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- Written by: Super User
- Category: Child Abuse
- Hits: 336
2023-08-04
Iain Davis, writing for UK Column, reviews the reactions of the critics to this film, released so far in the US and not yet in the UK.
"The Sound of Freedom" was made pre-Covid (was there such a time?!) in cooperation with Operation Underground Railroad and isn't new - yet it has only recently been released for public viewing. That delay in itself makes for an interesting sub-plot - did nobody want to recoup their investment?
The film isn't about railroads, but about human trafficking - in particular, the trafficking and exploitation of children. So it's about shining some public light on something that the perpetrators would very much rather keep under wraps.
Neither Iain nor I have seen the film, but the reactions of the press may perhaps tell us something.
"As horrific and hard to accept as all these statistics are, we are failing our children if we don't look this evil square in the face"
"In the UK, for example, more than 70,000 children go missing every year. A full 10% of children in state institutions disappear annually"
The scale of this problem is on the face of it horrifying, but we should remember that there are billions of people on our planet. Nevertheless many do suspect that our authorities are less than completely innocent when it comes to such matters, and memories of MPs such a Cyril Smith, BBC entertainers such as Jimmy Savile, and royal friendships with known paedophiles, only add to these suspicions.
But still, the notion that this problem is confined to the UK is absurd - it is global and should be viewed as such - to do otherwise is simply to examine one head of the hydra.
To turn away and ignore it is to condone it.
This is one view of the problem; whether accurate in every detail I cannot say, but perhaps it is in the right ball-park.
Keep calm and carry on.
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- Written by: Super User
- Category: Child Abuse
- Hits: 367
2023-06-13
The Good Law Project highlights that the world can be an unsafe place for children.
It stands to reason that predatory people will know where to look for their prey, so it isn't really surprising that the Scouts (no doubt alongside other institutions) may feature on the list for paedophiles.
So a reminder that it's everybody's responsibility to be aware of the possibilities and to take appropriate safeguards, is useful.
The GLP also highlight the assertion that the Scout Association "did their best to downplay what had happened" - which is understandable from the marketing viewpoint of course.
So the idea of a central point that may be contacted by those who wish to put forward their own experiences is perhaps a useful contribution to greater transparency and safety, and may ultimately permit a better understanding of the extent of the problem.
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- Written by: Super User
- Category: Child Abuse
- Hits: 427
2023-05-31
An excellent report from PCPW on the 17th of May protest outside Parliament -
"It should never have been necessary in any country that prides itself on fair play and decency to have to campaign and gather in public to advocate for the safety of children"
Indeed so, yet we have now come to the stage where black is white, up is down, and wrong is right. There is no rhyme or reason to it, except to convince people that the battle is lost, even kids are fair game, and resistance is futile.
Wrong on all counts.
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- Written by: Super User
- Category: Child Abuse
- Hits: 1434
2023-05-25
A system seemingly as old as the hills and just as hard to knock over.
Martin Geddes brings us up to date with the view from the bottom, the view of those who have encountered the system at first hand, who have experienced it as individuals, and have been through it and know it very personally.
"There is a national emergency that most people cannot comprehend"
"We are stonewalled by the authorities at every opportunity"
"We cannot let this continue ... every town and city in the entire country is the same"
This is the story of our times, we just never knew it.
(12 minutes)
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- Written by: Super User
- Category: Child Abuse
- Hits: 1666
2023-01-23
This time it's the Home Office in the cross-hairs, according to the Observer as reported by the Guardian.
"Dozens of asylum-seeking children have been kidnapped by gangs"
"A whistleblower ... and child protection sources describe children being abducted off the street outside the hotel and bundled into cars"
" ... the Home Office was warned repeatedly by police that the vulnerable occupants of the hotel – asylum-seeking children who had recently arrived in the UK without parents or carers – would be targeted by criminal networks"
But is it just a one-off?
" ... the ... whistleblower also described witnessing children being in effect trafficked from a similar hotel run by the Home Office in Hythe, Kent, estimating that 10% of its youngsters disappeared each week"
So not just a London problem then?
Are we perhaps (appalling thought) looking at abuse on an industrial scale? How many of these "Home Office hotels" are we talking about?