Laura Robinson is an award-winning filmmaker, author and journalist. She was the first Canadian to write about sexual abuse in sport in the 1992 Toronto Star feature, 'Sexual Abuse: Sport's Dirty Little Secret'. Her documentary on the same subject with CBC TV's The Fifth Estate won the 1993 Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award. In 1998 her book on the rape culture of hockey, Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport questioned the country's blind faith in the game, and in 2002 she won Denmark's international Play the Game Award for her contribution to ethics in sports. That same year her book, Black Tights: Women, Sport and Sexuality was published and won the Human Kinetics Award from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. Robinson wrote the play Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners which tackled abuse in Canada's 'Indian Residential Schools'. She wrote the adapted script for the film of the same name, which is used by the National Film Board to catalyse discussions on reconciliation. In 2012, York University conferred her a Honorary Doctorate of Laws for her longtime commitment to the rights of women, children, and Indigenous peoples in sport and physical activity. She is a former member of Canada's cycling team, a former Canadian rowing champion, and still likes to compete in cross-country skiing.
All posts by Laura Robinson
Gymnasts riveted the world’s attention in January, as athlete after athlete told of nightmare ordeals they experienced at the hands of USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar. For decades, he had impunity—protected, his victims say, by MSU and USA Gymnastics. Nassar abused the girls in the guise of...
With the arrival of the PyeongChang Olympics, headlines blare about the Russian doping scandal. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – appointed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – reinstated 28 Russian athletes to the Games who had been banned for doping, and then the IOC banned them...
