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Athlete survivors
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Content
Athlete Survivors
by
Jaydelle Herbert
A Thesis Presented to the
F ACUL TY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICA TION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Parliament Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF AR TS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
MA Y 2023
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s
I would like to thank Dan Birman, Megan Chao, Susy Garciasalas Barkley and V ictor
Figueroa for their editorial and creative guidance towards my project. I could not have completed
this documentary without their suggestions and feedback from start to finish. Thank you to
Lorward Choi and Shenea Stiletto, my main interviewees, for trusting me to tell your story and
taking time out of your busy schedules to be a part of my documentary . Thank you to Lisa
Pecot-Hebert and Myra T urner , my committee members, for their continued support and help.
Thank you to Aadya Chidanand, T aylor W illiams, and Kennedy McIntosh for the all-nighters to
motivate me and for supporting me throughout this project.
i i
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
I. Acknowledgements……………………………………………………….……………….ii
II. Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...iii
III. Chapter One: Reflection…………………………………………………………………..1
IV . Chapter T wo: Documentary Script………………………………………………………..7
V . Bibliography………………………………………………………………. ……………35
A b s t r a c t
Through the voices of athlete survivors, this documentary tells the story of how a
female and male athlete survives sexual abuse. Once they share their experiences, the survivors’
reflect on how they felt during multiple assaults and reveal how they continue to heal from their
experience. A psychologist, police detective, and prevention and division manager at a nonprofit
or ganization provide diverse perspectives on the survivors they interact with. There are stories
about sexual abuse scandals from USA Gymnastics to Penn State. But I haven’ t seen a story
featuring a female and male athlete survivor , who have been assaulted by two dif ferent types of
perpetrators. A coach and an older athlete. Their stories provide parents and athletes to see some
of the factors that lead to sexual assault and how they used their experience to advocate for
others. My hope is to bring awareness that sexual abuse can happen during any stage of an
athlete’ s career . Between 14 and 29% of athletes experienced at least one form of sexual violence
in their sport before the age of 18.
1
Then, less than 10% of survivors report their assault in fear of
not being “believed.”
2
From my documentary , one survivor said, “He’ s (her perpetrator) telling
me if we get caught, everything will stop. My career and his career will stop. And that I wouldn’ t
be able to do acrobatic gymnastics anymore.” While, the other survivor never reported his
experience. This documentary shows the rawness of the gymnast and tennis player ’ s stories and
how their experiences can help other athletes from enduring a similar experience.
2
“ A B r i e f R e p o r t o f S e x u a l V i o l e n c e a m o n g U n i v e r s i t i e s w i t h N C A A D i v i s i o n I A t h l e t i c P r o g r a m s :
A c a d e m i c J o u r n a l . ” N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M e d i c i n e , F e b . 2 0 1 9 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . n c b i . n l m . n i h . g o v / p m c / a r t i c l e s / P M C 6 4 0 6 5 2 1 /
1
“ P u t t i n g t h e P u z z l e B a c k T o g e t h e r — A N a r r a t i v e C a s e S t u d y o f a n A t h l e t e W h o S u r v i v e d C h i l d S e x u a l
A b u s e i n S p o r t : A c a d e m i c J o u r n a l . ” N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M e d i c i n e , 2 0 2 2 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . n c b i . n l m . n i h . g o v / p m c / a r t i c l e s / P M C 9 0 0 1 9 3 3 /
i i i
C h a p t e r O n e : R e f l e c t i o n
“Athlete Survivors” is a documentary about bringing awareness to athlete sexual assault
survivors’ experiences and using their experiences to explain the on-going issue of sexual assault
within sports. While sexual assault is a prevalent issue in sports from the USA Gymnastics,
Michigan State, and Penn State’ s sexual abuse cases; I was interested to produce a story
highlighting two diverse experiences through the eyes of athlete survivors. In this project, one
survivor is a woman who was sexually abused by her gymnastics coach at 15 years old and the
other survivor is a male tennis player who was sexually assaulted by an older athlete during his
freshman year of college. Through the eyes of these two athlete survivors, who have endured
dif ferent experiences, the documentary shows that sexual assault can happen to any athlete at any
stage of their athletic career . This project allows parents and athletes to see some of the factors
that led to the abuse for the characters in the story , along with some insight into the reporting
process through a police station, and what resources are available to survivors through a
non-profit working in this space.
I believe the most impactful way to tell this story was through a documentary . I wanted
the audience to see the emotions, body language, and hear the survivors tell their stories. While
text pieces are very impactful, a documentary allowed me to share their stories and contextualize
a few statistics. Aspects of the reporting process presented by a detective with the Los Angeles
Police Department, and resources through Peace Over V iolence, a nonprofit or ganization,
provided another perspective on the topic. Also, I wanted to challenge myself and prove to
1
myself that I could create a documentary on a topic I am passionate about. During the Summer
T erm, I came up with the idea of covering this story . But my professor ’ s main concern was
finding athlete survivors who were willing to talk about their experiences. I searched for athlete
survivors through dif ferent prevention or ganizations and news articles. I cold called the athletes
through directly messaging them on Instagram. I found one of the survivors in my documentary
through the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). I found the other survivor from
an article published by a Kansas City television station, KSHB.
3
But I directly messaged both
athletes on Instagram and talked to each survivor on the phone or via Zoom about how they
would be featured in my documentary . Once I secured interviews with the survivors, I read
academic journals and watched documentaries on sexual abuse to wrap my head around the
experiences they endured. For the woman survivor , she lived with her coach at 15 years old to
train. The environment she lived in made her vulnerable to sexual abuse multiple times.
4
For the
male survivor , his perpetrator was an older athlete who groomed him during each assault.
5
After I
interviewed the survivors, I also was interviewed a clinical psychologist, Los Angeles Police
Department (LAPD) sexual assault detective, and the Prevention and Division Manager for a
nonprofit or ganization, Peace Over V iolence.
After interviewing survivors and experts, I focused on collecting statistics for my
documentary . According to RAINN, every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.
6
The
6
R A I N N s t a t i s t i c s :
h t t p s : / / w w w . r a i n n . o r g / s t a t i s t i c s
5
“ G r o o m i n g : K n o w t h e W a r n i n g S i g n s . ” R A I N N , J u l 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
h t t p s : / / w w w . r a i n n . o r g / n e w s / g r o o m i n g - k n o w - w a r n i n g - s i g n s
4
“ G r o o m i n g : K n o w t h e W a r n i n g S i g n s . ” R A I N N , J u l 1 0 , 2 0 2 0
h t t p s : / / w w w . r a i n n . o r g / n e w s / g r o o m i n g - k n o w - w a r n i n g - s i g n s
3
“ S e x u a l - a b u s e s u r v i v o r s d e m a n d a c c o u n t a b i l i t y f o r p r e d a t o r s i n O l y m p i c s p o r t s . ” K S H B K a n s a s C i t y ,
M a r c h 1 6 , 2 0 2 2
h t t p s : / / w w w . k s h b . c o m / n e w s / l o c a l - n e w s / i n v e s t i g a t i o n s / u - s - c e n t e r - f o r - s a f e s p o r t / s e x u a l - a b u s e - s u r v i v o r s - d e
m a n d - a c c o u n t a b i l i t y - f o r - p r e d a t o r s - i n - o l y m p i c - s p o r t s
2
RAINN or ganization found this statistic from the Department of Justice National Crime
V ictimization Survey in 2019.
7
This statistic was placed in the prologue for the audience to
understand how often sexual assault happens in America. When I add the woman gymnast’ s
experience, I end the sequence with a text card explaining her perpetrator ’ s sentence. The
gymnastics coach who sexually assaulted the gymnast at 15 years old received a two-year
sentence because he pleaded guilty .
8
After she talked about how her body processed the assaults,
I added a statistic on survivors’ mental health after sexual abuse. “Sexual abuse is often
associated with depression, post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorder , and substance
abuse.”
9
When she mentioned how she is in a continuous cycle of healing from her experiences,
she said she uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR is a type of
psychotherapy that reduces the vividness and emotion associated with traumatic experiences.
1 0
When the male survivor talked about his experience, he mentioned how he didn’ t realize he was
sexually abused until two to three years after the assault. It’ s normal for survivors to not realize
that they were sexually assaulted at the time of the abuse and to process their experience
dif ferently .
1 1
Also, how masculinity plays a role in a male survivor processes their experience is
1 1
“ P u t t i n g t h e P u z z l e B a c k T o g e t h e r — A N a r r a t i v e C a s e S t u d y o f a n A t h l e t e W h o S u r v i v e d C h i l d S e x u a l
A b u s e i n S p o r t : A c a d e m i c J o u r n a l . ” N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M e d i c i n e , 2 0 2 2 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . n c b i . n l m . n i h . g o v / p m c / a r t i c l e s / P M C 9 0 0 1 9 3 3 /
10
“ E y e M o v e m e n t D e s e n s i t i z a t i o n a n d R e p r o c e s s i n g ( E M D R ) T h e r a p y . ” A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g y
A s s o c i a t i o n , 2 0 1 7
h t t p s : / / w w w . a p a . o r g / p t s d - g u i d e l i n e / t r e a t m e n t s / e y e - m o v e m e n t - r e p r o c e s s i n g # : ~ : t e x t = A % 2 0 s t r u c t u r e d % 2 0 t
h e r a p y % 2 0 t h a t % 2 0 e n c o u r a g e s , a s s o c i a t e d % 2 0 w i t h % 2 0 t h e % 2 0 t r a u m a % 2 0 m e m o r i e s .
9
“ S e x u a l A b u s e a n d L i f e t i m e D i a g n o s i s o f P y s c h i a t r i c D i s o r d e r s . ” N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M e d i c i n e , J u l 2 0 1 0 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . n c b i . n l m . n i h . g o v / p m c / a r t i c l e s / P M C 2 8 9 4 7 1 7 /
8
“ B e y o n d L a r r y N a s s a r : h u n d r e d s o f a t h l e t e s a r e f i g h t i n g U S A g y m n a s t i c s i n c o u r t o v e r a b u s e . ” V o x , A p r i l
3 0 , 2 0 1 9
h t t p s : / / w w w . v o x . c o m / 2 0 1 9 / 4 / 3 0 / 1 8 2 8 7 5 2 2 / l a r r y - n a s s a r - u s a - g y m n a s t i c s - b a n k r u p t c y - u s a g - a s s a u l t
7
“ S c o p e o f t h e P r o b l e m : S t a t i s t i c s . ” R A I N N , 2 0 1 9 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . r a i n n . o r g / s t a t i s t i c s / s c o p e - p r o b l e m
3
an important factor in understanding what a male survivor goes through.
1 2
He mentioned how he
couldn’ t tell anyone for years about his assault because he felt shame and guilt for not being able
to defend himself against his perpetrator . This statement shows that masculinity in sports can
limit male survivors’ ability to express and cope with emotional traumatic experiences.
1 3
After
sharing the survivors’ stories, the LAPD sexual assault police detective explained how cases are
investigated and how many reports of sexual assault the agency receives. The LAPD has
reported 3,245 sex crimes from 2020 to 2022.
1 4
The sex crimes include rape, attempted rape,
forced and sexual intercourse, forced oral sexual intercourse, and sexual penetration.
1 5
Through my documentary , I hoped to share athlete survivors stories from dif ferent
genders, sports, backgrounds, and identities to show how any athlete can be vulnerable to sexual
abuse. The two survivors’ mental states during their experiences and current mental state talking
about their experience was a topic I explored. Describing the physical aspects of what happens
during a sexual assault was important for the audience to understand that sexual assault
experiences can vary . I also hoped to show the perspective of a male sexual assault survivor and
how he processed his experience during and after the abuse. Also, showing how normal it is to
take years for survivors’ to process that they have been sexually assaulted.
1 6
The survivors’
participation in advocating and explaining through Peace Over V iolence and a police station
16
“ P u t t i n g t h e P u z z l e B a c k T o g e t h e r — A N a r r a t i v e C a s e S t u d y o f a n A t h l e t e W h o S u r v i v e d C h i l d S e x u a l
A b u s e i n S p o r t : A c a d e m i c J o u r n a l . ” N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f M e d i c i n e , 2 0 2 2 .
h t t p s : / / w w w . n c b i . n l m . n i h . g o v / p m c / a r t i c l e s / P M C 9 0 0 1 9 3 3 /
15
B r e n t H o p k i n s , L A P D d e t e c t i v e e x p l a n a t i o n o f s e x c r i m e v i a e m a i l o n M a r c h 2 2 , 2 0 2 3
14
L A P D r e c o r d s p r e s e n t e d b y B r e n t H o p k i n s , L A P D d e t e c t i v e v i a e m a i l o n M a r c h 2 2 , 2 0 2 3
13
“ E x p l o r i n g N a r r a t i v e s o f B o y h o o d S e x u a l S u b j e c t i o n i n M a l e - S p o r t . ” S o c i o l o g y o f S p o r t J o u r n a l , 2 0 1 4 .
h t t p s : / / j o u r n a l s . h u m a n k i n e t i c s . c o m / v i e w / j o u r n a l s / s s j / 3 1 / 1 / a r t i c l e - p 2 3 . x m l ? c o n t e n t = a b s t r a c t
12
“ E x p l o r i n g N a r r a t i v e s o f B o y h o o d S e x u a l S u b j e c t i o n i n M a l e - S p o r t . ” S o c i o l o g y o f S p o r t J o u r n a l , 2 0 1 4 .
h t t p s : / / j o u r n a l s . h u m a n k i n e t i c s . c o m / v i e w / j o u r n a l s / s s j / 3 1 / 1 / a r t i c l e - p 2 3 . x m l ? c o n t e n t = a b s t r a c t
4
what resources that are available to survivors was another important topic in my documentary .
The topics I was unable to achieve include statistics and more soundbites centering on how often
athletes are sexually assaulted by their coach and/or an older athlete. W ith the two survivors
featured in my documentary , they were assaulted by dif ferent perpetrators. One survivor was
assaulted by her coach and the other survivor was assaulted by an older athlete. Understanding
how proximity could play a factor in their experiences was a topic that was missed. For that
topic, I interviewed a clinical psychologist who did not specialize in sports because I couldn’ t
gain access to a sports psychologist. Also, I did not include soundbites about the mental process
of a perpetrator because I did not have time to weave this part into the story . This topic would
have provided the audience with a dif ferent perspective on sexual assault. Also, exploring the
mental process of a perpetrator could have helped the audience understand why athletes are at
risk of sexual assault. A local prevention or ganization was featured in my documentary , but a
national or ganization was not. I wanted to include RAINN as the national or ganization in my
documentary , but the RAINN or ganization headquarters are located on the east coast and they
were only available via Zoom. Also, I did not have time to explore T itle IX, their reporting
process, and prevention measures schools have implemented. All of the universities I contacted
did not want to be interviewed for my story . Through securing an interview with an universities’
T itle IX of fice, I hoped to show student-athletes what resources are available to them and how
they can report their experience. Aside from these challenges, contextualizing the information I
had on this topic and or ganizing it into a documentary was dif ficult. The survivors I interviewed
shared complex information about their story and it was dif ficult to determine which details were
needed for the audience to understand what sexual assault can look like. But I also wanted the
audience to understand in some of the factors that can lead to a sexual assault, what can happen
5
during a sexual assault situation, and how it has lasting ef fects on a survivor . The technology
involved with finishing a documentary presented many challenges, including losing a portion of
my project and having to start over again.
Indulging in a topic and living in this story for several months took a mental toll on me.
There were days where I could not work on my documentary and had to take a mental break
from it. As a survivor myself, telling this story through the eyes of other survivors is the greatest
gift I could ask for . I am proud to share this story with others to help spread awareness, show
which resources are available to survivors; and how athlete survivors are more than the sport and
experience they endured.
6
C h a p t e r T w o : D o c u m e n t a r y S c r i p t
NA T SOUND
The sound of the racquet hitting the ball, the
ball bouncing on the court
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward hitting the ball
My assaults happened my freshman year .
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga on the beach
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga on the beach
I was assaulted over 200 times.
NA T SOUND
Lorward serving the ball
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI
Business Pr ocess Analyst for V iasat Inc.
Being a survivor has meant to me that I’m not
responsible or at fault for what happened to
me.
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga on the beach
SOT SHENEA STILETT O
Cir que du Soleil performer
It’ s not about being strong, it’ s not about
being outspoken, it’ s about owning the fact
that you went through something horrific that
was done against you.
VO HELEN GRUSD
Shenea doing yoga on the beach, tennis balls
on the court, Lorward playing tennis
T raumatized people look at the world as
dangerous. They no longer see the world as
safe when you've been sexually molested.
SOT HELEN GRUSD
Clinical and For ensic psychologist
It alters your perception of yourself, the
world, others
7
NA T SOUND
GFX- “T itle of Documentary”
( Athlete Survivors)
NA T SOUND
GFX- “Accor ding to the Rape, Abuse &
Incest National Network, every 68 seconds, an
American is sexually assaulted.”
https://www .rainn.or g/statistics
NA T SOUND
Archival footage of Shenea’ s competitions
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Archival footage of Shenea at competitions,
pictures of her at 14 years old
There was so much that went into that
decision of allowing me to move there when I
was 14 and to start living there and staying
with them.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Archival footage of Shenea at competitions,
pictures of her and her coach
My parents trusted them in that way . I had
stayed at their house before my parents had
been there. W e had done camps with them. I
had traveled internationally with them. They
were my guardians in so many dif ferent
capacities.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O They trusted the other parents that had
entrusted their kids to them. Over the years.
This was a very normal thing. This doesn't
happen nowadays, and I would never allow
my child to ever have done that.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Archival footage of Shenea at competitions
Y ou know , but my parents did the best that
they could. They could only af ford to have me
live away and then fly home on the weekend.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Picture of Shenea at 15 years old
My parents really trusted him. He was a
doctor who was also a high level gymnastics
coach.
8
NA T SOUND
Establishing shots of Helen Grusd’ s of fice
VO HELEN GRUSD
Helen entering frame, sitting down at her
desk, taking out her work
Particularly with people in positions of
authority , priests, teachers, coaches, they snif f
out vulnerable children.
SOT HELEN GRUSD They may make them feel they matter , and
feel special.
NA T SOUND
Pictures of Shenea and her coach
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Pictures of her and her coach
He spoke to me like I was much older . It was
like I was a woman who was now holding
onto his most intimate secrets.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Pictures of her and her coach
He would sit near and talk to me about his day
and talk to me about like his struggles like in
his marriage. He went talk to me about his
struggles within himself. I mean, there were
just such adult conversations.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O And I had nothing to say or to add because I
was like, 15 and knew nothing.
NA T SOUND
Helen Grusd working at her desk
VO HELEN GRUSD
Moving shot from over her shoulder to the
front of her face
This is part of the grooming so that the kid
really trusts the coach.
VO HELEN GRUSD
Shots of Helen’ s of fice
It's an abuse of power and so they can slowly
bring them in. And the person trusts them.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of W ill Rogers State Beach
9
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Getting out of her car and walking
I was used to being with them and traveling
with them overseas. Staying with them for
periods of time. And up until that time,
everything had been fine. But things shifted.
VO SHENEA
W ide shot of Pacific Coast Highway sign
One day actually , when the grooming started.
NA T SOUND
W aves crashing at the beach
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea at the beach putting her yoga mat onto
the beach
So that night when he just out of the blue just
started to touch me over my little leotard. I
was still in my gym clothes that night.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Sunset shot of a plant at the beach
And he asked me to touch him back on his on
his genitals.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Behind the back shot of Shenea practicing
yoga at the beach
I really didn't understand or know what was
going on, but he knew something was wrong.
I knew something was of f.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Front-view of Shenea practicing yoga
It escalated that one morning, when I woke
up, he was at my bedside, and he was rubbing
me and I was laying on my belly . And, you
know , I was really scared.
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
SOT SHENEA STILETT O The first time that he tried to penetrate me.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
He took me into a downstairs bedroom and
didn't say anything to me.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O But just laid me down on the bed and just
started taking of f my clothes and I just, you
know , was laying there and again, not really
1 0
understanding what was happening.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
He tried to penetrate me and couldn't do it.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O And he was getting frustrated and so he
stopped that day .
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
And so, it escalated from there. And the
molestation. It started to eventually turned
into, you know , daily rapes. And many times
it started when I was still asleep so he would
start to rape me and molest me when I was
still asleep and I will be woken up by him
molesting me.
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga at the beach
SOT SHENEA STILETT O I wasn’ t taught that something like that might
happen to me or I could be abused. Or that it
is something I should be worried about,
scared. I had no idea.
NA T SOUND
Sunset at the beach with volleyball net
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Sunset at the beach with volleyball net
There were other gymnasts that were living
there too because we were all asleep and he
you know , abused a lot when we were
sleeping. Who knows maybe he hovered and
maybe he came in when we were asleep at
night,
VO SHENEA STILETT O And maybe I never woke up. Maybe he was
abusing and molesting one of my teammates
1 1
Sunset at the beach through fence and I just never woke up when he was doing it
during the night.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Los Leones Canyon
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Moving shot of tree and the trail
I wasn’ t in the space to report it. I didn’ t know
what to do. The reason why I ended up
reporting was because the police came to me.
NA T SOUND
T ree branch with flowers
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Moving shot of tree branch with flowers and
the mountain
I was 24 when the police came to me. His ex
wife had discovered that
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up shot of ocean and mountains, Zoom
out into a wide shot
he was using their nine year old son's
Facebook account to speak to little girls at the
gym that he was currently coaching at.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up of mountains and people walking on
the trail
So she reported it and so they started looking
for other victims.
NA T SOUND
Dirt trail with rocks
VO SHENEA STILETT O
W ide shot of mountain, tree and ocean
So they wanted me to do a pretext phone call,
which is when you call up the person that
abused you,
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up shot of mountain, tree with people
and you are using a wiretap at the police
station and they coach you of what to say and
how to talk to them
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up shot of people looking at the ocean
from the trail, people walk into frame
so that you can get him on a recording saying
everything that they need to be able to use in a
court of law . It's incredibly stressful and it's
1 2
super scary .
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shot of green plant and ocean
And I still to this to this day even know how I
did it made it through it or that it works
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up of cactus plant with sunset
And that he didn't ever think that I was like
with the police that day .
NA T SOUND
GFX- ( Shenea’ s coach plead guilty and was
sentenced to two years in jail.)
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of Los Leones Canyon sign and
walking through the gate
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Zoom out shot of trail
Honestly don't know how I managed to like,
take that abuse and then do all that high. level
training.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Zoom out shot of trail
And what like my little body little self did is
just go into like machine mode, you know , I
just like detached and went into survival
mode.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
W ind moving the grass
I kind of put everything into that because I
like blocked out the abuse.
NA T SOUND
W ind moving the grass
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea walking up the windy , rocky trail
And I still had to train. I could have really
injured myself being that anxious and scared.
NA T SOUND
GFX- ( Accor ding to the Sexual Abuse and
Lifetime Diagnosis of Pyschiatric Disor ders
academic journal, sexual abuse is often
1 3
associated with depr ession, post-traumatic
disor der (PTSD), anxiety disor der , and
substance abuse.)
https://www .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC2894717/
NA T SOUND
Zoom out/ moving shot of mountain and
ocean
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Zoom out/ moving shot of mountain and
ocean
I was really nervous all the time. I was scared
of him
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Zoom out/ moving shot of mountain and
ocean
He’ s telling me if we get caught, everything
will stop. My career will stop. His career will
stop.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O And that I wouldn’ t be able to do acrobatic
gymnastics anymore.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Helen’ s therapy of fice
building
SOT HELEN GRUSD Y ou must only see a trauma therapist.
VO HELEN GRUSD
Moving shot of Helen working at her desk
Because trauma is dif ferent than any other
condition.
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of PCH sign
VO SHENEA STILETT O My own process of healing has been in waves
and been in stages.
1 4
SOT SHENEA STILETT O It's been really hard, especially when people
just say like, Y ou're strong, you did it. It's
over . Everything is fine, and you're like, but I
don't feel fine.
NA T SOUND
Shot of beach with birds
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga and looking at the
beach
My healing has had a lot to do with the
dif ferent levels of therapists.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Boat comes in and out of frame
And I've practiced so many dif ferent types of
spirituality and that's been in my search to like
heal myself.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga
And release myself from all of this trauma and
finds what works for me.
NA T SOUND
Bird on beach with waves
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga
Then, there's dif ferent things that I've done
that have worked for me. I've done a lot of
EMDR, which has been very helpful.
NA T SOUND
Bird on beach with waves
NA T SOUND
GFX- “ EMDR (Eye Movement
Desensitization and Repr ocessing) is a type of
psychotherapy that r educes the vividness and
emotion associated with traumatic
experiences.”
https://www .apa.or g/ptsd-guideline/treatments
/eye-movement-reprocessing#:~:text=A%20st
ructured%20therapy%20that%20encourages,a
1 5
ssociated%20with%20the%20trauma%20me
mories
NA T SOUND
Shenea practicing yoga with legs up in the air
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga with legs in the
air/shadow of legs in sand
What it means to be a survivor . It’ s not about
being strong, it’ s not about being outspoken,
it’ s about owning the fact that you went
through something horrific that was done
against you that you had no part in.
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up of Shenea sitting up on the beach
And that you are deciding to wake today . And
that doesn’ t mean speaking, writing, or doing
anything. It literally just means living your
story .
SOT SHENEA STILETT O And that’ s a big deal because not everyone
survives this.
NA T SOUND
Behind the back shot of Helen working at her
desk
VO HELEN GRUSD
Behind the back shot of Helen working
Y ou don't perform at your optimal level.
VO HELEN GRUSD
Clocks on her desk
I believe you can perform so much better
when you have control of your life.
VO HELEN GRUSD
Moving shot of her putting a sticky note on
her paper and reveal shot of her face
But those that have taken care of it straight
away and some people have the courage to
talk about it, triumph and have done
incredibly well.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of flowers and tennis court
sign
1 6
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up of tennis court tent
It was, I don't even know what day it was. But
it was like, Hey , what are you guys up to this
weekend?
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Moving shot of tennis court tent to the tennis
courts
So me and one of my good roommates and we
come over to his place and we just kind of all
hanging out and they're like, oh, like, I'm
gonna drink you guys gonna drink.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
W ide shot of tennis courts with people
For me, I had never drank before. I was like,
No, I'm okay . And then they all kind of started
drinking.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward enters frame on tennis court
They're like, you know , there's a lot of peer
pressure involved with like, oh, you should
drink you should drink, you should drink.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Zoom in shot of Lorward behind the back
I feel very pressured in this situation. And it's
not like my friend was freshman. It's just my
perpetrator .
NA T SOUND
Lorward hitting the ball
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up behind the back shot of Lorward
playing tennis with his brother
I just have this sense of dread. And so I like,
pretend to like, lay on the floor and I'm just
like, I'm just gonna lay on the floor . I'm gonna
like play with the carpet. I'm just gonna like,
leave me alone. He's like, I love your lover ,
Larry . Like, I gotta tell you something. I gotta
tell you something.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up of Lorward’ s shoes,
And I'm like, no, like, I want to stay here.
Like, don't bother me right now .Then he like,
picks me up.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up of Lorward’ s shoes, zoom out to
show Lorward picking up ball
And he's like, he's a big dude. And so he like
picks me up and he's like, sits me on the
couch and I'm just like, oh my gosh, oh, my
gosh, like what is happening right now? Like,
I don't feel comfortable, like this person just
1 7
like manhandled me and just like sat me on
the couch.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI I gotta tell you like you're the only person on
shamans on this campus. Like, no one
understands me like, Do you get me. Y ou're
from California, you would totally understand
like, I'm gay . And I'm like, okay , like, this
wasn't thank you for sharing but it doesn't
change how I feel about you. Y ou're still my
friend.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI And I like I don't know what happened in
between, but I just remember like, blinking
and I just feel like this like hand moved
towards me and I feel the same like clothes
around me. Or like, around my , I don't know
what the accurate term here would be. But are
like my genitalia. And I was just like,
instantly , like adrenaline just like rushes into
your system.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI And you're just like, so immediately . Oh, wait.
And I was like, Whoa, like, get of f me. Like,
that was so inappropriate. Like, I'm not gay .
Like, you know , you had some boundary
because he's like, I'm sorry . I'm sorry . I'm
sorry . I'm sorry .
NA T SOUND
Lorward enters frame
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
W ide shot of Lorward getting ready to hit ball
Then just like running back to my dorm room.
I remember like going back to my room and
just feeling like, so much disgust.
NA T SOUND
Lorward hitting the ball
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI There's mirrors and I don't want to see my
1 8
reflection because I just feel like so much
guilt and so much shame and so much like,
just like, I just feel disgusting.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up of Lorward’ s hands and zoom out to
Lorward sitting on the bench
I just remember like, kind of going to bed
feeling like super numb and realizing and
looking back on that moment realizing like I
really hadn't processed anything of what had
happened to me and I was in like, so much
shock.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI After the first time, like I remember just like
him, calling me like, homophobic and he's
like, it's because you hate gay people. It's
because you hate me. It's because you hate
black people.
NA T SOUND
W ide shot through fence of tennis balls on the
court
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Establishing shot of tennis court sign and cars
driving past it
A couple of months later , or like at his
apartment. W e're ar guing about something
that feels really trivial in hindsight. And I'm
worried it was just like, he was like ar guing
it's like, I don't like ar guing with your yada
yada yada.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward walking closer to the camera
And I was like, okay , and then he like, has me
and he like puts me on the wall. He like
throws his hands around like on the other side
of me. He's like, I hate ar guing kiss me. This
is super , super weird, dude. Like, no, and I'm
like, I'm very scared because he's much bigger
than me. Like I couldn't take him on
physically .
VO LOR W ARD CHOI This is super , super weird, dude. Like, no, and
1 9
Close up shot of Lorward playing tennis
I'm like, I'm very scared because he's much
bigger than me. Like I couldn't take him on
physically .
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of Lorward playing tennis
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up shot of Lorward playing tennis
He's like kiss me. I don't see a way out for me
right now . That involves me, like physically
overcoming this person.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
W ide shot of Lorward playing tennis through
the net
So I'm thinking like, maybe if I just give him
what he wants, like, helping me a lot.So he
like, comes in, like to kiss me, like kiss me.
I'm just like, so like, stif f lip and he's like,
you're such a bad kisser . I'm like, in my head.
I'm thinking I'm like, I think that's a sign for
you.
NA T SOUND
Lorward running on the court
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Zoom in shot of Lorward picking up ball and
exits frame
I remember just sitting there and being like,
totally shut down and being like, oh my gosh,
like this happened again, like what is wrong
with me? Like, I feel so gross.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI I just felt like, even worse, you know , because
it's not like just one part of my body was like,
tune out and I was like, I don't want to eat like
I just like hate, like putting on chapstick. I
don't like eating food. I don't like the way the
food feels on my lips.
NA T SOUND
T ennis ball on court
VO LOR W ARD CHOI I have to pretend like everything's fine. Or
2 0
Moving shot of tennis ball to reveal Lorward
sitting on bench
else if I like attempt to confront.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
W ide shot of Lorward hitting the ball
(front-view)
He's physically better than me. He's an
upperclassman and like, I'm just like this very
small minority on campus. I'm like one of five
Asian students on campus. People already
saying like, the most hard stuf f about Asians
already ,
NA T SOUND
T ennis ball on court
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward packing up and walks
After the second time, like obviously , like I
still chose to be friends with this person. But
after the third time, I was like, okay , like,
there is enough like button, you know , and the
first they weren't enough like this one is.
NA T SOUND
Lorward standing under tennis court tent
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up shot of Lorward standing under tent
I wish I hadn't remembered more about what
happened to their time but I just remember
like, waking up in like, only my boxers.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Bag of tennis balls next to Lorward
And on a mattress in his apartment. And I was
just like, I was like, I feel super hot.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI Like what is happening? And I feel it's like
body draped over me. And I feel this hand
like, reach over and into like my briefs and I
feel it's like paying all my bills. And I was just
like, I'm freaking out. Because I'm like, what
happened?
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward standing under the tent and looking
I'm like, kind of freaking out but like, I can
feel his body on me.
2 1
to the right
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward standing under the tent
So I'm like, if I freak out, like again,
physically bigger than he like, he's in a
position to be able to overtake me
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Behind the back/moving shot of Lorward and
brother walking to parking lot
And I just feel his hand like moving up and
down and I'm just like, so like frozen in fear .
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Behind the back shot of Lorward and brother
walking to parking lot
My body is like freaking out, like more so
than the first few times like every thing is just
hot, sweaty . And I'm like, I need to get out of
here
NA T SOUND
Behind the back/ moving shot of Lorward and
brother walking to parking lot
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Behind the back/ moving shot of Lorward and
brother walking to parking lot
I made some excuse. And I just remember like
putting on my clothes and just like sprinting
into my room and just like, running as fast as I
could.
NA T SOUND
Behind the back/ moving shot of Lorward and
brother walking to parking lot
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI I remember like, afterwards I just laid in bed
and like I didn't do anything and for the next
like, for that whole day I think or the next few
days. I really don't remember I just laid there
and I just like cried like soft here.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI So it wasn't even like I was sobbing. I was just
like, the tears are just rolling out of my face
and I was like why am I crying like what am I
going through what is happening to me?
2 2
NA T SOUND
Establishing shots of Helen’ s of fice
VO HELEN GRUSD
Moving shot of Helen’ s of fice to reveal Helen
sitting at her desk
There are dif ferent ways of how people deal
with it immediately .
VO HELEN GRUSD
Clocks on desk and close up reveal of Helen
writing
So initially It's shame, blame, guilt and then
they can talk about it. They prefer not to
SOT HELEN GRUSD But then they notice that they don't realize
they're suf fering from depression. Some of
them try and kill themselves.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of cof fee shop
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Zoom out/moving shot of cof fee shop with
cars driving past it
After the third assault, I remember like a
couple of days after I played tennis with a
friend and it was actually the friend of the
perpetrator who introduced us.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Shot of Lorward’ s knees and reveal shot of
him sewing
And I remember being like so emotional that
day . I remember like we were warming up
short court and we were hitting the balls back
and forth and all this and I would just like
scream at the top of my lungs. Like what is
wrong with you? What are you doing ?
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI He was just like, dude, like, are you okay? I
was like, I'm fine. I'm fine. Like, everything's
fine.
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward sitting in chair , sewing
Like, let's just back up and so we back up to
the baseline and we're like hitting and I miss
another ball and I like Chuck my racket across
the court and I'm screaming like every curse
word. Y ou can imagine.
2 3
NA T SOUND
Lorward puts down string, zooms in to reveal
his hands tying a knot
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward puts down string, zooms in to reveal
his hands tying a knot
But I remember that moment where I was like
sitting on the bench, I was like, oh, like, I
don't think I'm okay . Like I think I mean, I
think I went through something and I need to
process this.
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“ Accor ding to the Putting the Puzzle
Back T ogether academic journal, survivors of
sexual abuse pr ocess their experience
differ ently . It’ s normal for survivors to not
r ealize that they wer e sexually assaulted at the
time of abuse.”)
https://www .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC9001933/
NA T SOUND
Close up of jeans with pattern and Lorward’ s
fingers
VO LOR W ARD
Close up of jeans with pattern and Lorward’ s
fingers
My assaults happened my freshman year , and
it took me I think about my senior year to
really be like, I should do something about
this. So in that timeframe, I'll say , two three
years.
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“Accor ding to the Exploring
Narratives of Boyhood Sexual Subjection in
Male-Sport, masculinity in sports can limit
male athlete survivors’ ability to expr ess and
cope with emotional traumatic experiences.”)
https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/jour
nals/ssj/31/1/article-p23.xml?content=abstract
2 4
NA T SOUND
W ide shot of Lorward sitting and zooms in to
show hands with string
Lorwar d explained what he was sewing and
what he was doing.
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of cof fee shop sign
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Moving shot of Lorward preparing to write in
journal
The healing process for everyone looks so
dif ferent. One of the ways in which I dealt
with what I was going through journaling.
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of Lorward writing in journal
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Moving shot of Lorward writing in journal
It took me about a year or two to even start to
journal anything out because I for a long time
didn’ t want to admit what happened to me.
NA T SOUND
Lorward’ s shoes under the table
VO LOR W ARD
Reveal shot of Lorward writing
But eventually when I did, everything just
came pouring out. It's very cathartic in that
sense because I was like there's no one I can
tell, at least I can write it out, and I can record
it.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Los Angeles Police
Department building, street-view
SOT BRENT HOPKINS
Los Angeles Police Department, special
assault detective supervisor
Y ou feel that you've been the victim of a
sexual assault, report it to us. W e're going to
look into it thoroughly . Get all the facts. See
also if that conduct is continuing with other
victims, and then present it to prosecutors to
2 5
see if char ges can still be filed. So just
because something happened a long time ago,
or if people didn't speak up at the time, we
don't want them to feel like nothing can be
done.
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“Accor ding to LAPD r ecor ds, The Los
Angeles Police Department has r eported
3,245 sex crimes fr om 2020 to 2022.”)
LAPD records presented by Brent Hopkins,
LAPD detective via email on March 22, 2023.
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“Accor ding to Br ent Hopkins, sex
crimes include rape, attempted rape, for ced
anal sexual inter course, for ced oral sexual
inter course, and sexual penetration.”)
Brent Hopkins, LAPD detective explanation
of sex crime via email on March 22, 2023.
NA T SOUND
Brent walking down stairs of LAPD building
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Brent walking outside to the police cars
So when we're conducting interviews, we
want the person to be as comfortable as
possible. W e always try and find the setting
where they're going to be most comfortable
and most likely to open up about what
happened.
NA T SOUND
Close up of motorcycle police leaving the
station
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Close up of motorcycle police leaving
I'm always here if you need to call if you have
questions about the investigation, or
resources, but really you're going to need
2 6
transitions into Brent walking to police car those people who you can call in the middle
of the night when you're upset about
something when you're feeling anxious.
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of LAPD sign, street-view
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“Hopkins and other special assault
detectives go to the homes of registered sex
of fenders every day .”)
NA T SOUND
Brent standing next to police car
Br ent explained how he goes to the homes of
r egister ed sex offenders.
NA T SOUND
Police sign outside of LAPD building,
street-view
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Moving shot of LAPD seal to reveal LAPD
sign, street-view
W e may be able to identify who did this. W e
may be able to prove what happened. W e may
be able to arrest them. W e may be able to get
char ges filed. W e may be able to go to court
and get a conviction on this. But all that's a
long way down the road.
NA T SOUND
Police siren/car driving on street in front of
the building
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of LAPD sign
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Moving shot of LAPD sign
So sometimes it can happen right away . If
someone says I was assaulted, that guy did it.
It just happened.
And we go and we handcuf f that guy take him
of f to jail and then we're under the gun
2 7
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Police car enters frame
W e have to get all that stuf f. together within
48 hours or so to present to the prosecutor's
of fice to get char ges filed. And that's certainly
doable.
VO BRENT HOPKINS
Close up shot of Police sign outside of LAPD
building
Other times it can take months, years even.
NA T SOUND
Brent getting out of police car , closing door
SOT BRENT HOPKINS Sorry if I get emotional about this. It’ s hard to
see people go through this. It’ s hard to see
people who have their life together really in
every other way . They have good jobs, they
are strong people, they are smart. They have
good relationships in other ways. Sometimes
this is all it takes to knock them of f course.
SOT BRENT HOPKINS And really derail their life for a really long
time. And so that’ s why it’ s so important that
they take advantage of not only the resources
we can of fer them and their friends and
family . So that they know they are not alone
and that it’ s a team of people working to get
them back to normal.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Goodwill
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Lorward was pushing the jeans on the rack
and was looking at them
I think I would be really proud of becoming
an advocate for people as scary as it is
because I know there are people who haven’ t
been able to tell their stories. And I know that
those people desperately wish there was
someone to advocate for them.
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of Lorward looking at the jeans
2 8
NA T SOUND
Close-up shot of Lorward’ s hands moving the
jeans
SOT LOR W ARD It’ s tough. It’ s really tough. The more people
you can get in your corner , the more people
who are behind you, and the more you can
feel as though this experience is not yours
alone. Y ou are not the only person going
through it, you are not some freak or some
terrible person who deserves all these terrible
things because of what you went through, I
think the better .
NA T SOUND
Lorward looking at the jeans
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“ In 2020, Lorwar d Choi began
working at RAINN, Rape, Abuse & Incent
National Network asa part of their Speakers
Bur eau.
The Speakers Bur eau has about 4,000 sexual
assault survivors who work to bring
awar eness about sexual assault.”)
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Peace Over V iolence
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of Peace Over V iolence
GFX- (“Peace Over V iolence is a nonpr ofit
501c3, multicultural, community based and
volunteer center ed or ganization dedicated to
building healthy r elationships.”)
https://www .peaceoverviolence.or g/about-us
2 9
NA T SOUND
Krissia Retana working at her desk
NA T SOUND
Krissia Retana typing on her laptop
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Krissia Retana typing on her laptop
This or ganization started when there was no
other or ganizations like this in Los Angeles
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shot of Peace Over V iolence sign
And our CEO Patty Higgins, and a group of a
lot of empowered women decided that enough
is enough.
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shot of Peace Over V iolence
programs and services papers
W e are going to start something in our
community and city that provides these
services and can provide for survivors.
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of Peace Over V iolence
programs and services papers
SOT KRISSIA RET ANA
Pr evention and Division Manager , Peace
Over V iolence
No matter how long ago the assault occurred,
no matter whether they just came to the
United States if they have insurance or not.
Our mission is to provide that help and
provide the support that they might need.
NA T SOUND
Zoom out shot of Krissia working at her desk
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shot of Krissia Retana working at her
W e have a 24 hour 365 Day Hotline that is
available to anyone who's going through a
crisis. It's called the LA rape and battering
hotline.
3 0
desk
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of the Prevention Of fice
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Shots of the Prevention Of fice and sign that
says T een Dating V iolence A wareness Month
V ideo Ideas.
If someone is in crisis, and calls our hotline,
our first priority is listening, providing that
calmness and then once they are in a place
where they can breathe, and are able to
explain what's going on. Then, it’ s how can
we help you?
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of sign that says T een Dating
V iolence A wareness Month V ideo Ideas
SOT KRISSIA RET ANA W ithin a year we see about 25,000 people
through our or ganization that can be from our
therapy and counseling, our support groups,
also our prevention work.
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Shot of desk quote
W e have our counseling and therapy . W e also
have our case managers.
NA T SOUND
Shot of desk quote
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shots of fliers
W e also have our sexual assault advocates or
SAR T team that are able to go out to to any
type of forensic exam, so any type of rape
rape kit, and be there with the survivor .
NA T SOUND
Moving shot to quote on blue wall
VO KRISSIA RET ANA W e also have those advocates that are able to
3 1
Shot of blue quote on wall go to court and police stations.
NA T SOUND
Krissia standing in the prevention of fice.
This is our prevention of fice.
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shots of the Prevention Of fice
Through our work in the community , we have
a strong Prevention Division that goes out to
the community doing resource fairs to the
local schools about what sexual and domestic
violence is.
NA T SOUND
Krissia Retana showing sexual assault
awareness sign
Krissia Retana explaining the sexual assault
awar eness sign the pr evention division has
NA T SOUND
Krissia Retana walking to her of fice
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Moving shots of Denim Day signs on white
wall
W e have our Denim Day campaign which is a
national campaign that started out as a protest
after a girl was assaulted by her driving
instructor .
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
“I AM OVER VIOLENCE” tote bag
The court decided that because she was
wearing jeans that meant consent.
NA T SOUND
W ide shot of Denim Day jean rack with
quotes
Krissia Retana explained what their
or ganization made for Denim Day
VO KRISSIA RET ANA
Close up shot of the Denim Day jean rack
with quotes
Denim Day inspired a lot of momentum to
change the culture to change the way that we
think about what is appropriate or
inappropriate in terms of clothing.
3 2
SOT KRISSIA RET ANA It can make the dif ference as to whether or not
a survivor will report or not just one person
believing them will be the push for them to
seek help, whether that be police or whether
that be calling our Hotline
NA T SOUND
W ide shot of the beach
NA T SOUND
Moving shot of Shenea’ s hands to reveal her
face
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Close up shot of Shenea practicing yoga
When people were denying me and
scapegoating, that's when I started pushing
back heavily and started advocating and
started speaking more and getting articles
written. This was three or four years before
Larry Nassar was exposed.
NA T SOUND
Shots of the beach
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shot of sand to reveal Shenea practicing yoga/
standing on one leg
Parents had sent their children to support him
while we were getting our victim impact
statements. So I mean, even after he was in
prison, USA gymnastics people were still
supporting him. They support him now .
NA T SOUND
Shot of lifeguard post
VO SHENEA STILETT O
Shenea practicing yoga
That was also a part of why I started
advocating so hard.
SOT SHENEA STILETT O Because I was like you guys let him get away
with this for 20 years like he molested and
raped so many kids like and you guys knew .
So that is something that just kind of never
3 3
goes away .
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of the tennis court tent
VO LOR W ARD CHOI
Close up shot of Lorward hitting the tennis
ball
I think being gentle with myself back then and
telling myself like lay in bed for two days. It
is okay you just went through something
super tough.
SOT LOR W ARD CHOI Letting go of a lot of the guilt that I
internalized would be a big thing I would do
for my younger self.
NA T SOUND
Establishing shot of W ill Rogers Beach sign
NA T SOUND
Close up shot of Shenea balancing with her
hands in frame
SOT SHENEA STILETT O Y eah, that's what my advice would have been.
Like, it's okay . Y ou'll be okay . Y our life is
gonna be okay . Y our life is gonna be whatever
it's going to be. And go tell mom and dad.
NA T SOUND
GFX- (“Athlete Survivors”)
3 4
B i b l i o g r a p h y
“Grooming: Know the W arning Signs.” RAINN, Jul 10, 2020
https://www .rainn.or g/news/grooming-know-warning-signs
“Statistics” RAINN, 2019
https://www .rainn.or g/statistics
“Beyond Larry Nassar: hundreds of athletes are fighting USA gymnastics in court over abuse.”
V ox, April 30, 2019
https://www .vox.com/2019/4/30/18287522/larry-nassar -usa-gymnastics-bankruptcy-usag-assault
“Sexual Abuse and Lifetime Diagnosis of Pyschiatric Disorders.” National Library of Medicine,
Jul 2010.
https://www .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2894717/
“Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy .” American Psychology
Association, 2017
https://www .apa.or g/ptsd-guideline/treatments/eye-movement-reprocessing#:~:text=A%20struct
ured%20therapy%20that%20encourages,associated%20with%20the%20trauma%20memories
“ Putting the Puzzle Back T ogether—A Narrative Case Study of an Athlete Who Survived Child
Sexual Abuse in Sport: Academic Journal.” National Library of Medicine, 2022.
https://www .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9001933/
“Exploring Narratives of Boyhood Sexual Subjection in Male-Sport.” Sociology of Sport
Journal, 2014.
https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ssj/31/1/article-p23.xml?content=abstract
3 5
LAPD records presented by Brent Hopkins, LAPD detective via email on March 22, 2023.
Brent Hopkins, LAPD detective explanation of sex crime via email on March 22, 2023.
3 6
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Herbert, Jaydelle
(author)
Core Title
Athlete survivors
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Specialized Journalism
Degree Conferral Date
2023-05
Publication Date
05/22/2023
Defense Date
05/19/2023
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
athlete,coach,documentary,experience,gymnast,heal,mental,OAI-PMH Harvest,Police,report,Sexual Abuse,Sexual assault,Sports,Tennis,victim
Format
theses
(aat)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Birman, Daniel (
committee chair
), Pecot-Hebert, Lisa (
committee member
), Turner, Myra (
committee member
)
Creator Email
jaydelle@usc.edu,jaydizzle0824@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113134779
Unique identifier
UC113134779
Identifier
etd-HerbertJay-11881.pdf (filename)
Legacy Identifier
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Document Type
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Format
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Rights
Herbert, Jaydelle
Internet Media Type
application/pdf
Type
texts
Source
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(batch),
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
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Repository Location
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Repository Email
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Tags
gymnast
heal
mental