you trusting a man over the victim is horrifying... you are the reason more female athletes are scared to speak out about accusers... sad to see actual human write this
I am speaking of documented evidence and other details that I am aware of in this particular case. Is it really better to assume that every single person who is accused of anything is guilty without full, fair, and thorough investigation of the facts, and access to due process for the accused? If a serious accusation was made against you or someone you care about, wouldn't you want to have access to a full and fair hearing? Mr. Desyatov has responsibly adhered to Safesport directives while being treated egregiously throughout this entire chaotic, unfair, undisciplined, and abusive process.
In fact, Safesport has been under Congressional investigation recently for financial irregularities; failure to appropriately respond to legal demands; and for irresponsible hiring practices [
they hired an investigator who was later found to have previously been convicted of abuse himself 
]; They have caused more harm than any kind of protection for both accused and accusers in cases across multiple sports.
SS actually indicated to persons asking about the Desyatov case that, "we have to believe it's true." They said this in the beginning without any investigation. That goes against the basic human right of 'presumed innocent until proven guilty.' That is setting a dangerous precedent. Under this set of circumstances, anyone with an agenda could decide to make a claim against someone they were intent on causing harm, particularly in terms of ending their athletic career, with the full knowledge that they would be believed and the person they accused would be prevented from saying anything, and effectively silenced for the foreseeable future, often for years.
Obviously, it is statistically rare that claims are made falsely, but there have been instances of questionable claims, and overturned SS decisions. Each claim needs to be treated seriously and swiftly investigated. Abuses in figure skating, especially coach abuses against students have been widespread and alarming, ever since finally beginning to be publicly reported in the 1990s. Specifically, though, in the Desyatov case, many documented details are extremely concerning and should be fully aired, fairly resolved, and not swept under the rug.
The Safesport system itself needs to be fully examined, reformed, and held accountable. U.S. figure skating and the ISU need to stop hiding their heads in the sand and expecting the serious problem of abuse in figure skating to be magically resolved. What is needed is responsible, hands-on leadership, not over-reactionary attempts at face-saving. It's important to recognize that abuse is a human issue which touches everyone of us. It's not something that happens over there, out of sight out of mind, that a faulty entity like Safesport should be expected to neatly, fairly, and swiftly resolve behind-the-scenes without any oversight or public accountability.
Your comment toward me is one in which you appear to be 'taking sides.' I take no sides on the issue of abuse of any kind. No one should feel they cannot speak out. Sadly, many who have suffered horrific, unspeakable abuse tend to remain silent for many traumatic reasons that have nothing to do with fair-minded persons advocating for full investigation, protection, and due process for everyone involved. Unfortunately, a false claim is what absolutely can lead to egregious harms against those who are suffering or have suffered in silence from a serious instance of abuse, or from habitual, long term abuse.
FYI: Misogyny and horrible sexual abuses have been happening since the beginning of time and are sadly surely happening this very instant. It is a human problem that can never be beneficially or fairly resolved when anger, vindictiveness, fear, silence, emotional overreaction, or careless, dismissive inaction and abuse of process prevail. In the case of 'amateur' sports, there's a serious need to bring together caring people with sound judgement and expertise to be involved in making fair, reasonable, and swift adjudication possible. A big part of that would be not lumping together every abuse claim, which is too often how such cases are treated by online keyboard warriors.
More importantly, in my opinion, it is crucial to end the paralyzing atmosphere of fear, silence, and inaction surrounding abuse claims, coupled simultaneously with detrimental online bullying, labeling and smearing at the mere point of a finger against someone, without access to verifiable information. At the same time, sports authorities should be concerned with instituting awareness campaigns, and other preventive measures and guidelines to guard against abuses, rather than only being ineffectively and inadequately focused on 'reporting' after-the-fact. As we have seen in numerous recent cases in the news, the so-called 'reporting' guidelines often lead nowhere for those seeking help in trying to report abuse.
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