Sex Abuse in Sports on 'Anderson' Today

November 14, 2011 -- 3:21 PM

Filmmaker Chris Gavagan to talk about Penn State on Anderson Cooper daytime show

BY Michael O'Keeffe

We're hearing that New York filmmaker Chris Gavagan, who is working on a documentary about sexual abuse in sports and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his roller hockey coach called "Coached into Silence," will appear on Tuesday on "Anderson," Anderson Cooper's daytime show, to talk about the Penn State sex-abuse scandal. Cardozo School of Law professor Marci Hamilton is also scheduled to appear. The show is scheduled to air in the New York area on WPIX-Channel 11.

Gavagan was one of the sex-abuse survivors quoted in Sunday's End Zone about Penn State.

One of the things Gavagan and Hamilton will surely discuss is how sexual abuse leaves deep scars on survivors. A recent study, presented this weekend at the American Heart Association's scientific conference, says that girls who experience severe sexual and physical abuse may be at a higher risk for heart attacks, heart disease and strokes.

"It's almost hard to imagine stressors much greater than physical and sexual abuse," said Janet Rich-Edwards, lead author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "When we think about stress and health, abuse is the elephant in the room."