Canadian experts says sexual violence in hockey, other sports has existed for decades

TORONTO — Laurel Walzak says while recent news of sexual violence in Canadian hockey was disturbing, she wasn't surprised at all.

And, Walzak warned, it's just the beginning.

"Now is not even the tip of the iceberg," Walzak told The Canadian Press in a phone interview. "I'm so grateful. But I'm also afraid. It's just so widespread."

Walzak was one of 28 Canadian experts from 21 universities who signed an open letter to Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge and Hedy Frye, chair of the Heritage Committee, before the start of a parliamentary hearing as part of an investigation into Hockey Canada's handling of sexual assault allegations.

The letter stressed that Canada could become a world leader in developing solutions. But Walzak said that will require an overhaul of the governance of hockey and other sports, and men must lead the charge.

"The organization, the leadership, the board, the governance, needs to be accountable for this," said Walzak, a Sport Media & Sport Business professor at the Global Experiential Sport Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University.

"And men in hockey leadership must drive change, because it is controlled and it is run by men in leadership. They are the gatekeepers, they are the power, they are the insiders. And it's not just here in Canada, it goes all over the world, it goes to the IOC (International Olympic Committee), it goes to International Ice Hockey Federation, it goes to the grassroots of the local Toronto hockey club."

The letter comes with Hockey Canada under fire since news broke of members of the 2018 world junior team accused of a group sexual assault after a gala event in London, Ont. Police didn't lay charges, but the woman at the centre of the allegations sued Hockey Canada, the Canadian