Hoofers safe?

Abuse is rife in Hoofers and Hoofer Sailing Club, but it's unclear how widespread child sexual abuse is. The HSC Youth Program caters to children as young as 10, and every summer (pandemic notwithstanding) dozens or even hundreds of children are left alone at Hoofers to learn sailing--and potentially other things. Naturally those adults who engage in child abuse try hard to cover their tracks.

In many large organizations, child sexual abuse is apparently rampant. The Boy Scouts now have a $2.6 Billion trust fund for some 82,000 (claimed) victims of sexual abuse. Sadly, the Catholic Church is also known for molestation of boys, and you can bet other churches are not far behind. As far as grade schools, "herd immunity" may help to protect students in general from sexual abuse, but it is still a widespread problem in American schools. Most alarming, this includes assaults and harassment by teachers. Almost 10% of all children report having been sexually abused by a teacher in grade school [LINK2].

Thus it is apparent that in any organization where large numbers of children interact regularly with adults, there will be sexual harassment and abuse. After all, it's only natural to want to boink anything that moves and is cute. Given that cuteness is a highly subjective term, that means just about anyone is at risk of getting touched, groped, or worse against their will, and the younger you are, the greater the risk. K-12 schools in general may not lend themselves to sexual abuse, which benefits from alone time between mentor and youth, but HSC does provide some alone time out on the water.

Sexual harassment and abuse is well known among adult Hoofer sailors and typically consists of club officers groping women at the alcohol-laced socials or inappropriate touching on lessons. Male instructors and club officers (no names yet) are usually the perps, with one older Badger Sloop instructor in particular having admitted to touching young women on lessons.

Even if it was usually just "on the shoulder", the fact is that when an older man touches a girl or young woman anywhere, even through her shirt, it's a thrill for him. The woman may not even realize that this seemingly innocent hand on her shoulder is sending shivers down the spine of the toucher (and perhaps even further down) as he steps off the boat. Women, too, engage in sexual harassment including false reports about men they don't like.

In other Hoofer-related news, Chancellor Blank stare is finally leaving, as she should have long ago. One big problem with hiring a person as a figurehead is that they actually have to take on responsibility. Among her failures, the UW has steadily dropped in national rankings since Blank stare became chancellor in 2013. In her defense, the UW was already starting to slide before her arrival.