“Unfortunately, we have been united by our shared experiences of abuse, neglect and discrimination,” the group, calling themselves Fencing for Change Canada, said in a letter to Canadian Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge, sent on Thursday and published online.
“Over the past 20 years, we have experienced various forms of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and misconduct,” said the letter.
Many are still feeling the psychological and physical impact, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts, the fencers said in the letter, which did not include names of individual athletes.
The fencers allege that some of the perpetrators were Canadian team coaches, the athletes abused were often minors, and the maltreatment occurred at Canadian Fencing Federation (CFF)-sponsored events at the provincial level, and up to national and international competitions.
The CFF said in a statement in response to…
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