How much must more than 500 young women who have been physically and mentally abused in the care of a sports association be compensated?

Almost every number seems strange at first glance.

No matter how many digits it comes with.

But American tort law offers no room for emotion.

And the insurance companies that are responsible for the sums are no less insensitive.

They fight bitterly for every dollar.

But why did it take so long, why has the multi-year tug of war, one of the unworthy circumstances of which the financing of an army of lawyers belonged, has only now been ended? In the first step, the University of Michigan State, where Larry Nassar was employed as a doctor and where, as in his work for the American Gymnastics Association, he had sexually abused young athletes for years, had already received damages of $ 500 million in 2018 ) agreed with the victims.

But it took three years longer to come to an agreement with USA Gymnastics and the National Olympic Committee responsible for organizing gymnastics.

That amount also looks huge: $ 380 million.

Not when you divide it by the number of people affected and compare it to the first settlement: less than $ 760,000 per abused athlete.

The sum was lower mainly because the association had gone bankrupt in view of the claims.

Insolvency proceedings began, which brought a new element into play: a judge who had to approve such an arrangement and at the same time tried to ensure that the successful sporting organization could continue to exist.

The Nassar victims, abandoned by officials, coaches and supervisors, are also trying to somehow come to terms with the past. But that's easy to say. Rachael Denhollander, who was abused by Nassar at fifteen and who years later pioneered the fight against the sports establishment and initiated criminal proceedings against the medic and others, became a witness to how the system works: it sporadically, anonymizes the victims, constantly questions their credibility and in this way further hurts them. Even more: it basically punishes them for their resistance. A dimension that Denhollander, now a lawyer, very eloquently addresses based on this case in her book “What Is a Girl Worth?”. What's a little girl worth

Read it if you want to know the answer.

Your assessment cannot be outweighed in money.