Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, wife of the Deputy PM, writing in The Soaraway Sun:
I was unaware of the scale of the problem and I honestly think most people are. Somehow one tends to think sexual exploitation of children is what happens in other parts of the world.
I just could not believe it when Anne Marie Carrie, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, told me this also happens beside us and that it may be happening to children we know.
So I slapped her in the face and called her a greedy lying cow.
Oops, sorry, I mistyped that last sentence. The article continues:
Only last year Barnardo’s registered almost 1,200 children who had been sexually exploited across the UK. This was 8.4 per cent higher than the previous year but, unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg.
And how do they know it's just the tip of the iceberg..?
Most victims never speak up. Many don’t realise they are being sexually exploited and they even, unwittingly, help criminals recruit new victims. Hundreds of victims are — unknown to their parents and friends — stuck in criminal gangs. In most cases the victims are teenagers but there are cases of 11-year-old children being sexually exploited.
There are no specific targets. It affects people of every race, gender and economic and social background, in both cities and rural areas. The criminals find their victims in shopping centres, parks or cafes.
This reminds me of the gigantic, hovering, invisible monster in the 'That's Amazing' section in The Fast Show:She doesn't even understand the basics of sexual politics:
It can adopt many faces... young teenage males persuaded to give sexual favours in exchange for money, cigarettes or mobile phones
Nope, the young teenage males are the ones handing out money etc in exchange for "sexual favours" (I assume that this is a euphemism for "sex").
Forbidden Bible Verses — Genesis 39:1-10
6 hours ago
10 comments:
It can adopt many faces... young teenage males persuaded to give sexual favours in exchange for money, cigarettes or mobile phones
I think they're trying to raise the spectre of the Predatory Middle-Aged Paedophile Male, preying on the innocent young boys.
FT, fair point, but how many cases of that are there every year in the UK? I can't remember reading of a single one. Yes, the Catholic priests were at it wholesale, and it probably happens in care homes etc, but there's no money/cigarettes/mobile phones involved, that involves brute force and coercion.
*Makes mental note: buy your son a mobile and make sure he has a few quid, enough to buy cigarettes if necessary, that's your insurance against him falling prey to PMAPM's*
I'm sure it's a problem, but that article reminds me more of the "Unreported Crime stats are soaring" on The Day Today.
BE, it is a problem, clearly, but let's not do this McCarthyite nonsense about it happening in every family on every street. Look after your kids, pay attention if they start acting up etc, if parents don't do that, well shit will happen anyway.
The Day Today, now that was proper telly.
"Many don’t realise they are being sexually exploited"
That's the chilling bit: look out for new definitions of "sexual exploitation" and do-gooders confusing hapless children with them. It could easily get very Cultural Revolution.
How rich coming from Barnardos, a business which used to ship children to Canada as slave farm labour, often without the consent of their parents.
Back before they invented cheese I used to do some criminal work and remember a case of a chap charged with some sort of kiddy-fiddling. He would invite them into his flat then disappear into the bedroom and look at them through the crack of the door while ... ahem ... "pleasuring himself".
None of the children saw him or was touched in any inappropriate way by him. Was he a "sexual predator". Well, yes or no depending on how you look at it. From the Harriet Harman school of man-hating, the children were abused simply because a lonely old sod got turned on by them. In the real world they came to no harm at all. It was all very distasteful but he didn't actually do anything to them either physically or emotionally and he left court without a stain upon his underpants.
TFB, do you think he would have walked free today?
There was a case around here lately in which the defendant was a terrible Instant Messenger saddo who used to find kids to talk to - well, w*nk off to - online. In the kids' eyes, he was ancient - 50s or 60s, I think. There were about 150 counts on his charge sheet. Why so many? News about him spread wildfire throughout schools and kids found him rather than the other way around. They thought the old saddo was hilarious. While the guy was clearly exceedingly dodgy, there's always a worry about escalation, and court was certainly the best place for him, I'd hesitate to describe the vast majority of the kids as "victims".
In a similar vein, my friends and I often went to the area of the park rumoured to conceal a flasher in the hopes of seeing him. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
FT, fair point, but how many cases of that are there every year in the UK? I can't remember reading of a single one.
Perzackly the point, dear boy. They're rarer than hen's teeth in reality, but the Daily Mail, The Sun and associated media channels would have you believe that every male over about 45 is just looking for a juicy young boy to abuse. That's why it's a useful spectre to raise.
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