speak … and keep speaking about injustices that many women have faced.

One of the most common feelings a victim of sexual abuse feels is isolation, shame and fear. These women are showing others in their situations, men and women around the world, that it’s ok to talk about what’s happened. This is something I know well. This is a lesson I needed to learn.

Force people to listen.

Watch Simone Biles speak to Congress

You can see the power of their testimony displayed online as women and young girls were dealing with their own traumas sat transfixed on the hearing, finally feeling their own voices heard.

Their testimony was not just about themselves. It was for the hundreds of victims of Nassar and the hundreds of thousands of women around the world suffering in silence, unable to speak for themselves.

Victimsofcrime.org says that one in five girls is a victim of child sexual abuse, that means that if you are reading this now, you likely know more than one woman who has been sexually abused. What’s more shocking, and unfortunately not all that surprising is that rape is the most under-reported crime with 63 percent of sexual assaults going unreported, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

This is why the women of Team USA coming together to speak is not just an important piece of sports news but a message to women everywhere.

It’s ok to get loud. There’s no more shame.