Rachael Denhollander

“How much is a little girl worth?” That’s the simple yet powerful question Rachael Denhollander posed to a packed Michigan courtroom in January. Rachael, like so many of us, was a victim of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Olympic team doctor, and she was the first to draw public attention to his sexual abuse. But through her strength and resolve, she is a survivor. None of us could have anticipated or prepared for the onslaught of emotions we’d experience just by being in that courtroom. It was overwhelming. And yet Rachael was there for each court session of that sentencing, each impact statement and each fellow survivor. This show of courage and conviction inspired many people to feel less like victims and more like survivors. We still have a long way to go before we achieve all the change that is so desperately needed, and I am grateful to be fighting alongside Rachael, my sister survivor!

Raisman is an Olympic gold-medal-winning U.S. gymnast