Undoubtedly 'criminal disposition" means that the person was tried in criminal court and convicted for sexual misconduct of some kind. Whether it was related to equestrian activities isn’t certain.
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You say “undoubtably”. I hope that is the case. I’d like to see links to some sort of court proceedings, going forward.
Which is in no way to discount lived experiences of victims, but it seems facile to list individuals without some testimony or adjudication.
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“Least said, soonest mended”
Entirely too many COTH members are more than willing to speak where angels fear whisper. Given the slightest allegation they are ready to extrapolate high crimes and misdemeanors, trumpeting their opinions.
They then stroll off without so much as an apology when proven mistaken. Where are their trumpets then?
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On the other hand, why is it that, when someone recounts their experience with one of these individuals, they are disbelieved until there is adjudication? As an attorney, I am very well aware of “innocent until proven guilty”. Nevertheless, were these people accused of theft or another crime, folks would be accepting the victim at face value. But when it comes to molestation, pedophilia, rape, all of a sudden it’s a witch hunt and the victim is not to be believed?
People can cry “wolf” in the case of a theft just as easily as in a case of sexual misconduct. As a matter of fact, my opinion is that it is so difficult, so stressful, so hard, to testify in a sexual abuse case, the instances of false accusations are probably quite small in percentages. Yes, there are instances that get a lot of publicity, but that doesn’t mean everyone is lying.
FWIW, I guess I just believe the victims…I see NO upside for a lie in most cases.
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Many equestrian organizations insist on Background Checks on officials. I don’t know of USEA is one of them. If it is, I would think it unlikely that someone in mid-life, in a major profession would suddenly change their approach to the world.
Now that Metoo is out there, there will be a lot of ersatz allegations to go along with honest accusations. This is why I speak up about posts on the COTH BB that are sheer speculation.
I totally respect those who came forward, even though it is late in their life. It will alert young people in similar stuations to come forward NOW.
Back when assault and harassment were just starting to come on the radar, in the late 70s/ early 80s, feminist activists were certain no woman would ever make a false claim, because the trial process was so onerous.
While that has generally proven to be true, there have been isolated cases where women have launched false claims.
There have also been cases where consensual relationships gone wrong have led to legitimate complaints but in messy and complicated situations.
Or where the employer has stepped in even though the “injured party” made no complaint (on campus with student/teacher affairs, which are not OK even if consensual).
In general I think the horse community has been asking for more oversight on this for a while, and with reason. Other sports and professions manage to do this, especially children’s sports.
Presumably there are best practices out there to follow. A university in Canada ended up recently paying a large sum in damages because of how they mishandled PR in regards to a professor that was suspended then fired. But a few years ago my college investigated a colleague and invited her (yes, her) to resign, so fast and efficiently that no one knew until she was long gone.
Anyhow any system where you publicize accusations while awaiting adjudication seems unfair if the person is exonerated but on the other hand, if the charges held up, you would have wanted to know at the accusation stage.
Back when assault and harassment were just starting to come on the radar, in the late 70s/ early 80s, feminist activists were certain no woman would ever make a false claim, because the trial process was so onerous.
While that has generally proven to be true, there have been isolated cases where women have launched false claims (Rachel Marsden comes to mind).
There have also been cases where consensual relationships gone wrong have led to legitimate complaints but in messy and complicated situations.
Or where the employer has stepped in even though the “injured party” made no complaint (on campus with student/teacher affairs, which are not OK even if consensual).
In general I think the horse community has been asking for more oversight on this for a while, and with reason. Other sports and professions manage to do this, especially children’s sports.
Presumably there are best practices out there to follow. A university in Canada ended up recently paying a large sum in damages because of how they mishandled PR in regards to a professor that was suspended then fired. But a few years ago my college investigated a colleague and invited her (yes, her) to resign, so fast and efficiently that no one knew until she was long gone.
Anyhow any system where you publicize accusations while awaiting adjudication seems unfair if the person is exonerated. But on the other hand, if the charges held up, you would have wanted to know at the accusation stage.
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Article; THE U.S. EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION IS ON A SAFESPORT MISSION
Due South | June 14, 2018 | Comments
Mary Babick, president of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association and chairman of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s ad hoc committee on the subject of requiring a SafeSport education rule. Photo© by Nancy Jaffer
The day is coming, and probably soon, when everyone who belongs to the U.S. Equestrian Federation will have to participate in SafeSporttraining via a video.
At the USEF Board’s mid-year meeting in Kentucky this week, president Murray Kessler told the group he expects it to pass a rule making SafeSport education mandatory for the 25,000 trainers who belong to the organization. The regulation would take effect for those people at the start of the 2019 competition year on December 1, 2018 as a condition of their membership renewal.
That isn’t all.
“I want every member – but we’re not ready for that yet – to take the 90 minutes it takes to watch this SafeSport training,” he told the Board. It will require a phasing-in process to eventually reach Murray’s goal that gets everyone up to speed on this issue, with step one the requirement for professionals that will be voted on at the next Board meeting August 27th. Licensed officials and board members already are required to participate in the training and pass criminal background checks as well.
It isn’t only the #MeToo movement and the recent wave of publicity about abusive sexual behaviour involving trainers going back decades that has made SafeSport such an important part of USEF’s agenda. Murray explained Congress passed a law calling for every sport’s National Governing Body to require SafeSport training for adult members who have regular contact with minors. While sexual abuse grabs the headlines and the mission of the U.S. Center for SafeSport (established last year with funding from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the NGBs) involves cases of sexual misconduct, Murray noted the concept also covers bullying, cyber bullying, emotional misconduct and more. The latter categories are handled by USEF through its hearing process.
When a broad-based SafeSport education rule was proposed at the USEF annual meeting in January, it drew what Murray called some “legitimate” pushback. So he appointed U.S. Hunter Jumper Association president Mary Babick as head of an ad hoc committee to refine the rule. She wants to see mandatory concussion training as part of it, but that has been dropped for now to streamline the central mission.
Her group had submitted an extraordinary rule change (one that circumvents the timeline of the regular rule change process), then withdrew it “simply so we could get the underpinnings correct,” she said.
While there is no arguing with the intent of the rule, the administration of it is what needs to be worked out if the rule eventually is meant to cover all members. She pointed out that one question involves people with show passes, who are not USEF members, but instead pay a fee to participate in a few shows each year. Down the road, show managers also will have to look at non-members hired for a variety of jobs at their competitions.
“Show managers are going to have to consider how much liability they bear on something like that,” the ad hoc committee chairman said.
“There’s a lot of chatter in and around horse shows regarding horse show staffs and what requirements there should be for them,” Mary noted, adding, however, her panel is not even considering that aspect. But it’s easy to see that the initial steps on this are only the tip of the iceberg.
The ad hoc committee is broad-based, presenting a variety of viewpoints. Members include dressage trainer Catherine Haddad-Staller, eventing official Andrew Temkin, who is also a lawyer, and Cynthia Richardson from the Arabian breed group.
Mary thinks the rule her panel is developing also could include anyone who signs an entry blank for a show, even an amateur or a parent. The ad hoc committee believes strongly that everyone should view the SafeSport video “because it lets people know what’s going on. It tells you what to watch out for in others,” said Mary. “I wouldn’t have looked for that. It’s a situation that helps increase awareness. Our government mandates all of us to be reporters of this type of behavior; it’s good that we know what we’re talking about.”
She noted that “the ones who are for it the most are the ones who have children,” and she sees USEF as a pathfinder for other equestrian organizations that know they also need to deal with this situation.
For USHJA, she has been working on something she tentatively called “gold seal,” which would put on a special list the name of any USHJA member who voluntarily underwent a background check in addition to SafeSport training. “In the end, you need both,” Mary believes. Her organization is making both a requirement for clinicians, coaches and chefs d’equipe. Although you may think of coaches and chefs only in connection with the major U.S. teams, don’t forget that there are all kinds of team competitions at a variety of levels, including zones.
After the decision to require that passed in May, it is up to those eligible to comply of their own volition until contracts are arranged for next year, when everyone involved will have to fulfill those requirements if they want to work for USHJA.
It’s difficult to face an uncomfortable topic, but it’s important to look at the big picture on this volatile issue. As Mary put it, “This is a problem that’s much bigger than inside our equine world. Ninety minutes out of your life to make the world safer is a good thing.”
~ Nancy Jaffer
“I want every member – but we’re not ready for that yet – to take the 90 minutes it takes to watch this SafeSport training,”. This part of @Equibrit post bothers me. They are not ready for an hour and a half of training? What in the actual fruit bat. Please tell me I am misinterpreting that?
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I assume this means they are not prepared to handle the administrative oversight it would take to ensure compliance across the entire member base.
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That would be easy, any trainer needs to submit a currant certificate of completion to be on show grounds. We manage health certs and coggins for the horses.
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Coffins? :lol:
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:lol: Damn autocorrect! Fixed it!
Yes, but a) this is a new program that will probably warrant some tweaks after the initial adoption and b) I can almost guarantee that during the first year or so of implementation, you’d have to turn away about 50% of competitors for noncompliance if they rolled this out in blanket format. Let it take hold with the trainers, work out the kinks, and it will permeate down to their students.
It won’t take long, but let’s be honest, what fraction of USEA members would actually know this was happening if this was a blanket requirement from the get-go. Sure, we all got the email, but I for one didn’t read it until I saw this thread.
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I dont know how you force people to watch a video unless they have to attend an event. Or perhaps they have to sign in and download the thing to complete membership. Or take a test on the main points. Or just sign on the application form saying I have watched and agreed. Honestly it’s a 90 minute video but I bet like most instructional videos it is super slow and contains about 15 minutes of content. I think the general safe sport initiative is great idea, but I bet it will be hard getting compliance on watching a 90 minute video!
Tons of workplaces and volunteer organizations already do this type of thing, so it’s not as if infrastructure doesn’t exist to achieve it. I have to complete two of them each year - one on harassment and one on information security. It’s a page online, you log into it, watch the video or click through interactive pages, at the end there’s like ten multiple choice questions to make sure you watched it, then it presents you with or emails you a certificate that can be printed, and/or marks you off in the system as passed. You can even make it an annual thing with the option to pass out of watching it if you can complete the questions correctly.
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Ok, that makes sense!
As furlong47 said, the training programs already exist. They don’t even need to make a horse version. They should roll it out in blanket format. Make the certificate part of the paperwork to be sent in with the entries.
If 50% of the people get turned away from a show because they can’t take 90 minutes out of their day to watch a video then oh well. They could also accept training people get at their work. That could alleviate the problems of people not reading emails or thinking they are too busy.
I do not understand how people can be so outraged over sexual assault and rape in the work place and in the horse world, yet say required training is too hard. People won’t be able to show because they don’t read emails, or whatever excuse about the logistics.
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I don’t understand why so many people think a 90 minute training module is going to fix anything. It isn’t like sexual predators are unaware preying on women and children is wrong…they do it anyway because they think they can get away with it.
tons of workplaces have people do these things annually but sexual harassment in the workplace is still a huge problem…funny that.
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My experience is largely with corporate training modules, but I don’t think the modules are intended to stop sexual predators. They are there to educate people so hopefully you get less cases of victims not reporting, bystanders doing nothing, and sexual predators in a gray area who don’t realize what they are doing is wrong.
People who are serial creeps are probably not going to be stopped by a training video, but I wouldn’t say the videos are for them anyway.
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