Film star Gerard Depardieu denies claims he assaulted & raped 22 y/o actress
Gerard Depardieu at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany February б, 2016.
© Stefanie Loos / Reuters
French-Russian film star Gerard Depardieu “absolutely denies” accusations of sexually assaulting a young woman, his lawyers said after a 22-year-old French actress filed a complaint, which then surfaced in the local media.
The complaint against Depardieu, 69, was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office on Monday. It accused the actor of sexual abuse on two occasions, August 6 and August 13, Le Parisien reported. The young woman is understood to be a protégé of Depardieu’s and also the daughter of the famous actor’s friend.
Depardieu’s lawyer Hervé Témime confirmed that a complaint against his client had been filed, but said the actor “absolutely denies having committed the slightest offense” against anyone. He said he expected the complaint to “not prosper on the judicial level.”
Depardieu has had a prolific acting career, including over 170 film titles. He is also a businessman and vineyard owner. In 2013, he famously received Russian citizenship, with critics claiming that the decision was motivated by a desire to pay less tax rather than a fondness of the country. Depardieu denied the allegations on several occasions, professing his love for Russian culture and people.
Child sexual abuse statistics climbing rapidly in Pakistan
Daily Times
Local non-governmental organisation Sahil has released its sixth-month report on child sexual abuse here in Pakistan. “Cruel Numbers” focuses on monitoring print and digital media to compile data on reported cases of abuse across all four provinces as well as Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
The picture for January-June of this year is grim. Indeed, there has been a 32 percent increase in incidents of sexual misconduct against minors; taking the tally to 2,322. This translates into 12 children being abused every day. Let that sink in for a moment. These figures have been broken down into different categories including rape, sodomy and child marriage. As expected, the majority of victims are girls. Though boys are still at risk; representing 44 percent of all those preyed upon.
Naturally this is a rather conservative estimate of the number of Pakistan’s children who have had the worst happen to them. For the findings do not include FATA. Similarly, only those cases that have been registered with the police or recounted to reporters are accounted for. Meaning that the actual situation is even more grave.
Like, considerably more grave. The majority of child sex abuses are never reported. The real number could be anywhere from 3 times to 20 times as many as are reported.
FATA - The Federally Administered Tribal Areas was a semi-autonomous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with neighboring province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in 2018. - Wikipedia
So, what is to be done?
In terms of data collection, the new set-up should waste no time in compiling statistics for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa given the scheduled FATA-merger.
The same needs to be done across the entire country. For it is insufficient to rely on those victims who were courageous enough to report abuse or who had the means and support to do so.
The same goes for documenting media reports alone. This is not to disparage the dedicated work of Sahil and others. But it is to gently remind the Khan government of how crucial it is that such fact-finding missions receive adequate funding; while also looking towards post-traumatic stress assistance.
And bluntly put, the onus is on the state to cough up the big bucks towards this end given its primary duty of care towards the citizenry, particularly when it comes to minors. Thereby reinforcing the message that the protection of society’s most vulnerable is of urgent concern to the Centre and the provinces; and not something to be outsourced.
After all, the state’s duty to the child goes far beyond ensuring safe childbirth and maternal health. It must also include the right to childhood. Thus the entire political leadership must work together to honour Pakistan’s international commitments in this regard.
A comprehensive data profile on child sexual abuse is absolutely critical to policymaking. No one can afford to waste the next five years. *
Families In Disbelief As They Hear Horrific Tales Of Alleged Child Sexual Abuse In Bodh Gaya, India
And possibly were being exploited in the child sex trade
Indiatimes For many families, their children getting a chance to study was a big thing, because as parents they could not afford to do it. So, when a Buddhist monk offered to provide them free education and accommodation, it was too good for the poor families in Assam's Karbi Anglong to resist.
That is how 15 families who belong to the Chakma community send their children to a Buddhist monastery in Bihar's Bodhgaya.
But what was awaiting their children in the hostel was beyond what the families could imagine.
The sexual abuse which has been happening for some 18 months came to light after the victims complained to Bhante Sadanand, another Mumbai-based Buddhist monk who had brought the children to the facility, when he met them last week.
The shocked monk then contacted the village headman of Karbi Anglong, who also had two of his children living in the hostel and asked him to take them away.
Sujoy who initially refused to send the children with their parent eventually did. The parent, who was not from well to do background wanted to take their children back to their village.
But after local media got wind of the scandal, they filed an FIR against the monk, based on which Sujoy has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to the victims, Sujoy made them strip and masturbate in front of him. He also used to beat them if they refused to obey him.
A Hindi epaper has stated that the children were being trained as sex workers, were being sent to cities like Kolkata to practice the sex trade. I don't know how much credibility the epaper has, so we will watch this story for further developments.
U.S. Man Arrested in Cambodia, Faces Deportation
on Child Sex Abuse Charges
William David Brenner, 63, from Houston, Texas was detained in Preah Sihanouk province.
Phnom Penh – Police have arrested a suspected pedophile who fled the United States over alleged child sexual abuse and will deport the suspect after a request was made by the U.S. Embassy.
William David Brenner was detained in Preah Sihanouk province on Wednesday night, according to Ouk Hai Seila, director of the immigration department’s compliance division.
“He is involved in criminal offenses in the United States and he escaped. And with a request from the US Embassy, the RSO, Regional Security Office at the Embassy, has asked the General Department of Immigration to find and detain him then send him back to the United States to be punished there,” Hai Seila said.
Six arrests after investigation into child sexual exploitation in Glasgow
Marc HorneThe Times
Six people have been charged as part of a police investigation into child sexual exploitation in one of Scotland’s most deprived communities.
Specialist detectives were brought into Govanhill, in the south of Glasgow, after The Times published reports alleging that children were being abused and exploited in the neighbourhood.
Officers from the National Child Abuse Investigation unit began an investigation last November and Police Scotland confirmed yesterday that arrests had been made.
A spokeswoman said: “Five males and one female have been arrested and charged in connection with offences relating to child sexual abuse and neglect. Of those, two males have appeared in court, the others have been charged and reports submitted to the Crown.”
The force did not release the names of those charged…
No comments:
Post a Comment