Jump to content

WGI suspends Diamante - abuse investigation


Recommended Posts

In the long post by 2022 Academy member, the author stated that one of the medical team members had contacted DCI (which is what was supposed to happen).  I don’t recall any DCI public statements or actions concerning the Academy situation (unlike DCI did w/r/t Pioneer over lesser allegations (food and lack thereof & questionable comments by RB for Pioneer vs food as well as instructor abuse in Academy)).   
 

At least WGI is taking action. On the other hand, it seems like DCI is taking classes on bureaucratic inconsistency from the NCAA.    

Edited by IllianaLancerContra
  • Like 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Diamanté drama has now spilled over into social media. (Facebook)  One of the accused wife replied to a post in her husband's defense & has since been removed. In her reply, she also threatened a slander lawsuit due to the original post including accusations & names. Really a sad situation...     

Edited by keystone3ply
cx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not a journalist. So in order to prove that my summary is from 1st-hand survivor accounts, I will be posting direct links to their public claims.  I did not want to post these here because of The way we have seen Previous abuse survivors treated over past across the Internet. Their stories are graphic and hard to stomach. Fair warning.

 

https://www.facebook.com/100007129531310/posts/pfbid02w4DcS9nzktiRVxQfNMPC2MiPHi7c3FuqoGBeMwf9o1dNTHiNwh5LzQmYDpQC8ai5l/

https://www.facebook.com/100008067304235/posts/pfbid02xQ5uotZQXDpxpHTC21aZHcjXbZujT8PuxTffkUodY3MBZ6aqkjZ4QeccXNFNraFil/

=====

 

If you have survived sexual violence or have concerns about potential survivors and if/when to report or where to start, RAINN is a highly qualified start point. Both in terms of  handling survivor support and logistics of various regional methods and channels. https://www.rainn.org/

Edited by mingusmonk
  • Thanks 2
  • Sad 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:

WGI will investigate anything that is brought to them. Not sure how DCI does it but can confirm that WGI moves quickly once contacted about things whether it's from small things to full blown diamante

but IMO this is part of the problem....our activity is inbred as hell. Mario's refusal to cooperate with the Mandarins/Ayala issue should have sent off red alerts for EVERY circuit out there. But because nothing was specifically brought to WGI, nothing changed or was looked at in regards to any group he was involved.

 

WGI can't just claim innocence on this....too many players there know everyone else in the activity.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

In the long post by 2022 Academy member, the author stated that one of the medical team members had contacted DCI (which is what was supposed to happen).  I don’t recall any DCI public statements or actions concerning the Academy situation (unlike DCI did w/r/t Pioneer over lesser allegations (food and lack thereof & questionable comments by RB for Pioneer vs food as well as instructor abuse in Academy)).   
 

At least WGI is taking action. On the other hand, it seems like DCI is taking classes on bureaucratic inconsistency from the NCAA.    

Seems consistent to me.  DCI consistently remains silent, hoping things will blow over. 

They only issue a statement if things blow up instead of over.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Phantom56 said:

Sexual abuse occurs and is continuing to occur in virtually all aspects of society. Sports, churches, families ( the majority of sexual abuse occurs within family units). And on and on.  Fortunately, today, most parents have talks with their children about the issue, which is something almost no parents did back in the 60's, 70's, 80's and into the 21st century. Thus, the fairly recent sickening sexual abuse that occured at Penn State, Michigan State, gymnastics, etc.  Drum corps and WGI are no better, or worse, in that respect. We can only encourage and demand that DCI and WGI actually enforce and moniter the safety procedures they have now put in place.  Sexual abuse and bullying are not going to end, but the incidence of it can be greatly minimized and penalized, if everyone in the activity reports it,  and the issue remains front and center.  

...and I want to point out something that I know for a fact that one of the relatively "ok" posters here continually fail to recognize:

Boys get sexually abused too. So maybe we can think about and acknowledge that too in our discussions?

Of course, this isn't directed at you, Phantom56, but it seemed like a good post for me to respond to considering you brought up Penn State, Michigan State, and I'll bring up Ohio State....

People seem to only focus on women and girls being abused when boys and men also are abused, but don't come forward because they're especially ashamed of being victimized AND ignored, just as I have witnessed on here with a specific poster.

 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, mingusmonk said:

Their stories are graphic and hard to stomach. Fair warning.

Excellent content warning. Thank you. Hoping this becomes standard practice on DCP, so thanks for modeling.

1 hour ago, jjeffeory said:

People seem to only focus on women and girls being abused when boys and men also are abused, but don't come forward because they're especially ashamed of being victimized AND ignored, just as I have witnessed on here with a specific poster.

Thank you for this. You and @Phantom56. Abusers have a radar that allows them to hone in on those of us that have already been harmed. While they feign caring about gender, it doesn't ultimately matter to them. If they can't groom for sexual abuse (as was in my case) they bully and harass to the point of making the environ harmful. Enablers who idealize said abuser quickly step in and dogpile. It's one of the worst outcomes of social Darwinism, IMHO and drum corps is sickeningly bad about it.

What matters to abusers is getting "the most bang for their buck" out of survivors of previous traumas (sorry to be so crass.) For male-bodied abusers, that tends to land on women and trans people but far from always... and that "small" percentage of male-bodied (and queer and trans) survivors deserve every bit of the support we give everyone else. And abusers are abusers know matter their SOGIE (sexual orientation/gender identity, expression.) Society does a terrible number on male-bodied survivors. First they're hit with constant societal emotional abuse of "suck it up, wimp," then they're ignored or further ridiculed for saying "hey wait, OUCH, that hurt when that abuser did that."

((Content Warning for this paragraph: Do not look further into ACEs unless you have a strong support system, especially if you are a survivor. If you must look, do so with a trusted loved one at your side so you aren't trying to digest it alone!)) I encourage anyone interested in deeper resources to look into the adverse childhood experiences research that's been done by the CDC. ACEs know no gender or cultural restrictions and the research shows that they have massive tangible effects on those kids who then grow into members of society. These are the people abusers prey on first because we're "easy."

My own male-bodied partner is a survivor of abuse in his adulthood. So have been two of my previous male-bodied partners. All of them are survivors of at least one ACE, like most of us in the US. My male-bodied mentor marched "under" JF so who knows what happened there as he's since passed on. The grooming patterns are the same no matter who the victim is. And we can train ourselves to see those patterns... as well as train ourselves in best practices for what to do to triage and support survivors. Validation has always step one with the survivors I've triaged. Hell, the second silly Deadpool movie even says it: "that kid was abused, you can always tell."

To those of you reading here, take good care of yourselves. These topics are exceedingly difficult to be in dialogue about so don't be like me and just stew in them. Be gentle and take care!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

but IMO this is part of the problem....our activity is inbred as hell.

As an outsider, yes to this. This is why I harp on recruitment and retaining procedures so closely. So many nonprofits say "there are no qualified candidates out there" but their recruitment procedures are stuck in 1950. Have fun with that... but don't 'cause it's hurting young people still.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said:

As an outsider, yes to this. This is why I harp on recruitment and retaining procedures so closely. So many nonprofits say "there are no qualified candidates out there" but their recruitment procedures are stuck in 1950. Have fun with that... but don't 'cause it's hurting young people still.

if WGI knows of a DCI issue...and let's be real they will know...they should act then and not wait. and the same for DCA, and every band and indoor circuit out there

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...