Since 2018, dozens of legislative proposals have been introduced in Michigan aimed to prevent another case like Olympic doctor Larry Nassar‘s sex abuse from happening again, with new school policies and resources and court procedures to support survivors reporting violence. Former Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, who led Michigan’s prosecution of Nassar, says that the boldest voices for change have always been the survivors. “I continue to be inspired by the Nassar survivors and their families, who have tirelessly pursued justice, demanded accountability from all institutions and individuals, and continue to do all they can to prevent sexual abuse and assault,” Povilaitis told the Michigan Advance.. “Their advocacy and bravery has and continues to empower so many other survivors to come forward and demand accountability.” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Wednesday that prosecutors have never seen a group of survivors band together in sisterhood and affec, such widespread systemic changes. The “sister survivors” have created nationwide awareness in schools on sexual abuse prevention. They have worked to ensure survivors are believed and are treated better in the judicial system and have changed “the culture in how sexual assault is seen by the public at large.," Nessel said.
Survivors have put in hard work and so has the state attorney general’s office, Nessel said. After reviewing the thousands of documents that Michigan State University had for years held back under attorney-client privilege, she believes they were unjustly retained by the school and ultimately resulted in a painful six-year waiting game for survivors and their families. “While we begin each investigation in pursuit of the truth and facts first and foremost and take criminal or civil charges as a secondary consideration, it is my belief that by withholding the remaining 6,000 documents, MSU unnecessarily prolonged that hope that the questions survivors had would be answered and denied them closure that they were entitled to many years ago,” Nessel said. The impact of Nassar’s abuse and the events of the attorney general’s investigation is not lost on MSU, university spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said.
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