To boycott the Olympics for allowing a rapist to compete

[Fluffyelephant]

I cannot believe in this day and age a convicted child rapist has been allowed to compete in the Olympics.

I know he was booed when he was competing but that's not enough. He never should have been allowed to compete in the first place and as a result I'm not watching any of the Olympics and encouraging others to do the same. I know that means other legitimate athletes will sadly be punished for the actions of one man and the decision makers for the Olympics - but what else can you do to send a message it's unacceptable?

For context, the volleyball player raped a 12 year old girl in Britain who he met online when he was 19 and was convicted in 2016. To add further insult to injury he only served 1 year of the sentence and seems to have gone on to marry a police officer!? He also has since said he's not a pedophile (although admits he did do what he was accused of) and that the media saying he is one is 'a load of nonsense'.

Unbelievable that this isn't considered more serious in a country like the Netherlands or by the Olympics itself.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/cpd9e0r2dxmo

I doubt the IOC have any powers to do anything. They can't tell countries who they can and can't select unless it's already written in a rule somewhere.
And banning anyone with ANY criminal conviction would be a minefield.

So I won't boycott the Olympics because I suspect they are not too happy either.
If its true he's not allowed to stay in the village that would seem to suggest they have taken the steps they can legally take.

Because there are 10000 other athletes that you can watch rather than boycott the whole thing

The IOC are not going to take notice of a few people at home switching off. The worldwide audience is huge.

Yes don’t watch volleyball and good that they were booed (although it’s a shame for his team mates but that’s an issue for the Dutch team not the IOC)

If you want to protest then maybe contact the guys personal sponsors and boycott them, much more likely to have an impact if he loses sponsorship money

I think it’s a bit off to boycott men’s volleyball. Fine to boycott the games this individual is involved in, but why would you boycott other matches? The other athletes have done nothing wrong.

Charlotte DuHardin withdrew of her own volition.
Her sports governing body have also suspended her pending investigation....but it was an act that is within the remit of the governing body. Had she done something else, outside sport, they probably would not get involved.

I think there is a huge difference between getting on with your life quietly and representing your country on the world stage, at a sporting event that purports to inspire the next generation.

///

Absolutely this

To those saying he's done his time, etc. - (1) for raping a 12 year old, he got four years imprisonment - FOUR YEARS for deliberately grooming online and travelling to England to rape a child. That is an offensively lenient sentence for that crime. (2) He did only ONE YEAR in prison - why? Why only a quarter of what was already a far too lenient a sentence? (3) He says now he will have to live with it. No mention of the young life he has has scarred, and how she is living with it.
(4) Today's Times has an article about the inequality of allowing a male child rapist to compete, but banning a woman show jumper (about to break records in this Olympics) because with strange timing a four year old video surfaced allegedly showing her whipping a horse and she has been banned from competing in the Games. The IOC is as sexist as they come. Apart from sexism, they have allowed someone with a serious conviction to take part, and banned someone else whose actions are still being investigated. Where is the logic in that?

to Concernedpasserby
He knew her age when he travelled from the Netherlands to Milton Keynes to have sex with her.

He knew she was 12. He was the adult. She was not.

"12 Yr olds do (unfortunately) choose to engage in sexual activity and aren't necessarily "victims" if the other person is of similar age.
She did initiate the contact, she initially lied about her age, and she felt bad about his arrest....."

This is what groomers tell themselves/others.

Can you imagine the level of outrage if someone like Oscar Pistorious went back to competing for his country again?!

I know it’s not exactly the same, but still. People would be up in arms about it

Most child rape is committed by someone the child knows, is not accompanied by violence and many times the child believes they are responsible.

Van de Velde is a typical child rapist, not a better one than other child rapists.

He raped a 12 year old British girl in Milton Keynes.

This animal which cannot control its animal urges should not be competing in the Olympics.

At the same time, I’m also very concerned that the rapist Donald ‘grab ‘em by the pussy, and stake away their rights to have an abortion’ Trump, could get back in. Very very concerned.

Neither of these specimens see woman and girls as human and are a clear and present danger.

Urgh what is wrong with you... sympathiser.

This.... basically blaming a 12 year old girl for a man's crimes and being groomed.

I'm not the OP btw, I'm just a random asking a question....

I thought he got a lower sentence as judge said his career would be over. That doesn’t seem to have happened. Why did he only serve a year?

What is wrong with you??! She was 12. She is in no way to blame.

It really saddens me how some women view not only women but children in a patriarchal world.

In what world does a 12 year old girl being groomed into sex by an adult male make it the girls fault, even partly for being groomed.

Women are saying this... we should be on the sides of women across the world to start to make positive changes. Not victim blaming.

Boycotted in my house including the news.
Whoever Allowed him to compete is a disgrace.

Thanks for posting this, I hadn’t seen this until you posted.

its an absolute disgrace. I won’t watch another moment of coverage. Not that anyone cares.

narwhal
What's wrong with Concernedpasserby is that he is a man and an apologist for another man who is a child rapist.

Don't blame the victim.

She was 12 years old. He knew her age, he travelled Countries to see her.

He raped her 3 times !!!

The girl WILL suffer trauma for life, she was raped 3 times !! She ended up being a self harmer and tried to end her life.

How many people lie about their age ? It doesn't give a fully grown man the right to rape 12 year old child.