Richard Webster hosts a link to the recent article by Mark Smith of the journal of the International Child and Youth Care Network.
Both Richard and Mark rightly express dissatisfaction and concern over the nature of the enquiries into historical and current child abuse cases that have plagued the UK for nearly 20 years as they seem to breed false allegations by there very nature. I have quoted Richard before in regards to the excellent articles on the Jersey case and also to praise the book "The Secret of Bryn Estyn"
(Once again get it if you have not yet!).
A number of organisations exist to help those who have been falsely accused, sterling work has been carried out at PAFAA (People against False Accusations of Abuse) a support organisation for falsely accused people that has been running for some years. It has any number of cases that do not relate to the care home business but do have similarities in multiple complainants, compensation claims, recovered memories and malicious accusations that are seen in Richards’s book and in his writing on the website.
In addition FACT represents falsely accused teachers and was set up specifically because of the North Wales care home cases, its remit remains quite narrow, but the work includes newsletters and demonstrations.
The BFMS (British False Memory Society) deals specifically with recovered memory syndrome but also offers support to anyone who requires it along with FASO (False Allegations Support Organisation) who seem to have a particular interest in the social services side of the issue.
These are purely UK based organisations, many exist world wide. In fact a peek at the world situation in regards to the entity that child protection has become can be quite illuminating. America is ahead of us with draconian punishments, particularly in the less enlightened states (stand up Georgia)) where an obvious vein of insanity has taken hold.
Australia seems a little behind, but a conversation with a friend over there revealed that the witch hunt has started and he will keep me informed as to its progress.
Ireland has had similar problems. Richard also discusses this on his website.
I have not read Marks writings before but it certainly hit the nail on the head when it comes to illuminating how these cases are problematic. Not least because the story of an individual mans persecution and vilification is so horrifying, but in particular, referencing the current Jersey fiasco, because this passage struck a chord.
“One of the first questions that springs to mind for me is why on earth are the police bothering with the archaeological dig? Anyone with any knowledge of how cases of historical abuse are prosecuted knows that forensic evidence isn’t required. All that is required is the similar accounts of two or more alleged victims - and that’s what makes this whole business a scary one for those who have worked in residential child care.”
He is quite right in that assertion, except, in my opinion, two areas, in that it only requires one story to start the ball rolling and that this is scary for people who work in child care. It is of course, but I am afraid that the net spreads wider than that and although the brilliant work of Richard Webster, Frank Furedi and Mark himself cannot be faulted, it may be time to expand the discourse to take in cases that do not fall into the category of child care. I believe, though cannot yet prove that the insidious, witch hunt has more victims outside of child care than in.
It did not take me long to find examples from some of the support sites mentioned of men whose lives had been ruined, along with their families, because 25 years ago when they were 19 they had sex with a 15 year old, allegedly.
Like wise a fellow in his late 50’s whose boyfriend of many years suddenly left him for someone else and then returned a few years later and accused him of abusing him when he was underage. Subsequently it was revealed, he had accused four other men. It is astounding that the powers that be do not question this ridiculous state of affairs.
After reading some of the stories over at Gay Monitor I must say that I find the fate of gay men particularly concerning as they seem to have even more stacked against them, not least of which because of the old myth that all gay men are child molesters and that the mind boggles as to how they can get a fair trial with the amount of latent homophobia that still exists, despite societies protestations to the otherwise.
It is time we recognised that adolescent men have been fiddling with other men since time began. I have no idea why, nor do I care. I do care that we bring about an end to prosecution of the innocent or those guilty of little or nothing. Just because a 15 year old has a blow job off a twenty year old it does not mean they are damaged. The damage comes later on when they are ostensibly straight and family men. When they realise that compensation is payable, that the police always give a sympathetic ear, even if they were with the guy for years as a friend or lover.
They realise, that when the little secret that they have had sex with men more than once comes out and the only way to avoid their own downfall is to accuse the men of some sexual crime.
They realise when the latent homosexuality in them will not go away, and they do dreadful things out of loathing and self hate.
They realise all too late the consequences of the path they take, but by then the damage is done, they have to live with the destruction the child abuse industry perpetrates on others lives, they too become a victim.
It appears in many cases this could be the truth, the child abuse industry is a machine, voracious, gorging and bloated. As Mark mentions, why do the dig if you need no forensics? To feed the machine I believe; on stories that thrill the twitching curtain brigade and keep the gravy train running, that fuel the media, influence policy and maintain funding streams for dubious organisations and loathsome police bodies.
We too are to blame, the salaciousness about our culture allows us to be fascinated whilst disavowing the realities, to look but because of moralistic reasons not our truly prurient ones, another part of the fallacy.
So, is it time to put a stop to this nonsense? I know that many have already let their voices be heard and have done so with vigour and tenacity. I am just so sick of hearing about men who come screaming out of supposed “silent hell” after many years to state that they had a fiddle with someone older when they were fifteen and it has laid waste to their lives. Utter garbage.
We need a statute of limitations, an end to compensation, a review of all historic abuse cases, judicial power to set higher requirements for proof over and above oral testimony, an enquiry of all organisations that benefit from this in any way to ensure that they are not infected with “righteous cause mentality” and the return to some sense, before more lives are sacrificed to satisfy the current needs of the inadequate, who utilise their mistakes of the past as a contemporary excuse for their own weaknesses and crummy lives.
As a final note, we should consider lowering the age of consent and getting real about young people and sex, that way we can prevent this nonsense happening to this generation of children and all those that follow, our legacy of idiocy and vehemence will not be welcomed. I know very few will agree with me, but I did say consider, we owe it to the innocent and persecuted, particularly those children we find guilty of sexual offences. To quantify, the majority of the men who have been arrested in Jersey were underage when the abuse is supposed to have taken place, will they be tried as children? of course not, but they will pay the price as adults for doing what may very well have come naturally to many of their peers at the time, and I suspect many children today. Bear in mind the media didn’t tell you that did they, then ask yourselves why?
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