The Nation’s Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse has begun to highlight not only the shocking cases of genuine child abuse which have taken place in England and Wales, but the very real need to address everyone’s part to play in ensuring investigations are fair, thorough and completed properly.
This latest news item, in which Ken Macdonald QC warns the police not to take allegations of child sexual abuse at face value, exposes some unpleasant truths about the way these allegations are being brought to light.
Macdonald goes on to advise that detectives set with the task of investigating child sexual abuse claims which occurred in the distant past, should not indulge “narcissists and fantasists” in the process. At first glance, that seems like a fair comment. The difficulty however, is in the implication that those narcissists and fantasists have been identified and quantified, and that they, in the nuance at least, make up a large percentage of people that we should be afraid of and allow to dictate attitudes and reactions to allegations of child abuse.
The truth is less simple. No one really knows the true percentage of false allegations made in this setting. Depending on where you look, some research suggests false allegation as a phenomenon, especially in the realms of domestic violence and rape, is high and others that it is markedly rare. Turn your attention to false allegations of child abuse, and the waters are even murkier. Plenty of research on abuse allegations and children exists, and much of it suggests that false reports are unusual, but data on allegations of child sexual abuse made by those same children as adults is almost unchartered territory.
Ironic then, and perhaps not altogether sound, for a former director of public prosecutions to issue a stark warning against an unquantified threat to the legitimacy of child abuse investigations. But it’s not just the unknown that people fear, it’s the way in which seemingly volatile variables are reported by the media.
High profile individuals recently charged, and subsequently acquitted of child sexual abuse have begun to make a case for anonymity of defendants in such cases, at least until a person is charged with an offence. There is a lot of very interesting debate in this area, with some taking the view that no one should be entitled to anonymity, including any victims, and others, that anonymity must be afforded to both the defendant and the person making the allegation. Currently anonymity is only afforded to the person who makes the allegation. There is though, a case to be made for careful media reporting of defendants and the allegations they face. Responsible reporting does no damage to child abuse investigation as a discipline. Irresponsible reporting though, distorts perception and invites the public to select an object for demonisation, whether alleged victim or alleged abuser.
What makes Macdonald’s statement so unpleasant is that it is not a neutral offering, but a tipping of the scales in a debate which requires balance. To suggest that false allegations are somehow so prevalent as to merit prioritisation in an investigation process, is no different to suggesting that most defendants must be telling the truth. Neither position is tenable. It would have been far better to admit that the current criminal law processes for getting to the bottom of abuse allegations are woefully basic, but that would have taken a certain amount of courage, and an admission that the justice system is outdated and slow.
The real issues are not that Britain is full of attention seeking psychopaths – if that were true, it would reflect pretty poorly on years of government policy in this country and serve as en excellent example of how to induce crippling mental health problems in a nation – but that we need to have an intelligent and multi faceted debate on how to address child sexual abuse in the media, and inside the justice system.
holliegreigjustice said:
Reblogged this on holliegreigjustice.
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daveyone1 said:
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Dana said:
Natasha, criticism can be levied at the government as the nations mental health is woeful!
Mental health has always been a low priority for funding for decades. Research into the nations mental health stated a personality disorder prevalence of 4.4%! In primary care attenders it was 24% and in mental health team service users it was 40%!
1 in 20 was thought to have some kind of personality disorder but it’s now believed to be more! Delving into how happy the nations children are showed the opposite was true, lining them up for future problems. The governments austerity measures are also contributing to an increase of candidates being diagnosed under ICD10 and the DMV latest and ever expanding tome!
It’s not surprising that historical abuse investigations are becoming unpopular as despite the allegations coming in thick and furious, people tire of hearing just how awful some people can be. Some just accept that this was the cultural norm of past decades. The investigations are expensive and it’s been said that the focus should be on investigating the living and not the dead! Defaming the victims to cast doubt on their veracity is one way to make it seem a futile exercise or bring about an end to the investigation.
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Dana said:
For balance I would like to add that this is also a wonderful money spinner for the judiciary! If an allegation is made against you, you have to pay for legal defense representation. This doesn’t come cheap! Even if the allegations are found to be untrue it matters not because the damage is done. You could lose your home, your livelihood and your reputation even if cleared of any allegations of offences. Others trust and confidence in you disappears and you have the dark shadow of ‘no smoke without fire’ following you!
Anonymity should be for both parties or neither!
It’s unlikely that these investigations will stop anytime soon because of the huge profits made by those involved and the compensation payouts to the victims make for one of the biggest money spinners of this decade.
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Sabine Kurjo McNeill said:
Have you considered abuse in elite schools as ‘breeding ground’ for what we’ve been observing and suffering from?
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4552418.ece
http://europe.newsweek.com/britain-elite-boarding-schools-facing-explosion-abuse-allegations-267201
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Forced Adoption said:
In a couple of recent cases the judge refused to allow counsel to question the veracity of the children making accusations.In one case the children had been subjected to five years of leading questions from social workers and fosterers with lavish praise and rewards for “brave answers”.Police evidence on oath confirmed that a social worker (who was never called to give evidence) had been instructed to remove or amend 268 documents containing leading questions or matter that might incriminate the carers;This caused the case to be postponed 6months but nobody has been arrested.
To cap it all the childrens mother was not called to give evidence so that she could face the jury to plead her innocence and tell the story of her long running disputes with the fosterers and social workers.This was despite repeated requests to do so made to her counsel who refused her and did not even bother to question any of the children at all thus ensuring a guilty verdict ! Such is UK justice…………
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parent against injustice said:
in my lengthy experience the personality types described, tend to be, just the kind of people to abuse. sadly these personalty types tend also, to be the ones in positions of trust. police officers social workers Freemasons ect.
i apoligise to any masison who is a good entity but were i come from your rare.
so now were in a state were police act as both body guard and protagonist and if your very scared then the chances are your going to get a beating.t dragged down the ally and kicked a few time (just like the poor home less guy in town las summer)
shamefully but knowledgeably, i obliged when told to mind my own business but when you dabble with aiding victims of white coller crime. you dont want some narcissist fantasist copper.
like wise this is not the kind of chap or chappet who you want to tell your most heinous of abuses especially if, like Thames valley the chief of police has been promoted to cheif of commissioner for abusing and mp forcing his silence regarding his brave speaking out on pedophilia. only for this smart chap, to sit on the email until ripe.
that fruit ripened when she committed fraud with public funds the fact that part of the lesser serious, mildly amusing elements of her be trail, was having her husbands suit dry cleaned . so that our police, who refuse to listen to victims of abuse, EVEN NOW COVERING UP.
so no need to continue wondering why this is a false inquiry probable run by pedophile’s getting there log of victims and potential leaks are. so whats next systematic destruction of these people.
this is not to say they shouldn’t be on the alert. back in my party years, when i was running off my own baggage of abuse, i met 100s of people who had been abused. it was like everyone i met had been abused. boarding school, shared houses, partys raves, boat party’s woodland party’s. they seemed to find me a festivals. alright being a non judgmental maternal person i was like a magnet so i got training above my healing via crystals. they just wanted some one to listen. TO HEAR THEM TO BELIEVE THEM. just like i did
i have only met a couple of people who seemed to jump on the ban waggon but jumped off pretty quick when they realized this aint a giggle.
what i have encountered that made me cry, in the privacy of friends arms was the lack of surport. yes i got lucky with my private counseling that was paid for me. police. dr’s. hospitals.social workers all seem to collude to cover each other. if you speak up they will attempt to take your child whilst telling you they will be re homed with the VERY SAME PEDOPHILE THEY LEFT YOU WITH.
so they now have the aurdasierty to rubbish claims from victim’s on base less fantasy that they have built around a dumped down society .
my experience of the inquiry is were going to send this officer around who is known to endorse kiddy fiddlers probably partakes in a little then were going to attempt to sodomize you again, only meteorically speaking. we have already told you once, how the guys is untouchable. we have already sacked a few good officer for going out of there way to both save and ensure future protection (thank you most sincerely if your still alive).i could only respond with a much politer version of now clear off nothing to see here.
so who really is the narcicist the abused victime who has prob lived in silence or the thug in blue who gets to investigate his buddy, who has climbed ranks and giving out the orders ensuring a fantasist cover up for his pedo buddys
brotherhood before oath is a conflict of interest.it alrite pal wink wink nudge nudge,whilst rubbing you right ass cheeks together. stop looking like twits. investigate the cover up by you pals
OR GET A PROPER JOB
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Mike Cox said:
False reports by mothers, and indoctrinated children, of child sex abuse are rife in the “Family” Courts so I have little difficulty in believing that they are widespread outside that arena. Furthermore, “attention-seeking psychopaths” seems to me to be an entirely appropriate description of a very large number of mothers who pass through the “Family” Courts!
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Maggie Tuttle said:
http://www.childrenscreamingtobeheard.com/inadequate-psychological-assessments-family-courts-poor-psychometrics/
This information in the link has now sent out it is for all families to collate and bring the court officials to account but we need the evidence
Maggie
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