The faces and stories of the 42 paedophiles locked up in Kent in 2018
Kent Live
Dozens of sex offenders across the county have been jailed for their crimes this year
As the year draws to a close, we often reflect on the stand-out moments from the last 12 months.
From Harry and Meghan's wedding to England's World Cup run, there was plenty to shout about in 2018.
Unfortunately, there was also a lot to be ashamed of, with dozens of perverts ruining hundreds of lives across Kent.
Kent Live has compiled a list of the county's paedophiles locked up for their crimes in 2018.
As the list is too long for this blog, please visit the KentLive website and read it there.
Greece child protection services 'disjointed and inadequate'
And children suffer horribly because of it
Successive governments are structurally unable to organise coherent system of child protection, experts say.
by The Manifold
Athens, Greece - When two children from the small, remote Greek island of Leros were taken to one of the largest paediatric hospitals in Athens for a psychological evaluation, they were about to fall prey to one of the country's rarely talked about problems.
After the siblings were examined by doctors, the youngest of the two, a six-year-old boy was released to his parents while the 11-year-old girl was admitted.
After two months in the hospital, she was transferred to a girls' home.
A few months after that, in the fall of 2017, she was sent back to her parents in Leros. They were instructed by judicial authorities that she had to see a psychologist at the municipal community centre regularly.
But then in May this year, her parents brought her back to Leros Hospital, malnourished and faint.
Family members spoke to the police reluctantly, but an officer got a confession from the parents. Her father was accused of sexually abusing her and physically abusing his other children. His trial is pending.
These children were not unknown to the authorities. They had been through the child protection system. They had been examined in a hospital. Abuse was confirmed. And yet, a prosecutor decided to remove only the little girl at first and leave her brother with their parents. Then they reversed their decision and returned the girl, while her family had not even been visited by a social worker.
Greece has always lacked a coherent system to efficiently protect minors who are victims of abuse. And in the story of the two children, these problems became painfully obvious.
I have seen cases where four-year-old kids were treated for
sexually transmitted rectal HPV for over a year and no
investigation had been undertaken to determine how they got it.
GIORGOS NIKOLAIDIS, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST
'Underfunded before the crisis'
Nowadays, the Greek financial crisis is often blamed for the inadequacies of social services. However, Giorgos Nikolaidis, a child psychiatrist and head of the Mental Health Department of the Institute of Child Health, is suspicious of such a generalisation, despite his own institution having endured a 50 percent reduction in personnel.
"The cuts are real enough," he says. "But child protection was underfunded even before the crisis. And our state still maintains the luxury of four or five parallel networks of services that are disjointed and inadequate. There is an issue of lack of funds, but there is also an issue of what we do with the funds we have".
Another such case took place a few years earlier in Crete. A coach with the local basketball team in the town of Rethymno was arrested and convicted of molesting 36 young boys. The abuse had been going on for years and the total number of his victims is believed to be well over 100.
But no parent, neighbour, teacher, social worker, or police officer ever came forward with a suspicion. After the police and the local prosecutor were eventually alerted by one family, they purposefully, according to their own admission, left him to his devices in order to organise a sting operation that would ensure his conviction.
This took a full year, throughout which the coach continued to abuse children.
It took another year before the Institute of Child Health, a semi-independent institution overseen by the Greek Ministry of Health, managed to convince authorities that something should be done for the families. EU funds were redirected and a psychological support unit was set up in Rethymno.
It didn't last more than two years; as the EU funds ran out, the Ministry of Health decided to shut it down. Nothing has taken its place.
Giorgos Nikolaidis in Athens, and various literature on psychology, Olga Themeli's book on children's testimonies among them [Achilleas Zavallis/The Manifold/Al Jazeera]
Ignored by successive governments
Such cases, of which there are many, seem indicative of a structural inability to organise a coherent system of child protection in Greece, child care experts said.
There are hundreds of services spread across the country that have some measure of participation in child protection; but most operate in isolation from the others, with no protocols for coordinated action.
"This kind of anarchy where every professional does whatever comes to their mind is destructive," Nikolaidis said.
"I have seen cases where four-year-old kids were treated for sexually transmitted rectal HPV for over a year and no investigation had been undertaken to determine how they got it. Because in this type of anarchy, every professional can shut themselves in their own task, however they define it. The dermatologist can just treat the infection and not be concerned with anything else".
The Institute of Child Health has developed, with independent funding, a protocol for networking the disparate services and unifying their procedures. It also developed a digital records system for incidents of abuse. Βut despite presenting these to successive Greek governments, they have been ignored.
To date, all efforts towards coordinating child protection services have similarly failed. One more attempt to streamline the system is in the works by the current government, starting with improving the conditions for child abuse survivors that choose to legally challenge their abusers.
Olga Themeli, an associate professor of forensic psychology at the University of Crete, tells us that according to her research, abused children in Greece are forced to repeat their story to the police "up to 14 times".
Despite many cultural similarities when it comes to the treatment of children, Cyprus has already taken the steps that Greece is contemplating only now. The case of a 29-year-old who committed suicide after years of sexual abuse by her foster father, a priest, seems to have been the last straw.
The 'House of the Child' in Nicosia, Cyprus [Achilleas Zavallis/The Manifold/Al Jazeera]
'This is Greece'
Last April, an inter-disciplinary council inaugurated the House of the Child facility in Nicosia, Cyprus, where children's testimonies are recorded in a meticulously efficient procedure.
Modelled on similar facilities internationally, where they are known as Child Houses or Child Advocacy Centres, the House of the Child allows for an examination of children by trained professionals, which takes place only once and is as non-invasive as possible.
Themeli is enthusiastic about the prospect of having a House of the Child in Greece.
"Our prospects are very good," she says. A new law stipulates that five such houses will be created throughout Greece. But no actual work has begun on them and the Greek police seem reluctant to submit to the new procedure.
"This is Greece," Konstantina Kostakou, a police officer and psychologist at the Athens Division for Minors, says, implying that things are being done differently. She disputes Themeli's research and believes that children should be brought to police headquarters, so they know "things are serious".
Even if the House of the Child programme is implemented, problems with child protection in Greece seem endless. There is no foster care system to speak of, and children who are removed from their families are institutionalised for the long term.
Conditions in institutions are poor, child care experts say. One institution for disabled children, in the town of Lechaina in Southern Greece, keeps children in wooden cages or tied to their beds, without releasing them even for brief periods in the day, Nikolaidis says.
"No court of law has the right to impose such a sentence," Nikolaidis said. "So, who is responsible for doing this to these children?" As head of a team that is trying to help the children in the Lechaina facility, some of whom have remained tied up literally for years, Nikolaidis is furious that no one is being held accountable.
Most children, child care experts agree, are abused by those they trust. Such abuse is an assault on the most basic ability to trust another person and to form relationships. So, after the state becomes itself another agent of abuse, where does that leave victims? Themeli's assessment is that "there is no culture of child protection in Greece".
"There is no culture of child protection in Greece"
Psychologist Olga Themeli
Unfortunately, abused children are often inclined to agree with her. - Not that anyone is listening to the children in Greece!
Forensic Psychologist Olga Themeli and a Children's Home in Crete, Greece
[Achilleas Zavallis/The Manifold/Al Jazeera]
Defending domestic child workers' rights in Bangladesh
Discourse on cruelty to and sexual abuse of domestic helps -- mostly underage poor girls -- has remained partial and flawed. Society's double standard could not be more conspicuous here. If child labour is illegal, employment of the majority of girls in residences of city people should not have taken place at all. Ideally, the young ones were supposed to be in schools and with their families. At home in villages, their parents cannot provide for them or in case they lose one parent or both, their means of living is totally absent and physical safety is at risk. So here is an issue that society feels shy of facing squarely. The socio-economic condition of the country is at a stage where such employment cannot be done away with for practical reasons. Now the so-called educated and well-off people at whose homes they work show little understanding that at their age, it is only natural to do mistakes in performing their duties. The employers' daughters and sons of the same age or much older are not required to do the smallest of domestic chores.
In a just society, all children were supposed to be treated equally and to go to school and the state was duty-bound to create the right condition for this. Unfortunately, the state feels no obligation for children of the poor and backward communities. In a situation like this, it is better to call the spade a spade. Some children from the poor and hapless families will have to work as domestic helps as long as the state does not take their responsibility. Now if they have to give their labour in a well-off household, the recruitment has to be formalised. The ministries of labour and employment and social welfare should be involved with the process. No child help will be employed without the knowledge of the former. It must assign one of its wings to oversee the employment. The latter should monitor by forming monitoring cells under it.
Clearly, this is an uncaring society. Domestic child workers' cause is not promoted or defended the way it should have been because they stay on the fringe of society, they are utterly marginalised. The organisations working for them even cannot establish their rights in the first place because there is no law favouring them. Even when they are physically or sexually abused and in extreme cases killed, the poor parents are persuaded to settle the disputes out of court in exchange for money. How many perpetrators or killers of domestic helps have been sent behind the bar?
Experts working for domestic child workers have rightly demanded formulation of laws to deal with this special issue. Formalisation of employment will be the first step in that direction. But this should be for a specific period beyond which such recruitments should be considered illegal. Right now a few organisations have started imparting training for domestic helps so that they are knowledgeable about handling modern gadgets and render quality service. Arrangement of similar training for underage children before their placement can be of help. They must receive all kinds of support at their working places.
I suspect we are talking almost entirely about girls here. This means attitude toward girls in societies on the sub-continent plays a big part in this problem, as well as poverty, religion and the caste system.
Fresh sexual abuse claims at NSW's Armidale School
By Angus Thompson
Fresh allegations of sexual abuse at The Armidale School have emerged.CREDIT:THE ARMIDALE EXPRESS
A former staff member at a prestigious NSW school who performed the same role as a house mistress recently sentenced over sleeping with several pupils has been charged with sexually assaulting a young boy in his care.
Jacob Charles Woods, 36, is in custody, accused of raping an 11-year-old boy while working as a housemaster in his late teens at The Armidale School in the state’s north in 2001.
Mr Woods’ December 17 arrest comes three months after a 25-year-old woman, who legally cannot be named, was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence for having sex with five male students, aged 15 to 17, over a period of several months during 2014 and 2015 while she was employed at the GPS school.
In a December 27 letter to the school community, TAS headmaster Murray Guest urged past students to come forward with other potential claims against Mr Woods, despite being unaware “of there being any other past students involved in these specific allegations”.
“But I appeal directly to our alumni body to please come forward and let us know if you, or someone else you know, may have been a victim,” Mr Guest said.
“It is also extremely important for our current families to be aware that we remain vigilant against all forms of inappropriate behaviour and that our students know to tell someone straight away if anyone makes them feel uncomfortable.”
Armidale detectives have called for anyone who may have information on the investigation to contact police.
The woman (centre) was given a two-year suspended jail sentence in September for having sex with five teenage boys while working at The Armidale School.CREDIT:BROOK MITCHELL
Mr Woods has not been accused of abusing anybody else.
It is the third scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse to hit the school in more than a decade, following the 2007 arrest of English teacher Jeremy Roberts, who later pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography, which did not involve students.
In his letter, Mr Guest said the charges against Mr Woods related to his seven-month tenure as a duty master at the school.
“No concerns were raised with us about his behaviour towards any students until May this year when a solicitor for a former student contacted the school,” he said.
“When Mr Woods was employed by the school he had been recommended by his principal, was background checked and he attended a child protection seminar.”
Mr Guest said he was shocked to learn of the accusations against Mr Woods and the school notified police immediately.
“According to the usual protocols, we were asked not to communicate about the matter while the police did their work, but were are informing you now that charges have been laid,” he said.
Mr Woods, from Tamworth, was denied bail by a Tamworth Local Court magistrate on December 18 and is expected to front court again early next year.
Following the sentencing of the female staff member in the NSW District Court in September, Mr Guest wrote a letter to the school community revealing new measures against future abuse, including the introduction of "house mothers" in the four boys' boarding houses.
Milly Dowler's killer Levi Bellfield 'was part of a Rotherham-style child sex gang that groomed and raped youngsters in west London'
By JOEL ADAMS FOR MAILONLINE
Levi Bellfield is serving a life term but six men with whom he groomed and raped underage girls may be free to re-offend, says a new report
The monster who abused and killed 13-year-old Miller Dowler and three other young women was part of a child sex gang that has not been brought to justice, according to a report which may spark a fresh Scotland Yard investigation.
The council report, by a social worker specialising in child sexual exploitation, links Levi Bellfield with a group of paedophiles accused of grooming at least 17 vulnerable girls under the age of 16 for sex.
How sick can you get?
It says Bellfield and other members of the gang abused children as young as 12 in a 'raping room' in his Hanwell home, at one point violating a 14-year-old girl they had dressed up in a school uniform which belonged to the daughter of one of the men present.
Today the Sunday Times reports Bellfield is among seven men identified by Debbie Weissang, who was then child sexual exploitation manager at Hillingdon council in west London.
After being convicted of Milly Dowler's murder in 2011 Bellfield became the first British inmate to be sentenced to two whole-life tariffs.
He will never be released to reoffend, but Ms Weissang said: 'there are six other men in my report who are not serving full-life tariffs in prison and in my opinion pose a serious threat to children. I am deeply concerned there remains a risk to children both in the community and online from Bellfield's associates.'
Milly Dowler was 13 when she was killed by Bellfield in 2002. upon his conviction for her murder in 2011 the serial killer received his fourth life sentence
Today Scotland Yard could not confirm whether it had opened an investigation into the gang named in the report, which was written in December 2017.
Bellfield, who owned a wheel-clamping business in west London, had a string of convictions for minor crimes prior to being arrested on suspicion of the murder of French student Amélie Delagrange, 22, in August 2004.
He was given three life sentences in 2008: one for the murder of Miss Delagrange, one for killing 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell, in Hampton in 2003; and one for the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18, in May 2004.
Despite having been a suspect in the 2002 killing of Milly Dowler it was not until 2011 he was brought to justice, receiving a fourth life sentence and second whole-life tariff.
Scotland Yard has feared for more than a decade that Bellfield's past might contain further horrors.
In February 2008 after Bellfield's conviction for the murders of Marsha Mcdonnell and Amélie Delagrange, the detective chief inspector in charge of the investigation, Colin Sutton said: 'We looked at a dozen crimes in west London and we have not been able to eliminate Levi from any of them.
'I fear we may have only scratched the surface.'
Marsha McDonnell, 18 (L), and Amélie Delagrange, 22, (R) were murdered by Bellfield. of Hampton, was killed by Bellfield.
Bellfield owned the flat in the west London suburb of Hanwell that contained 'the raping room', where the date rape drug GHB was slipped into the drinks of young victims during parties, the Sunday Times reports.
Three witness statements obtained during the inquiry into Miss Delagrange's murder make reference to a video in which Bellfield and other men rape a 14-year-old girl dressed in a school uniform belonging to the daughter of a middle-aged Asian man also participating.
The video was never found, but some of the girls interviewed by police referred to the men as their 'dad ring'.
Dt Chf Insp Sutton, said last week: 'Bellfield was a serial sex predator when it came to young girls and we had evidence that linked him to a number of convicted paedophiles.'
He added he had little doubt that the incriminating video of Bellfield existed, 'but where it is now, I have no idea'.
The alleged abuse gang has similarities to a series of cases in northern town over the last five years, notably Rochdale in which gang leader Sahbir Ahmed, 59, was alleged to have ordered underage girls to call him 'Daddy' as he abused them.
In 2012 a gang of nine men convicted of grooming young white girls between 13 and 15 for sex were jailed for between four and 19 years for offences committed against five girls in and around Rochdale between 2008 and 2010.
The 'bus stop killer': A timeline of Levi Bellfield's attacks
March 21 2002: Milly, 13, is walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, when she disappears. Her remains are found six months later 25 miles away.
February 2003: Marsha McDonnell, 19, gets off a bus near her home in Hampton after a night out with friends, and is struck three times on the back of the head with a blunt object by Bellfield.
Kate Sheedy, then 18, narrowly survived his attempt to kill her.
May 2004: Kate Sheedy, 18, is left for dead after Bellfield runs her down in his car after she gets off a bus in Isleworth after spending the evening with friends.
August 2004: Amelie Delagrange, 22, is battered to death by Bellfield after she gets off at the wrong bus stop and is attacked walking across Twickenham Green. She dies of head injuries.
February 2008: Bellfield is convicted of the murders of Marsha and Amelie, and the attempted murder of Kate.
March 2010: Bellfield is charged with killing Milly.
May 2011: Bellfield goes on trial at the Old Bailey after he denies abducting and murdering Milly.
June 2011: Bellfield yawns as he is found guilty of Milly's murder. The following day he refuses to attend court where he is jailed for life. Bellfield becomes the first person to receive two whole-life terms.
February 2012: Bellfield loses a Court of Appeal bid to challenge his conviction for Milly's kidnap and murder.
January 2016: Bellfield admits abducting, raping and killing schoolgirl Milly Dowler for the first time, Surrey Police say.
The report by Debbie Weissang appears to support evidence, originally gathered by police that he was part of a paedophile gang.
She found 17 alleged victims of Bellfield's gang - mostly white, British, vulnerable and in care, as in the Rochdale cases - with allegations of abuse going back to 2000.
One 14-year-old girl claims to have been assaulted in the Hanwell 'raping room' only days after the murder of Delagrange in 2004.
Accused: Convicted paedophile Victor Kelly, 62, is named in the report as having been a member of Bellfield's abuse gang
Among the alleged offenders identified by Weissang is Victor Kelly, who was 62 when he was convicted in 2005 of offering a 12-year-old girl cocaine to have sex with him. Kelly liked to be called 'Uncle Joe' and would invite girls to his flat in Hayes, west London, to play computer games. He is now on the sex offenders' register for life and banned from being alone with children.
Also named in the report is Suraj Gharu, who at 25 was jailed for five years for sex offences and for removing a child from the care of social services.
Former Det Chf Insp Sutton said some of the links made in the report were new. 'There is new information in there that my investigation was not aware of,' he said. 'I think the police and council should be taking it very seriously indeed.'
Ms Weissang said: 'The men of interest have conditioned themselves to believe they have done nothing wrong and are untouchable.'
She said the council and the police should 'carry out a full review of the findings because [the report] shows evidence of a child sex ring and its members have not been brought to justice'.
A Hillingdon council spokesman told MailOnline: 'Following completion of the report the information was carefully reviewed by Hillingdon Council's Head of Safeguarding in partnership with the Metropolitan Police to ensure a timely and proportionate response.
'A dedicated police resource was also assigned to review the information. Hillingdon Council's Children's Social Care team conducted numerous safeguarding checks including liaison with all relevant agencies.'
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'A safeguarding report was received from Hillingdon Council. Any allegations of Child Sexual Exploitation contained in the report will be assessed and be investigated where appropriate'.
How a series of British towns and cities have been hit by revelations of Asian sex gangs in their midst
Rochdale - The trial of nine men for grooming young white girls for sex attracted widespread public outrage and sparked a national debate when they were convicted in 2012.
The gang received jail sentences of between four and 19 years for offences committed against five girls - aged between 13 and 15 - in and around Rochdale between 2008 and 2010.
The case returned to the public consciousness earlier this year when the BBC broadcast its Three Girls drama based on the experiences of some of the victims.
(Top row, left to right:) Tayab Dad, Nasar Dad, Basharat Dad. (Bottom row left to right:) Matloob Hussain, Mohammed Sadiq and Amjad Ali previously found to have groomed two girls and sexually abused in Rotherham
Newcastle - A total of 17 men and one woman were convicted of, or admitted, charges including rape, supplying drugs and inciting prostitution, in Newcastle last year.
Older men preyed on immature teenagers who were plied with cocaine, cannabis, alcohol or mephedrone (M-Cat), then raped or persuaded into having sexual activity at parties known as 'sessions'.
The case raised huge controversy after a convicted rapist was paid almost £10,000 of taxpayers' money to spy on parties where under-age girls were intoxicated and sexually abused.
Northumbria Police launched a major investigation after receiving information from social workers and initially spoke to 108 potential victims. Over the course of four trials, 20 young women gave evidence covering a period from 2011 to 2014.
Oxford - A group of men who abused teenage girls in a vehicle they called the 's**gwagon' were jailed for a total of nearly 90 years in June this year.
The men - aged 36 to 48 - befriended vulnerable girls as young as 13 before plying them drink and drugs at 'parties' in Oxford.
The eight men - branded 'predatory and cynical' by a judge - were jailed for between seven and a half and fifteen years each.
Bristol - Some 13 Somali men were jailed for more than a total of more than 100 years after they were convicted in 2014 of running an inner city sex ring.
Victims as young as 13 were preyed upon, sexually abused and trafficked across Bristol to be passed around the men's friends for money.
Aylesbury - Six men were jailed in 2015 for grooming vulnerable under-age white girls between 2006 and 2012.
The Old Bailey heard victims would be plied with alcohol and forced to perform sex acts for as little as 'the price of a McDonalds'.
Peterborough - A total of 10 men were convicted of child sex crimes in the town, including 'predatory' restaurant boss Mohammed Khubaib.
He was jailed for 13 years at the Old Bailey in 2015, after he was found guilty of forcing a 14-year-old girl to perform a sex act on him and nine counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation, involving girls aged from 12 to 15, between 2010 and 2013.
20 men were jailed for a total of more than 250 years for abuse in Huddersfield
Telford - Earlier this year, Telford became the latest town to become the focus of the now sadly familiar stories of abuse.
A Sunday Mirror investigation concluded that around 1,000 children could have been sexually exploited in the Shropshire town over a 40-year period, leading to calls for a public inquiry.
Huddersfield - 20 sex abusers who targeted vulnerable girls as young as eleven in the Yorkshire town were jailed for a combined total of more than 220 years.
Leeds Crown Court heard evidence from 15 victims during the trials and the judge said he fears none of them will ever recover from their ordeals.
In victim statements the girls described coming into contact with the abusers after being bullied at school and said the relationship became 'one of those things that you couldn't get out of'.
The year of Zainab: Pakistan was jolted awake by the abuse of its children, but is that enough?
Interesting, revealing, and disturbing blog post by a child psychologist
By Zaofishan Qureshi
A girl holds up a picture of Zainab Ansari, a 7-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Kasur,
during a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan January 11, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS
She stood by the footpath, her shoulders slouched because of the heavy bag she was carrying. I was waiting at the traffic signal in my car and something about her caught my attention. She was a fine kid, probably 10 or 11-years-old, and was coming from the school adjacent to where my car was stopped. She had two pigtails tied with blue ribbons, and yet her face was very tense. It had an unpleasant, don’t-mess-with-me expression, while her body language could best be described as stiff.
Every woman reading this knows the expression, because it never goes away.
We are taught to be proper in public places and hence, having a borderline aggressive face is considered the most modest gesture for ‘pious’ women in public spaces, as per societal standards. As if being unpleasant or in a bad mood can somehow protect you from potential predators.
The more I thought about the girl, the more it made me feel uncomfortable. She had to face the added stress and fear of being in a public space where anything could happen to her.
But what about her home?
I met a patient in her late teens once. She had all the symptoms of severe depression, including psychomotor impairment and terrible body aches triggered by depressive episodes. A general physician begged the parents to see a mental health practitioner because the girl had been suffering for years.
She was sexually abused on multiple occasions as a child by her paternal uncle’s adult son. They lived in a joint family setup, so it went on for years. No one knew about it. I explained to her that the abuse she faced as a child was contributing to the depression, and the first thing she said in response was:
“But I didn’t stop it.”
“You were seven-years-old. He was 22. How could you have stopped it?” I replied.
“I am an equal participant in that sin. It’s my fault too. He asked me to come upstairs and I went with him,” she explained.
“You went with him because he had your trust,” I tried to reason with her.
“I don’t know. I am responsible for this,” she said.
“Do you think Zainab Ansari was responsible for whatever happened to her?” I asked.
“No,”she said, immediately shocked.
“But as per your theory for yourself, she was. Didn’t she go with the perpetrator herself? We can see her happily going along in that video. So, was she at fault? Was she responsible for the horrible act done to her?” I asked.
“No. She wasn’t,” she replied.
“Were you… are you responsible for what your cousin did to you?” I asked.
She broke down in tears and told me she wasn’t responsible for what happened to her.
But it doesn’t end here.
She received just a couple of sessions with me and then her paternal uncle – the perpetrator’s father – started intervening. She didn’t share the story of her abuse with anyone else so his interference wasn’t related to the abuse, but to the toxic hegemonic masculinity ingrained in our patriarchal culture.
He negated the girl’s father and dictated that she shouldn’t continue therapy as it is a waste of time and money. He felt that since no medications are involved, there is no sense of therapy. He did not understand how therapy could treat her body aches, and failed to accept her depression. The healing for the very abuse projected by his son on this girl was denied. The girl’s dad was powerless. That’s our patriarchal culture and hegemonic masculinity for you. Sexual abuse thus should be seen through this broader perspective.
I remember another incident of a boy sexually abused at school. This too narrates how broad the effects and phenomenon of child sexual abuse are in a culture like ours.
This boy, at such a tender age, took the courageous step of sharing the incident with one of his teachers. The boy did what he could do best at such a young age, showing that he wanted to be healed, protected, and grow out of this. Instead, the news was spread in the entire school by the teacher. The boy confided in his friends, and thus began an endless series of bullying. He was called effeminate, along with other names. And that’s not it. The senior boys saw this as an opportunity, and they too sexually abused him for years.
After years and years of therapy, a part of him still holds himself responsible for this.
This year we saw a nationwide tragedy and barely recovered from the cruelty a little child, Zainab, was subjected to. Like most incidents of child sexual abuse, the perpetrator was familiar to her and further gained her trust while her parents were away performing religious pilgrimage.
The heartbreaking video of the perpetrator walking away with the child circulated on social media. The brutality she was subjected to resonated with every person in the nation. Some people blamed the parents and the caretaker, while others, including her own father, called it fate’s will. The real issue of abuse would have been suppressed, had the media and civil society members not intervened. People could not forget her innocent face and could not make sense of the brutality she had to go through.
Ever since Zainab’s unfortunate incident was highlighted by the media, the narrative surrounding child sexual abuse changed a little. It helped in sensitising people and created a dialogue about prevention, intervention and protection. A number of workshops were conducted on prevention and protection for parents, teachers and kids. We saw that justice can be served in these cases, and a lot of us got the courage to seek justice for our own children.
However, I still feel we are unable to start a dialogue for the survivors of child sexual abuse. We are still unable to cater to the self-blame that survivors inflict on themselves, and as a result suffer a number of psychological complications.
We are still unable to understand child sexual abuse in terms of our patriarchal culture and hegemonic masculinity. We are still unable to rehabilitate the men who perpetrate such violence. We are still unable to stand up for our kids when they are abused by our brothers, sons, aunts, servants, relatives, and even our husbands. We feel that if we don’t talk about it, it’ll disappear forever. Instead of holding the perpetrator accountable, we talk about making public spaces safe.
We complain to schools about the hygiene of food served there. We care about the shoes and clothes our kids wear. We care about whether or not they have eaten properly. We care about our kids’ homework, themed birthday parties, spelling bee competitions and so on. Then why do we not care more about what our children are silently going through? By not caring more when they are children, we get adults who are severely disturbed psychologically. Then, while they seek therapy, they all say that the sexual abuse they faced as children had zero effect on them – something that is not true and always makes me cry.
A lot of work undoubtedly needs to be done in this area, but there are a few steps we can take from our end, albeit small. We can stop blaming the victims. We can stop the parents from treating the victims as instigators. We can correct the friends that casually make child abuse jokes. We can take a moment and think if we, intentionally or unintentionally, do the same. That is the only way to fight back taboo, and that is the only way to change the mindset we are stuck in.
Sexual offences against minors in Indian city
increased by 29% in 2018
Mirror Now Digital
Gurugram: The crime data for 2018 revealed that cases of sexual assault on minors rose by 29% as compared to last year while crime against women increased by 5.3 per cent.
Crime against women and sexual abuse of minors increased in 2018 in Gurugram The increase in number of cases is due to awareness among children that helps them confide in their parents about such incidents. | Photo Credit: Thinkstock
The crime data for 2018 revealed that cases of sexual assault on minors in Gurugram rose by 29 per cent as compared to last year. While 181 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act this year (until Friday), only 140 cases were registered in 2017.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the police said that the increase in number of cases is due to awareness among children that helps them confide in their parents about such incidents.
After the act on sexual offences against children was implemented in November 2012, there is a rise in the number of cases being registered in the district, Shakuntala Dhull, chairperson, child welfare committee, said. In 43 cases out of 181, children were below five years of age. Dhull added that the accused was a family member or an acquaintance in most of the cases.
Crime against women increased by 5.3 per cent this year as compared to last year. As many as 139 cases of crime against women were registered this year. However, 132 cases were registered in 2017. Police commissioner, KK Rao said that arrests were made in all the cases. However, 12 cases were allegedly found to be fake. The stationhouse officers and investigating officers are instructed to conduct a fair investigation before filing a charge sheet. Rao added that most of the perpetrators of rape were acquaintances of women.
The crime data of the year also noted that the number of stolen vehicle cases increased by 5.2 per cent. While 4,318 cases were registered in 2018, only 4,104 cases were registered last year. There was a dip in burglary cases with 577 cases reported this year as compared to 602 in the last year. A decrease in the heinous crimes like murder, robbery and dacoity was also observed. Rao added that the police managed to control street crime.
The shocking number of sex crimes carried out on children by other kids
But some progress is being made, apparently
By Owen Evans, North Wales Live
Figures released by North Wales Police have revealed that 181 reported sex offences against children have been recorded where the alleged offender is also under 18.
Many of the recorded crimes were rape and sexual assault offences.
The recorded crimes run to mid-October, so the actual end of year figure is likely to be higher.
Projected year-end number: 217
(Projections are mine, and assume a constant rate that may not be accurate.)
Detective Superindendent Gareth Evans, from North Wales Police, said: "Children committing sexual offences against other children is a very complex area of work.
"The initial safeguarding work and investigation always takes place in partnership with other agencies in line with the All Wales Child Protection Procedures and the most serious offences have to progress down the criminal justice route however it is widely recognised that this will not solve the problem long term.
"The mere fact that this type of offending is occurring indicates wider issues of vulnerability certainly with the offending child and sometimes also the victim."
So far, the number of crimes recorded this year marks a reduction in the number of recorded crimes in 2017, where 271 alleged offences were recorded having being carried out by youngsters on other children.
Projected reduction: 20%
Det Supt Evans added: "In November 2017, the Home Office awarded £6.87million for the collaborative Wales National Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Approach to Policing initiative.
"This funding has resulted in the Early Action Together Programme which is a two-year transformational change initiative involving a partnership between Public Health Wales, the four Wales Police Forces and Police and Crime Commissioners, Barnardo’s, HM Prison and Probation Service Wales, Community Rehabilitation Company Wales and Youth Justice Board Wales.
Cuts to funding for interviews with missing children on their return is hampering police efforts to tackle child sex exploitation, the North Wales Police Commissioner says.
"Using a public health approach, the programme will work with a number of third and public sector agencies to give police and partners a better understanding of the generational cycle of crime and address the lack of early intervention when Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma are present, moving towards a system wide, preventative approach to crime which includes eventually the more serious end of the spectrum such as the ones subject of the Freedom of Information request.
"Educating our children through the School Liaison Programme is also an essential part of preventing this offending through teaching respectful relationships and teaching children how to keep themselves safe online."
According to the figures, on six separate occasions, the alleged offender was under the age of 10, meaning they are below the age of criminal responsibility.
This marked a reduction compared with 2017, where 15 suspects were under 10.
Projected year-end number: 7
Projected reduction: 53%
According to the figures, uncovered following a Freedom of Information request, 17 of the alleged offences took place on school facilities, which was a reduction compared with 30 last year.
Projected year-end number: 20
Projected reduction: 33%
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "All schools have a duty to ensure that learners are cared for in a safe learning environment.
“We are developing a National Action Plan on Child Sexual Abuse which will cover safeguarding, education and Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) policies. This action plan will also include guidance on Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB).
“Cardiff and the Vale Safeguarding Board are also reviewing and updating existing All-Wales Child Protection Procedures on behalf of all Safeguarding Boards in Wales.”
The majority of the recorded crimes this year are still being investigated, although other cases have seen the victim withdraw support, evidential difficulties or the ceasing of investigation on public interest grounds.
I suspect much more can be done and should be done if children are going to have the confidence to come forward with their abuses. I wonder if some of the reduction has to do with children not coming forward because of a lack of confidence in the system either from failure to convict, or from the length of time it takes to get a conviction?
4 Women staffers, including welfare officer, held for sexual abuse in Delhi home for girls
Police said the arrested women include a welfare officer, home in-charge, and two house-mothers of the shelter that is run by an NGO in Dwarka and has 22 inmates.
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal(HT File)
Four women employees of a southwest Delhi shelter for girls were arrested on Saturday, a day after the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) said they found cases of sexual abuse and unhygienic conditions there during a surprise inspection.
Police said the arrested women include a welfare officer, home in-charge, and two house-mothers of the shelter that is run by an NGO in Dwarka and has 22 inmates.
They were arrested from the shelter itself, following the statements of three girls that were recorded before a city magistrate under section 164 of CrPC. The girls had reiterated allegations that they were being subjected to sexual abuse and kept in unhygienic conditions.
The DCW on Friday had said that employees “punished” the girls by applying chilli powder to their private parts.
Police registered an FIR under sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Juvenile Justice Act and are probing the allegations. The medical examination of the three girls were also conducted and the reports are awaited.
Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said, “We have arrested four women staffers of the shelter home and are probing their roles. Their employers will also be examined.”
DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Saturday said she has requested the Child Welfare Committee not to relocate the 22 girls to another home.
“The 22 girls here have a bonding. They need to be together, but at the same time, strictest action needs to be taken against the NGO running this home. The NGO and the management running this home need to be shunted out and new people brought in so that the place is run properly,” said Maliwal.
She alleged that during her “surprise visit” to the particular home in Dwarka, she learnt that two of the girls, aged around six years old, had been “punished and scared” by inserting chilli powder in their private organs.
The DCW chief also tweeted, “Also request Centre to ensure inspection of all shelter homes across the country by sensitive officers at war footing. When abuse can be prevalent in shelter home in Delhi, one can imagine what must be going on in the entire country.”
On Friday, the DCW said the commission’s expert committee conducted a surprise visit at the home that houses 22 inmates on Thursday night. According to the statement, the expert committee found during the visit that the inmates were allegedly forced to do household chores and abused by the staff.
“The older girls in the group said they were would be forced to do all chores such as cooking and cleaning toilets since the home did not have sufficient domestic staff. They were also asked to take care of the younger girls,” the DCW said.
The committee members said there was only one cook in the shelter, adding they got complaints related to the quality of food. The home has girls between the ages of six and 15.
Medical student's rape conviction first of its kind in Calgary
Meghan Grant · CBC News 
Former University of Toronto medical student Prachur Shrivastava was convicted of raping a woman who had passed out at a party in Calgary in 2014. (Facebook)
When Laura woke up on June 1, 2014, she knew she had been raped. What she didn't know is what, exactly, she wanted to do about it. But thanks to a program in Calgary, Laura was able to delay her decision to have police pursue an investigation until she was emotionally prepared for the aftermath.
This month, four and a half years after the attack, former University of Toronto medical student Prachur Shrivastava was found guilty of sexual assault and will be sentenced in the new year.
CBC News is calling the victim Laura because a court-ordered publication ban protects her identity.
Shrivastava's conviction is believed to be the first under Calgary's Third Option program, a reporting choice for victims of sexual violence that started in 2011.
The three options are as follows: victims can choose not to report an assault to police, they can choose to report and pursue an investigation right away, or they can have a rape kit done and stored for a year while they decide what they want to do.
The rape
The details of Shrivastava's crime come from Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench Jolaine Antonio's written conviction decision, released earlier this month.
Her decision was based on evidence presented at trial — testimony from the victim, the accused, and friends who witnessed portions of the night in question.
On May 31, 2014, Laura was partying with a group of friends at Molly Malones, an Irish pub in Calgary's Kensington area. By the time she arrived at her friend Rob's house, she described herself as "blackout wasted."
Laura passed out in the living room where sofas and mattresses had been set up to accommodate Rob's friends when they returned from bars to eat pizza and stay the night.
Many of those involved were med students at the time and have since gone on to become doctors.
Laura passed out on one of the mattresses almost immediately after arriving at Rob's.
'No capacity to consent'
Another group of Rob's friends — who had been drinking at Wurst — arrived after Laura. When Shrivastava walked into the living room, he pointed at Laura and asked who she was before saying; "I guess I'll stay here tonight," one man testified.
One of the other men in the room testified he thought it was strange Shrivastava would want to sleep beside someone he had never met.
Rob told Shrivastava to sleep on the sofa because he felt Laura "had no capacity to consent to sharing a bed at that time, let alone anything else."
At some point in the early morning hours, Shrivastava lay down next to Laura. In the middle of the night, Laura woke up to someone raping her.
"She tried to push the person away by swinging her hand back," wrote Antonio in summarizing the evidence. "She still felt drunk and head-spinny, with a foggy brain. She did not fully understand what was going on."
DNA evidence stored
Laura estimated she passed out again after about 30 seconds.
When she woke up, Shrivastava was sleeping on the mattress beside her. Paired with her flashback memories of the night before, Laura described feeling "disgust and violation."
"What's your name anyway," Shrivastava asked, according to Laura's testimony. She then told the court she felt as though she wanted to choke him.
After leaving Rob's, Laura went to the hospital where evidence was collected as part of a rape kit.
Forensic testing would later show Shrivastava's DNA was found on and inside Laura.
The kit was stored until Laura felt ready to participate in the investigation.
In her final assessment of the evidence at trial, Justice Antonio found Laura an "honest witness" and rejected Shrivastava's testimony, finding it "irreconcilable with other credible evidence" and a "self-serving fabrication."
"I believe he wanted to obtain sexual gratification from an unconscious stranger, and that is what he did," the judge wrote.
"He deprived her of control over who touched her body and how, and thereby criminally violated her human dignity and autonomy."
'The gift of time'
Calgary Communities Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) estimates about 20 per cent of sexual assault victims opt to have their rape kits stored for up to a year.
The third option gives victims "the gift of time," says CCASA's CEO Danielle Aubry.
"What we know about trauma — and people who experience sexual violence do experience trauma — is that it's very critical for people to be empowered into making their own decisions."
Similar programs exist in Nova Scotia, Ontario, B.C. and Yukon, but the option is far from wide-spread and typically only exists in larger city-centres where proper training and storage prevent defence lawyers from being able to make an issue out of the continuity of the crucial evidence, should the case advance to charges and then a trial.
Several of the other cities, such as Halifax and Whitehorse, have third option-type programs that store the kits for just six months.
In urban centres, sexual assault teams consisting of nurses, doctors and others offer psychological services, medical care and evidence collection, if needed.
In Calgary, victims who show up at ERs or urgent care facilities within 96 hours of an assault can be connected with the Calgary's Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART).
Leave of absence from med school
A spokesperson for the University of Toronto said the school cannot discuss Shrivastava's status with the program because it's considered "personal information."
Instead, Elizabeth Church referred CBC News to the medical school's Standards of Professional Practice Behaviour policy which says "in urgent situations, such as those involving serious threats or violent behaviour, a student may be removed from the university in accordance with the procedures set out in the student code of conduct."
According to a source close to the case, Shrivastava was on a leave of absence from the university's medical school since 2015 without having completed his medical degree.
A faculty profile for the Masters of Biotechnology program on the University of Toronto's website says Shrivastava graduated from the program this year, after taking an academic leave from 2014 to 2016 "in pursuit of multifaceted development."
It also says he coordinated a clinical trial at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto.
Good grief, No!
The problem is, he will be sentenced to a few months in jail and will be out in 2019 and resume his career. He should be forbidden from ever working in a position of leadership over women, ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment