Another Hindu Girl Stolen and Other Awful Stories of CSA on Today's Global PnP List

16yo Hindu girl kidnapped in Pakistan amid spate
of forced conversions, child marriages

File photo: © Reuters TV via REUTERS

Another Hindu girl has reportedly been kidnapped in Pakistan after a spate of alleged abductions, forced marriages and conversions to Islam in the country in recent weeks. This case would bring the total number to seven.

The latest incident involved 16-year-old Male Kumari Meghwar, who was kidnapped. An unnamed local Hindu leader told the Times of India that local police had refused to launch an investigation into the incident.

According to the complaint filed by the girl's father, on the night she was taken, four men broke into her home at roughly 3am local time and dragged her outside to a waiting vehicle and sped off into the night.

Reports of the abduction come just days after two sisters, Reena (15) and Raveena (13) (last story on link), were allegedly kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men. On Tuesday a Pakistani court ordered special protection for the the girls as an investigation is conducted to determine the circumstances of their alleged kidnapping.

“The girls appeared before Islamabad High Court on Tuesday morning,” Farrukh Ali, a police official in their home district of Gothki, said. “The court has directed the deputy commissioner to take their custody.”

Some 10 people, including the cleric who officiated the wedding, have been detained in connection with the case of alleged kidnapping and robbery. India’s Minister of External affairs Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj issued a rare statement on affairs in neighboring Pakistan, sparking a war of words with Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Vancouver suburb mayor denies sexual assault allegation, takes leave of absence to fight charge

By Sean Boynton
Online Journalist Global News

Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov is taking a leave of absence from council to fight the sexual assault charge filed against him, which he said stems from a false allegation.

The mayor said his upcoming legal fight will include filing a defamation suit against the alleged victim.

He also confirmed that the allegation first came to light during last fall’s municipal election campaign, and said he has been cooperating with investigators ever since.

“When the allegation first surfaced … I was horrified and taken completely by surprise,” Vagramov told media following an emergency council meeting Thursday afternoon.

“The tale grew as it was being told, and I want to be absolutely clear: this allegation is false,” the mayor added. “I intend to pursue them in the court of law, where they belong.”

The charge, which was announced Thursday, relates to an incident alleged to have happened in Coquitlam on April 1, 2015, when Vagramov was a Port Moody city councillor.

According to the alleged victim, whose identity can’t be shared, the pair went on several dates in the spring of 2015 after meeting on the Tinder dating app.

On their last date, the accuser alleges Vagramov became “sexually aggressive.”

Vagramov said he has already submitted to a polygraph test for investigators, which he said he passed, and the results have been handed over to police.

The mayor said he intends to step back from his position starting Friday in order to focus on preparing his legal defence. Council approved the request for paid leave, which will last indefinitely.

2,442 Cases Of Child Abuse Reported in Bahamas
From 2015-2018

SOCIAL Services Minister Frankie Campbell.

By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter

THERE were roughly 2,442 cases of reported child abuse from 2015 to 2018, according to Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell.

The figures were given yesterday at the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development’s launch of Child Protection Month.

According to records provided by the Southern Shores MP, 2,442 cases of child abuse were reported across the country during the same period.

Of that number, there were 562 cases of physical abuse, 600 cases of sexual abuse, 1,070 cases of neglect, 53 cases of abandonment, 96 cases of incest, 30 cases of verbal abuse and 31 cases of emotional abuse.

Mr Campbell said while much of the thought given to child abuse cases often goes toward physical and sexual abuse, the other forms carried out on children have equal or an even greater impact.

Referring to his own trauma, Mr Campbell called on society to view all forms of abuse as critically important and do all necessary to eradicate them.

Addressing specifically emotional and verbal abuse cases, he said: “…These may actually be the highest in occurrence, and these might be ones that have the worst and longest lasting effect.

“I stand here before you with lasting memories of having been told that I will be nothing, with memories of having been told that I am nobody, with memories of having been belittled because of my mother’s nationality,” he added. Mr Campbell’s mother was a Haitian immigrant to this country.

Mr Campbell, citing the work of psychotherapist and author David Calof, noted that survivors of chronic childhood abuse often always deny or minimise their memories of the abusive situation.

He continued: “But while the knowledge, body sensations and feelings are shattered, they are not forgotten. They intrude in unexpected ways: through panic attacks and insomnia, through dreams and artwork, through seemingly inexplicable compulsions, and through the shadowy dread of the abusive parent.

“The show up through uncontrollable behaviour, drug abuse, suicide ideation or actual suicide, depression, low self-esteem, criminality, bruises and welts, burns, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, promiscuity, and so many negative physical, behavioural, psychological and social challenges.”

To that end, Mr Campbell called for parents and guardians to be vigilant and more receptive to the emotional and mental health of the children around them.

He further implored parents to step up their parenting skills, urging them to be more capable of speaking to their children as they develop about the things they face daily.

Mr Campbell also took aim at the modern practice of raising a child between multiple homes. He claimed the action often leaves children exposed and susceptible to negative influences.

“So the child is living between mommy and grammy, and grammy thinks that the child is with mommy and mommy thinks that the child is with grammy, and 48 hours later they both realise that the child is missing. Even where those circumstances exist. We have the benefit of communication tools,” he said.

In addition to media programmes and educational campaigns, Child Protection Month will also feature a church service on April 11, a blue carpet event on April 25 and an award service on May 2.

The Department of Social Services, through its Child Protection Unit, currently operates a 24-hour hotline to provide assistance to those seeking help.

If you suspect that a child is being abused or is in need of help, you are asked to call either 322-2763 from 9am to 5pm, or 422-2763 at any time, where trained professionals are available to provide assistance.

Anglican Bishop accused of covering up child sex abuse scandal gives up safeguarding powers

Bishop Peter Forster,  CREDIT: TELEMMGLPICT000191276879

Gabriella Swerling, religious affairs editor,
The Telegraph

A bishop accused of covering up a child sex abuse scandal will no longer have powers to appoint and screen clergy, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

The Bishop of Chester, Rt Rev Peter Forster, the longest-serving bishop within the Church of England (CoE), discovered that the Rev Gordon Dickenson had been accused of sex offences decades earlier when the allegations were referred to in a letter to the diocese in 2009.

However Bishop Forster failed to tell police about the allegations against the priest because of promises made by Dickenson. The Bishop left him free to act as a retired priest for a further five years, meaning he was continuing to conduct church services with the diocese’s blessing.

Earlier this month Dickinson was convicted  (3rd story on link) of eight counts of sexual assault after pleading guilty to abusing a boy during the 1970s inside a church hall and in his vicarage. The 89-year-old, who is now in the early stages of dementia, was jailed for 27 months at Liverpool Crown Court.

 Following a conversation with the Archbishop of York, Bishop Forster issued a statement saying that he has “formally delegated” all safeguarding responsibility to the Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair, with immediate effect. 

Following a conversation with the Archbishop of York, Bishop Forster issued a statement saying that he has “formally delegated” all safeguarding responsibility to the Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair, with immediate effect  CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM/©2018

Bishop Forster had faced calls to resign following his involvement in the scandal. However he announced yesterday that he will no longer be responsible for safeguarding within his diocese, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

The Telegraph has also learnt that the Church of England has also commenced formal proceedings regarding Bishop Forster’s conduct. He has been reported to the Church’s disciplinary body by its most senior safeguarding watchdog. Sir Roger Singleton CBE, interim director of the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team, has instigated the start of the Church Disciplinary Measure (CDM) process. This can result in a tribunal or hearing overseen by the watchdog, if evidence of malpractice is found.

Following a conversation with the Archbishop of York, Bishop Forster issued a statement saying that he has “formally delegated” all safeguarding responsibility to the Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair, with immediate effect.

"I have taken this decision in response to recent comment into my handling of the Gordon Dickenson case in 2009,” he said. "An independent review will seek to identify where any failures in procedures arose, and what lessons can be learned and I look forward to contributing to the review and to giving a full account of my actions in relation to this matter.”

"The Diocese of Chester takes seriously its safeguarding responsibilities at every level. Whilst an independent review into my actions takes place, I recognise that I should not continue to lead the safeguarding arrangements in the Diocese.”

According to the latest CoE guidance on roles and responsibilities for diocean bishops, they are “ultimately responsible for ensuring good safeguarding arrangements and practice”. It adds that in exceptional circumstances, they can delegate such tasks to a less senior, suffragan bishop.

Bishop Forster will continue in other duties relating to his role however it is rare for bishops to relinquish such powers. Safeguarding responsibilities for bishops include having the final authority on whether priests can have permission to officiate (PTO). Such cases arise when priests wish to come out of retirement but have not received a full Disclosure and Barring Service background check, providing support for survivors of abuse, training all clergy on safeguarding, keeping central record of all church officers who have a role with children and keep a record of their DBS compliance.

It also includes “exercising discipline” to ensure priests who have PTO undergo risk assessments, suspend priests if they present a risk of harm.

Ten years ago, Dickenson wrote a letter to the Diocese of Chester, which was conducting a review of past abuse cases, in which he admitted that he had been accused of abuse during the 1970s and he promised he would never do it again.

Despite the admission, Bishop Forster did not pass on the letter to police, nor did he order an internal church inquiry.

Chester Crown Court heard details how Dickenson’s victim - who was aged 12 and 13 at the time of the abuse - was driven to alcoholism and left feeling like he had “buried away a dirty secret”.

His ordeal only came to light when police stumbled across the case in 2017 while investigating a previous Bishop of Chester, Victor Whitsey, who had also been accused of abuse.

‘Rip up this Redress’: Sex abuse survivor’s tearful encounter with ‘token gesture’ scheme

One survivor's dreadful story of revictimization thanks to

Australia's Redress Scheme

Child sex abuse survivor Georgie Burg

Georgie Burg attended a roundtable on the National Address Scheme on Thursday.

Georgie Burg is a child sex abuse survivor who last year jailed pedophile Anglican priest John Philip Aitchison (5th story on link).

She hoped to deliver this speech on Thursday when she attended a government roundtable on the National Redress Scheme, attended by Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher.

Despite not being eligible, she had called the Redress hotline to see how it functions for survivors. What she found, she says, was not acceptable and she aims to improve the process.

On the day of George Pell’s sentencing, I sat in a similar meeting room – this time for the National Office of Child Safety, discussing the implementation of the recommendations from the royal commission. I was missing my daughter’s 18th birthday to be there, on a day we know was loaded with meaning for survivors like me.

I was glad then and proud too, about what I did over Christmas last year, putting together a list of questions that I think a survivor would want to know about the National Redress Scheme. I’m not eligible for redress, I’m not a paid employee or affiliated with anyone. It’s too late for my family and me. There is nothing for me to gain.

I couldn’t find an email for the Redress scheme. I don’t have the contacts to know who to talk to, so I simply called the hotline.

What happened next was so awful it has profoundly affected the way I see the people in this room and the leaders of our country, including Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher.

Within a minute of calling Redress, I experienced the automated clinical voice so familiar to Centrelink callers. The operator quickly began probing me to ‘share’ my personal story with her, demanding it was mandatory for her to help.

I asked her what training she had as a front-line worker and she defensively replied that all Redress staff had received a comprehensive training session. She again demanded that I tell her my story, telling me that the privacy of survivors was their utmost concern.

I began to cry. Like at the trial a few months earlier, I was being forced to tell a stranger what was done to me. It was re-victimising, re-traumatising and completely unnecessary. I did this for you, to be valuable to you.

Georgie Burg doesn’t know where she’d be if she hadn’t met her husband Phil when she was 22.

At last, after putting me on hold twice, she gave me an email address that I could send my questions to.

The email bounced back. It was a dead link.

I went and threw up. I asked myself why I was putting myself through this, why it has to be me, why I want to be here so badly. Like when I was 13, fighting for my life, I decided to be brave. And then I called again. Believe me, it was bloody hard to do.

This time a man answered. Again, in under a minute, he asked me to share my story with him, so that he could be better informed on how to help me.

Whilst this man was more sympathetic and was demonstrably concerned at the dead email link, I was again forced to say the words. Twice in one morning to re-live my story, to justify my inclusion at this roundtable. I bit my tongue so hard that blood rolled down my throat.

After a period on hold, I was told the only option was to put the questions in the auto-fill contact form. He was confident that because I was a member of this panel, it would be prioritised, with a fast response.

He was wrong. It took a month for a response, a cut-and-pasted reply that began with the error “Good morning afternoon”, with a signature that said it was from the “Refrom Group”. No survivor would accept the ‘answers’ I was given, because they said precisely nothing.

Do not tell me that you will ‘take note’ of this.

If you are human beings, you will look at me, you will hear my voice, see the cost of this, the humiliation of what that was like for me.

We will leave this room today and go our separate ways.

Tonight, I’ll sit in the darkness of the paddock beside my house and hold my dog, wondering what sort of prime minister and opposition leader would allow department staff to do this to survivors.

You have your token gesture of a Redress Scheme, where you can say you’re ‘doing something’. But you have no right to try to reframe this so that you can feel better about yourselves.

I would rather stay number 577 – anonymous in the royal commission’s Book of Messages held at the National Library – than hear you say my name. Start saying the names of survivors whose experience of bravery far outweigh anything you have achieved. Rip up this Redress Scheme and start again. Give survivors the compensation they deserve.

We aren’t stupid. We were children who were raped and abused and somehow some of us survived it.

You’re seriously telling me that this is the best you can do?

*The speech has been edited for publication