Crossing the Line: Overtime
A Revised and Updated Edition
by Laura Robinson
NOTHING HAS CHANGED ABOUT VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN CANADA’S NATIONAL SPORT IN NEARLY 30 YEARS
“In Crossing the Line, Laura Robinson takes readers behind the rink’s gritty scenes, into the male-dominated, hero-worshipping world of hockey…. The physical and emotional backlash is often devastating”— Quill & Quire, on Crossing the Line (1998)
Hockey is part of the Canadian soul, yet its culture of sexual violence remains unexamined and unchanged. The updated edition of Crossing the Line emphasizes the fact that the stories in the book did not end when it was first published in 1998. They continue to be part of the lives of those who endured abuse in hockey. They also brought back similar, troubling memories for others who contacted the author in the intervening years, providing additional original information for this new edition of the book. New charges and court cases are now included.
Abuse in hockey takes many forms. It may be overtly sexual. Or it may put overwhelming pressure on players—removed from the support of their families and often living far from home—to perform and to fit in. It often takes the form of degrading hazing rituals, many of which are sexually violent as rookie players become the designated female for senior players, designed to eliminate all empathy—or the female within each male.
Robinson shows us how institutionalized abuse in hockey turns players into abusers. Yet when accusations are levelled against them, team managers and owners rally around to protect them, applying pressure to have charges dropped or the accuser discredited.
In 1998, Crossing the Line outlined cases for which there were media reports, charges, and rare convictions. Yet decision-makers in sport gave junior hockey’s rape culture no attention whatsoever—except to cover for the perpetrators. In short, little if anything has changed in nearly thirty years.
Until now. Crossing the Line: Overtime brings together compelling new information that cannot be ignored.
(Photo: Laura Robinson)
95,000 words
RIGHTS SOLD
World: McClelland & Stewart, Fall 2027
ABOUT LAURA ROBINSON
Laura Robinson has published six books on sport. She is a freelance journalist whose work on sports and gender issues has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canadian Living, Toronto Life, Saturday Night, and Ms. Magazine. 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'. She has also produced, written, and researched items for CBC Radio, CBC Television, TSN, the Women’s Television Network, and the National Film Board. In 1996 she worked with the CBC’s the fifth estate to produce the documentary “On Thin Ice,” which examined at initiations and sexual abuse in junior hockey.
In 2012, York University conferred on Laura Robinson an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree for her long-time commitment to the rights of women, children, and Indigenous peoples in sport. She is a former member of Canada's cycling team and a former Canadian rowing champion, and since 1999 has coached First Nations children in cross-country skiing.
