Genevieve Simard and Amelie-Frederique Gagnon are among 12 sexually abused women who are lifting the publication ban on their names so they can speak out against abuse and advocate for change in Canadian sports.
For Simard, the abuse from her former ski coach, Bertrand Charest, began when she was 12.
“I was a young ski racer and I was very passionate and I wanted to make it to the national team and become an Olympian, and had all these great goals that I wanted to achieve,” said Simard, speaking in Calgary on Friday.
“When I was selected to the Canadian junior team, he too was promoted as a coach, so my predator followed me to the national team — which I mean it was extremely bittersweet, because I was a young ski racer making it to the big leagues and this horrible monster followed in my tracks, so that was really hard.”
When it came to light in 1998 that Charest had been abusing those he was coaching, Simard felt she couldn’t tell her fellow skiers she was one of his victim because of an overwhelming feeling of shame.
“To me, back then, it felt like if I said what happened to me, I wouldn’t be able to go and achieve my dreams. I put it in a drawer. I became a pro at compartmentalizing, and I just didn’t deal with it for over 20 years until I saw him in a sports store in Quebec,” said Simard.
“I lost control physically. I went and hid behind stairs, and I was 34 years old, shaking, my hands sweaty, and I just couldn’t face him.”
Genevieve Simard, left, and Amelie-Frederique Gagnon, two victims of Bertrand Charest, speak at a press conference at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary on Friday. Kennedy is standing to the right.
Simard said she found out Charest was coaching again and felt it was her duty to speak out and go to the police, which she did for the first time in February 2015.
“I didn’t want what had happened to me to happen to the next future generation,” said Simard.
Charest is serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted in June 2017 on 37 charges, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
The offences involved competitive skiers between the ages of 12 and 19 that Charest coached.
The publication ban was lifted June 1 by a Montreal judge and June 4 was the first time four of the victims spoke out publicly.
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Simard, Gagnon and other victims are calling on the federal and provincial governments to make amendments that would prevent funding for sports organizations unless they have an accredited safety program in place by April 1, 2020.
“The key aspects of that plan, and the new aspects of that plan, are that all those in sport organizations will undertake online training for athletes, coaches and professional service supports and also for members of boards that deal with the rights, awareness, responsibilities and obligations regarding the different forms of abuse,” said J.D. Miller, president and co-founder of B2Ten, an organization that supports athletes.
“The abuse of power, the emotional, physical, mental and, in the case of these 12 women, the horrid sexual abuse that took place.”
Simard said so far, they’ve received great response from the Quebec government.
“But federally, we’re still waiting for acknowledgement and that they’ve heard us and they know what’s going on,” said Simard.
“We need their help to implement that safety plan that will be directly linked to funding. It needs to come from them if they want to make changes, and we’re using this issue as a turning point.”
Since publicly speaking out, Simard and Gagnon said they’ve received messages from others who have suffered abuse.
“I got a text message from someone who had similar abuse 20 years ago, and she said ‘just listening to you has helped me.’ I’ve exchanged a couple of messages with her and we’ll see how it goes. Maybe we can help her speak out and come forward,” said Gagnon.
“We need to do this now. It’s been going on for too long,” added Simard.
On Twitter: @JunkerAnna
