Brody's Scribbles... A Strange Juxtaposition

By Tim Trent (Bracknell, UK) Nov 17 | In the news this morning is the UK charity, Barnados, has highlighted the issue of missing children and their sexual abuse by paedophiles. The news item is shocking and involves the children, some very young indeed, being moved from place to place for sexual purposes. 

It is highly likely that such reports are factual, though it is tempting, since figures are hard to come by, to wonder if this is a fund raising campaign. 

What makes the report the more interesting, at least reading about it here, is the huge fuss, the Lady MacBeth like fuss, made when I wrote about Robbie Garner's book talking of his experiences at Haut de la Garenne in Jersey and previously at Sacre Coeur. 

It seems to me that the loudness of the fuss made there saying that this all never happened sits uncomfortably against Barnados and their news report this morning. 

Right minded people will refuse to believe that children are abused regularly. It is unthinkable that it happened. Yet what has Australia just apologised for? Yes, the legalised trafficking of children from the UK to Australia where they were often abused, but physically and sexually.

Right minded people will not have believed that was happening either.

Nor would they believe at the time that a much loved and respected institution, The Roman Catholic Church was engaged upon the concealment of industrial scale, almost production line child abuse. And not just by men, but by women, too. Never be fooled into thinking that a penis is necessary for a child to be sexually abused and degraded.

No, right thinking people cannot believe that this sort of thing happens. Yet, when it is investigated, things also go horribly wrong. The incompetence of that set of investigations can not have helped the detection and prosecution of the real abusers.

But we do not have, as the media would have us believe, paedophiles hiding behind every bush lying in wait for our children. We have a country that is as safe and as risky as it ever was, safe for the kids who are cared for, risky for those who are not. What we have is a regular media firestorm. Sex, even sex with children, sells the news.

But that set of strange juxtapositions, the strong denials, the UK's child trafficking scandal, the church's involvement in concealment and moving paedophiles to new parishes, the vehement comments denying that the Haut de la Garenne abuses ever took place, this is interesting. It's hardly a surprise that the public is interested.

[ Text of the Press release by Barnado's ]

Whose Child Now? Sexually exploited children still failed by the system, says Barnardo's

 

In a report to be published today, Barnardo's is calling for more support for sexually exploited children. It highlights a worrying trend in organised child trafficking for sexual exploitation within the UK and identifies dangers to children who regularly go missing.

There are currently 209 Local Authorities and Trusts across the UK with responsibility for producing Children and Young People Plans (CYPPS), yet only 40 are known to provide any type of specialist service. This is despite new Government Guidance to local authorities, urging them to consider the needs of these children in their planning.

The report, Whose Child Now? is based on a survey of Barnardo’s 21 specialist sexual exploitation services and shows:

• around 80% of Local Authorities do not have any specialist work for sexually exploited children and young people
• Barnardo’s worked intensively with 1060 children and young people who had been sexually exploited over the course of last year (2007/8), in 20 of the 209 Local Authority and Trust areas (1)
• research conducted in London alone for Barnardo’s in 2005 estimated that 1000 children were at risk of sexual exploitation.

Barnardo’s Chief Executive Martin Narey said:

We alone have worked with over 1,000 children who’ve been sexually exploited in just 20 of the 209 local authorities. We don’t know the true extent of this problem. But we know, however hidden from the public eye it might be, it affects many thousands of children.

We shouldn’t have to do this work. But men are not going to stop the predatory sexual abuse of girls and sometimes boys. We shall not stop trying to thwart such men and help their victims escape from their clutches.

No national official records are kept on the number of children exploited in this way and wherever local authorities have asked Barnardo’s to research a potential problem, a number of sexually exploited children have always been identified. Barnardo’s is calling for all Local Authorities and Trusts to ensure the needs of these children are specifically addressed in children’s plans, by commissioning research and then addressing the problem, if necessary with a specific, direct service.

The report also reveals disturbing trends both in child trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation and the risks to children and young people who go missing:

• Of the 609 sexually exploited children and young people Barnardo’s is currently working with, 90 appeared to have been trafficked within the UK - approximately one in six.
• In England, in 2007 (the most recent figures) there were only 25 proceedings on the grounds of trafficking for sexual exploitation (which includes adults) with only 15 guilty verdicts.
• From the sexually exploited children and young people Barnardo’s is currently working with, around 55% go missing on a regular basis.

Wendy Shepherd, a service and programme manager from the North East says:

I believe that sexual exploitation is becoming more organised; the criminals who abuse are more sophisticated. There are networks of older men grooming and trafficking children within the UK. It’s a growing phenomenon and it’s extremely difficult to police.

Another area of concern for the practitioners is the frightening number of children who go missing repeatedly and are found to have been sexually exploited. It’s a huge risk factor for youngsters and we are worried that it’s still largely being ignored.

National research estimates that around 100,000 young people under the age of 16 run away from home or care each year, across the UK (2)

Barnardo’s will raise awareness of the issue of sexual exploitation with a major TV advertisement to air on national television on Friday 4 December 2009, themed Turning Children’s Lives Around.  

Tim Trent is a Data & Privacy expert as well as an independent freelance marketing consultant based in Bracknell, UK. He is one of Europe's leading experts in compliance with data privacy regulations, and is in the forefront of implementing Permission Based Marketing. He publishes regular articles on Data Protection.
A regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles, more of Tim's opinions can be found at his website, Marketing by Permission. [Linked Here]