This Week's Global Pervs and Paedos List > A Half Million Filipino Kids Sexually Exploited Online in 2022; Canada's Residential Schools

..

The USA, UK, Australia, and Canada lead the world in this sickening trade

1 in 100 Children Sexually Exploited in Livestreams

IJM

September 7, 2023, MANILA, PHILIPPINES – In 2022 alone, nearly half a million Filipino children, or roughly 1 in 100 children, were trafficked to produce child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) for profit according to estimates from the pioneering Scale of Harm prevalence study by International Justice Mission (IJM) and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab that was co-designed with survivors of this crime. With abuse largely driven by demand from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Europe, survivors and IJM are calling on leaders across governments, tech companies and financial institutions to protect children and prevent this growing problem from escalating further.

The Scale of Harm study – the first of its kind — measured the prevalence of the trafficking of children in the Philippines to produce CSEM for profit, especially livestreamed child sexual abuse. In this crime, a local trafficker sexually abuses a child in person while an offender, typically from a Western country, watches the abuse happen in real time via video call. The sex offenders pay Philippine-based traffickers as little as $35 (CAD) to participate in online sexual abuse of children. Although it is a small amount for the offender, it is sufficient within the Philippines to drive an ongoing demand for CSEM. The Philippines has become a global hot spot for financially motivated development of livestreamed child sexual exploitation.

Top countries for CSEM perverts

A 2023 report by the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council found that Canadian-originating payments triggered the fourth largest number of suspicious financial transaction reports related to online child sexual abuse and exploitation in the Philippines.

The report states: Since 2015, the top source of Online Sexual Abuse and Exploited Children (OSAEC) related remittances in terms of volume and Philippine Peso (PhP) value is the United States. Trailing behind a significant margin are the countries of the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Notably, Australia and Canada have consistently ranked third and fourth since 2015.

“As a survivor who knows the pain of online sexual exploitation, the [Scale of Harm] study’s findings underscore the urgency for stronger collective action to protect innocent children. Co-designed by survivors, this study is informed by lived experiences. With recommendations involving government, tech and financial companies, civil society organizations and individuals in our communities, this study marks a crucial step forward,” said Ruby (not her real name), a survivor leader and one of the survivor consultants who shaped the study.

John Tanagho, Executive Director of IJM’s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children said, “It is crystal clear that digital spaces and internet-connected, camera-enabled devices pose growing opportunities for offenders to sexually abuse children with ease, anonymity and impunity. What we’ve seen through Scale of Harm is the sickening scale of abuse. Child protection urgently demands increased tech sector detection, reporting, a duty of care, safety by design, transparency and accountability, along with improved law enforcement responses – in both demand and supply-side countries.

Passage of online safety legislation in the EU, U.K., U.S. and Canada is truly urgent because this growing societal cancer has – for many years now – been outstripping our global capacity to respond and is constantly evolving as technology changes.

To my great shame, Canada has not passed legislation of any kind to protect

sexually abused children since its current government took power in 2015.

To stem the growth of these violations of children’s rights, it will take coordinated global action among legislators, criminal justice systems, tech and financial sectors, civil society and survivor leaders. The challenges are complex, but child protection solutions – in the justice, tech and financial sectors – already exist. It is time for key stakeholders to prioritize their broad deployment.”

IJM undertook the Scale of Harm study over the course of two years, in partnership with the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab in the UK, survivor consultants and 24 world-class experts, researchers and field practitioners from organizations across the technology, financial, government and child protection sectors.

There is much more on this study at IJM > Survivor focus groups helped

B.C. marks 10th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day

with new statutory holiday

British Columbians asked to mark holiday by learning about legacy

of residential school system

WOLF DEPNER, Sep. 29, 2023 1:30 p.m.NEWS

 

 

Public exhibitions, educational sessions, communal walks and survivor testimonies will help British Columbians reflect on the legacies of Canada’s residential school system tomorrow on the 10th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day.

Events stretch across B.C. Sept. 30, from Taylor in the Peace River Region to Cranbrook in the Kootenays, from the Okanagan to Fraser Valley to Downtown Vancouver, which will host multiple events, to western Vancouver Island.

Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band) (Oh, thank you) started Orange Shirt Day in 2013. Webstad had received an orange shirt from her grandmother, only to see it ripped away after arriving at St. Joseph’s Indian Industrial School in Williams Lake.

The anniversary not only marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation across Canada, but also the inauguration of a new statutory holiday in British Columbia after the provincial legislature had passed legislation in early March.

B.C. joins Prince Edward Island as the second Canadian province to formally commemorate the holiday with a paid-off holiday. The Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon also recognize Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday with the actual day falling on Monday, Oct. 2. Sept. 30 became a federally recognized holiday in 2021 following a recommendation from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Does that mean that British Columbians get paid twice for the double holiday?

It defined the residential school system which existed for almost 150 years as a “systematic, government-sponsored attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures and languages and to assimilate Aboriginal peoples so that they no longer existed as distinct peoples” as part of a “cultural genocide.”

Spread across more than 150 locations, the system forced more than 150,000 Indigenous children to attend sub-standard, over-crowded schools, where they frequently experienced harsh treatment, with many becoming victims of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

While the search for the exact number of children who died in the system continues, current research pegs the number at more than 4,100 with other estimates pegging the number closer to 6,000.

I was familiarized with this atrocity, Residential Schools, back in the 1980s. I was horrified! The schools helped me to understand the despair in so many Indigenous communities that exist to this day that manifests itself in alcoholism, sexual abuse, child suicides, drugs - they are all connected. 

Recent discoveries of multiple bodies buried on Residential School grounds, however, has been overplayed by Canada's far-left media. First of all, the numbers are very realistic for normal deaths from disease and accidents for the number of students and the length of time they lived there. Remember, The Spanish Flu roared across Canada in the middle of the period of the Schools' existence. 

Second, so far, digging up the graves that were first spotted by ground-penetrating radar, has so far, not produced any remains.

Yes, of course there were many deaths, many of which were completely unnecessary. Deaths from disease, physical abuse, kids who ran away in winter and died from exposure, suicides. It was definately a horror story for kids and their families and a real mark of shame upon Canada. But it doesn't need exaggeration by Canada's irresponsible media.

=====================================================================================

Today's Global Pervs and Paedos List > Paedo Hockey Coach on Trial in Regina; On-Call Teacher shows Elementary Students pornography and suicide video

..

Former junior hockey coach pleads not guilty in Regina sex offence trial

Bernard Lynch, 68, accused of assaulting 17-year-old in 1988

Alexander Quon · CBC News · Posted: Sep 19, 2023 6:00 AM PDT | Last Updated: September 19

The trial of former junior hockey coach Bernard 'Bernie' Lynch on charges of assault and sexual assault began in Tuesday at Court of King's Bench in Regina. (CBC)

Warning: this story contains distressing details of an alleged sexual assault.

The trial of a former junior hockey coach accused of sexual offences against a 17-year-old in 1988 began at the Court of King's Bench in Regina on Tuesday.

Bernard "Bernie" Lynch is facing charges of assault and sexual assault. Lynch entered pleas of not guilty to both counts Tuesday morning.

Lynch, 68, coached hockey in North America and Europe for more than 40 years, including Saskatchewan. He was the subject of a CBC News investigation in 2021, in which parents and players alleged abusive behaviour.

On Tuesday the complainant testified about his life as a junior hockey prospect in the late '80s and how the culture of "what happens on the road, stays on the road" prevented him from coming forward for roughly 30 years. 

Any information that could identify the complainant is protected by a publication ban.

Victim's story

The complainant testified that he was from a small city in Saskatchewan when, in the summer of 1988, he was invited by Lynch to be involved in a hockey school operated by the Regina Pats. 

Lynch was an assistant coach with the organization at the time and personally invited the complainant to take part in the camp. 

The complainant testified that the invitation was a dream come true. He said he believed it was a "good sign" that he could make the Pats team and have a future career in professional hockey.

The complainant said he understood he was going to stay with Lynch on the first night of the camp before moving to a hotel for the second night. 

The complainant testified that he was immediately wary of Lynch's behaviour after arriving at the assistant coach's apartment in Regina.

He recalled being offered beer and, despite declining multiple times, ultimately felt pressured into drinking by Lynch.

The complainant was also offered the choice of sleeping on the couch or in the bed with Lynch, as Lynch suggested that players would often share beds while on a road trip.

A player who has accused former junior hockey coach Bernie Lynch of sexually assaulting him when he was a teenager 35 years ago took the stand at Lynch’s trial. Lynch has pleaded not guilty and is expected to testify in his own defence.

The two were drinking at Lynch's table when the junior hockey coach mentioned how his neighbours would complain about him walking through the apartment while he was naked or in his underwear, the complainant said.

He testified that Lynch then suggested that the complainant should walk in front of the window naked. Although the complainant testified he was not comfortable doing anything like that, he said Lynch would repeatedly tell him to "do what the coach says" and "do what you're told" anytime he expressed discomfort at Lynch's suggestions. 

Under questioning from Senior Crown Prosecutor Chris White, the complainant testified that he later tried to sober up by taking a shower.

The complainant said he believed that the bathroom door was shut and locked, but that Lynch eventually joined him in the shower.

An artist's sketch of Bernard 'Bernie' Lynch sitting in the prisoner's area at the Court of King's Bench in Regina.

(Joel Hustak/CBC)

The complainant testified that he did not want any romantic or sexual relationship with Lynch and had not invited Lynch to join him in the shower. 

He alleged that Lynch told him that hockey players showered together so there was no problem with them showering together. 

The junior hockey coach then grasped the teen's penis, the complainant said. He testified that he repeatedly said no, but that Lynch continued to touch him. The complainant said he was scared of what Lynch would do and was intimated because Lynch was a coach and an authority figure.

Lynch then told the teen that they should masturbate together, the complainant testified. He also said Lynch grabbed his hand and placed it on Lynch's genitals.

The complainant said he agreed to masturbate Lynch after being told that if he did so that would be the end of it. He then got out of the tub, got dressed, then refused to sleep in the same bed as Lynch that night and slept on the couch.

The next day, at the hockey camp, Lynch teased and physically touch the teen, the complainant testified. That included smacking the complainant on the rear, hitting him in the genitals with his key ring and punching the complainant's shoulder.

The complainant testified that he believed Lynch was doing so in order to feel out how was he feeling about the alleged sexual assault.

The complainant said he then stayed in a hotel room with Lynch, but that nothing occurred that night as they were in separate beds.

The complaint testified that he left the following morning for home, as he could no longer be around Lynch. He testified that he knew his chance for a future with the Pats organization was over.

The complainant said he only told his then-girlfriend a few days after getting home, and only after he broke down emotionally in front of her. The complainant testified that he did not inform his parents and they only found out after his then-girlfriend told them.

He said he felt compelled to stay quiet because of the unwritten code of hockey dictating that whatever happened in the dressing room, stayed in the dressing room. He said he thought going public would negatively effect his career as a professional hockey player.

The complainant went to police approximately 30 years after the alleged assault. He said he only did so once news stories emerged about Lynch being investigated by the RCMP and returning to coaching. The complainant said time had made him strong enough to realize that someone needed to prevent Lynch from hurting others.

Lynch's trial is being held in front of judge alone, with Justice Peter T. Bergbusch is presiding over the case. 

Wednesday will begin with cross examination of the complainant, followed by his then-girlfriend testifying Thursday.

Defence attorney Andrew Hitchcock confirmed that Lynch is likely to take to the stand in his own defence later this week. 

The trial is scheduled to continue through this week.

On-call B.C. teacher shows inappropriate short film

to elementary students

School district had previously issued the teacher a reprimand for 

not adequately supervising students

Lauren Collins

Peace Arch News

An on-call Coquitlam teacher has been reprimanded after showing a nine-minute animated film to elementary school students that depicted sexual intercourse and suicide.

Amira Mounir Abraham was working as a teacher on call at the Coquitlam school district in May 9, 2022 when the incident happened.

The district made a report to the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation on June 7, 2022. That decision was released by commissioner Ana R. Mohammed on Tuesday (Sept. 26).

While substituting at a Grade 2/3 class at a French Immersion school, Abraham decided to play the animated short film “Life is Beautiful.” She hadn’t seen the film before and was unaware of its content.

Aren't teachers required to have an IQ at least in the double digits?

Abraham was grading while the students watched the film and while she became aware it wasn’t age-appropriate, she continued grading instead of stopping the film.

Apparently not!

The district issued Abraham a letter of discipline on June 6, directing her to comply with the district’s standards of conduct and to actively supervise her students and take responsibility for their physical and emotional safety.

She had been previously issued a letter of reprimand by the Coquitlam school district on Feb. 28, 2019 after allegations that Abraham – also working as a teacher on call then – had “failed to adequately supervise” a Kindergarten/Grade 1 class.

Mohammed said Abraham failed to establish a positive learning environment by showing the video and continuing to do so even after she was aware it wasn’t age appropriate. The commissioner added that the students, who were of a particularly vulnerable age, were subjected to the inappropriate content.

This is where parents should be suing the school in a class action. Mohammed's discipline falls far short of the damage the teacher has done to those children. This is child sexual abuse and it may affect those kids for the rest of their lives.

As part of the commissioner’s decision, Abraham has to successfully complete the “Creating a Positive Learning Environment” course through the Justice Institute of B.C. by March 31, 2024.

At the very least she should be forbidden from ever entering a classroom again.

More to the heart-breaking Jaylee Chillson suicide story

..

Christian teen fatally shoots self in front of police at party

parents warned her not to attend

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Features Reporter FacebookTwitter

Jaylee Chillson | Go Fund Me

Jaylee Chillson, a 14-year-old Kansas teen whose parents say she was in therapy for relentless bullying at her school, fatally shot herself in front of a police officer after her family reported that she left their home to attend a party she was told she was not allowed to go to.

In a Sept. 18 statement from the Cloud County Sheriff’s Office, police say they were contacted on Sept. 16 at about 11:25 p.m. by a Clay Center resident who asked for help locating a 14-year-old female family member who was “believed to have run away, and was thought to be attending a party near Aurora, Kansas.”

A deputy then responded to an outdoor field party attended by college and high school students that was being held in Aurora. Jaylee was eventually located, and the officer tried to convince her to return home. As the officer was escorting her to his patrol vehicle, “she pulled out a firearm and shot herself.”

Investigators made it clear that “the deputy did not draw his firearm” but did not state where Jaylee got the gun she used to shoot herself. The statement said the deputy worked with an off-duty firefighter to try to save her life but she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after midnight.

It was also noted that “multiple partygoers witnessed the incident and offered interviews” and the investigation into the shooting is still underway.

Jaylee’s father, Jeb Chillson, who is a former EMT, told DailyMail.com  that his daughter left the family home after she was told she was not allowed to go to the party. He said he was helping the police with the search for his daughter when he heard a gunshot.

“I heard people talking about a gun. I hear a gunshot ring out, and I call the dispatch and ask if their deputy shot, and they said no, but they hear reports of shots fired,” he said.

“They told me not to go in there, but I said [I] used to be an EMT, I can help. When I got closer, they told me that there was a girl shot, so I took off running. I see my daughter on the ground, being held up by one of the partygoers. As I come up to the deputy, he tells me that she pulled the gun out and shot herself as he was going over to her,” Jeb Chillson recalled.

“I told them that we needed to call for a helicopter and an ambulance. We're putting pressure on her, and when the paramedic got there, they had already made up their minds about her,” he added.

He argued that when he arrived on the scene, he and the officer confirmed his daughter still had a pulse “but the paramedic didn't check or do anything.”

“I started doing CPR on my daughter for about 10 minutes. I told them that I wasn't going to let my daughter die without trying. I'm begging them to give her an IV and to help me, but he wouldn't. I asked him if it was about the money, then I'll pay for it, and he starts laughing at me as I'm trying to save my daughter,” the distraught father said.

The teenager’s parents said their daughter, who had dreams of becoming a diesel mechanic, had been bullied for years while she attended schools in the Clay County Unified School District beginning in the seventh grade, but they got no help from school officials.

Jeb Chillson told The Messenger News that when his daughter attended Clay Center Community Middle School one boy encouraged her to cut herself, and a girl once dumped rubber cement in her hair in class as others watched.

"One girl was threatening to kill my daughter [on social media]," her father recalled.

The Kansas father said they moved their daughter to a different middle school in the school district but the bullying continued.

“My daughter would come in covered in bruises and stuff like that. The bullies were there. Nothing stopped,” he said, noting that his daughter was also sexually harassed.

“One of them grabbed her crotch in a sexual manner against her will," he said. "The same boy was bruising her up. He took her Air Pods and stole money from her.”

Jaylee’s parents eventually removed her from the public schools and began homeschooling her in the spring. For the new school year, Jaylee enrolled in an online academy but her parents said bullies found her there too.

“All summer she was harassed by these people via Snapchat and Instagram and phone calls,” Jeb Chillson said. 

Jaylee’s parents told the publication that the night she went to the party, she told them she was only going outside to walk the family dog. They soon learned on social media that she made a dash for the party about 40 minutes away from home, and they believe she went there with a 20-year-old man.

“I’m angry with those that hurt my baby. I’m furious with those I KNOW hurt her and will talk about her now like they didn’t play a part in crushing her,” wrote Jaylee’s mother, Stacie Chillson, in a statement on Facebook a day after her death.

“I’ve read days' worth of messages from her ‘friends’ that treated her absolutely awful. Watched as she was not included with girls on her sports teams. Watched adults on a school level repeatedly fail her. Watched as girls that were once her best friends not even acknowledge her when she would walk by them, and watch a handful of parents who used to gush about her and how amazing she was turn to calling her names and talking badly about her to their kids,” she added.

“No one outside of our family and her therapist know what the last year of her life has been like. Please stop making assumptions, please don’t judge her. And please do not, if you know YOU were part of the problem, if you knew YOUR child was part of the problem, use my daughter’s name now that she’s gone,” she added.

Clay County USD Superintendent Brett Nelson did not deny the bullying allegations made by Jaylee’s parents in a statement to DailyMail.com but said they are “providing support” to the teenager’s family.

“Jaylee was a student in our school district from August 2014 to March 2023, and I was deeply saddened when I heard about her death,” Nelson said in his statement.

“Over the past week, our school district has been focused on supporting the people most affected by this tragic loss. This includes offering and providing support to Jaylee's family, as well as working closely with our students' families and district employees during this difficult time,” he continued. “Finally, we are reminding our students to tell a trusted adult if they are struggling or know someone who might need help.”

Stacie Chillson described her daughter, who was active at the Evangelical Covenant Church, as one of the world’s “brightest lights.”

“This girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know and has since she was just a little girl. There wasn’t a day that went by that she couldn’t make you laugh till you couldn’t breathe. She is amazing. Perfect. Everything you could ever ask for in a daughter. She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She is our everything. Our hearts are shattering. It’s unbearable,” she wrote of her daughter who was buried on Monday. “It’s not fair. She was our best friend. The best daughter. The best big sister. The best granddaughter. There is nothing that will ever make this hurt go away.”

Days later last Thursday, the grieving mom followed up her initial public reaction to her daughter’s death with thanks to well-wishers who have been praying for her family and asked for more prayers.

“Our family would like to start out by saying we are truly grateful for the immense amount of love and support we’ve been given over the last few days. The prayers that have been spoken into life for our Jaylee and our family, the meals, all the organization and work our friends, family, and community has done to try and make our family feel less weight. We just can’t find words to convey how truly grateful we are,” she wrote in a statement on Facebook with a link to a GoFundMe campaign that has already exceeded its $20,000 goal.

“Everyone keeps asking if there is anything they can do for us, please pray. Please pray for her, pray that she looks down and sees how many people love her so much. Please pray for our family. I don’t know what to ask for in those prayers, I only know our world has stopped spinning, but we ultimately know that the Lord, prayer, and faith are what will bring us home to our sweet girl one day,” Stacie Chillson wrote.

“We ask you [to] say her name, share her story, and do absolutely everything in your power to stand up to the dark, hateful, cruel people of this world. You will continue to see our daughter’s name. We will use her legacy to find ways to combat the pandemic of young people being affected by intense social pressures and harassment.”

This Week's USA Pervs and Pedos List > Teacher, Mother rapes 12y/o Boy; Girl, 14, suicides because of bullying; 3 y/o Girl shoots herself

..

Fourth-grade teacher and mother of two charged with raping boy,

12, at her Tennessee home: ‘It’s unspeakable’

By Alyssa Guzman, NYPost

Published Sep. 9, 2023, 7:24 p.m. ET

A fourth-grade teacher in Tennessee could face 25 years behind bars after she was arrested for allegedly raping a 12-year-old and befriending other former students online.

Alissa McCommon, 38, was arrested outside her home Friday by the Covington Police Department and booked into the Tipton County Jail.

The mother of two has been accused of sexually assaulting a former student in 2021 in her home, Covington Police Chief Donna Turner said.

The Charger Academy teacher admitting to inappropriately communicating with students, police said.

McCommon was suspended without pay August 24 after a parent came forward with the allegation, according to WREG.

After the parent came forward, several other students claimed McCommon had befriended them online and even played video games with them, the outlet reported.

McCommon was arrested outside her home Friday by Covington police and booked into the Tipton County Jail.

FOX 13

The fourth-grade teacher allegedly sent students inappropriate photos and requested to have sex with them, the outlet reported.

“It is unbearable. It’s unspeakable and it’s 100 percent preventable. I think that’s why the detectives and we are so passionate about making sure victims are okay,” Turner said, according to WREG.

The teacher, who is being held on a $25,000 bond, maintains her innocence.

The mother of two has been accused of sexually assaulting a former student in 2021 in her home, Covington Police Chief Donna Turner said.

FOX 13

“We believe that it’s borderline a witch hunt on social media and that’s frustrating to us,” said Jere Mason, her defense attorney, according to WREG.

The investigation is ongoing as cops continue to interview the alleged victims.

Parents believe the teacher should have been arrested after she was suspended from school.

“Now y’all want to take matters of it. You should have done that in the beginning of time when you first found out about it,” Bianca Taylor, who has a student in McCommon’s class, said in a Facebook group, according to Fox 13 Memphis.

McCommon is expected to appear in court on October 13.

Kansas girl, 14, who shot herself dead in front of deputy

had been bullied and abused for years: family

By Yaron Steinbuch
Published Sep. 25, 2023, 11:12 a.m. ET

The 14-year-old Kansas runaway who shot herself dead in front of a sheriff’s deputy had been bullied for years — including a sex assault and death threats, according to her family.

Jaylee Chillson pulled out a gun and shot herself late Saturday while a deputy tried to persuade her to return to her family after she ran away and went to a party in Aurora.

Her father, Jeb Chillson, heard the gunshot while rushing to track her down — and was among those who desperately tried to save her with CPR, he told the Messenger

The schoolgirl’s death followed a period of her being treated “absolutely awful,” her mother first wrote on Facebook — ripping “those that hurt my baby” and played “a part in crushing her.”

“One girl was threatening to kill my daughter,” her grieving dad told the Messenger of abuse that happened at school and continued online after she was pulled out of classes.

“My daughter would come in covered in bruises and stuff like that,” he said, detailing how one girl dumped rubber cement in his daughter’s hair as other students watched, while another encouraged her to cut herself.

Jaylee Chillson, the 14-year-old Kansas girl who shot herself dead in front of a deputy after running away from home, had been bullied for years, her grieving father said.

Stacie Chillson/Facebook

One male student even grabbed Jaylee’s “crotch in a sexual manner against her will,” the dad said.

“The same boy was bruising her up. He took her AirPods and stole money from her.”

Chillson said he and his wife, Stacie, alerted several school officials about their daughter’s torment but that nothing was done about their complaints, adding that she was “just as miserable” in eighth grade.

The couple, who also have four sons, eventually placed their daughter in another school in the district but she ended up getting physically assaulted there, her dad said.

“The bullies were there. Nothing stopped,” he said of the school where the boy allegedly grabbed his daughter’s crotch.

“That school completely failed her — refused to do anything,” he said, adding that he had also met with the principal, who promised him that the bullying would stop.

Jaylee was pulled out of the school and finished eighth grade with homeschooling, but that didn’t end the vicious bullying campaign before she began high school in an online academy, Jeb said.

Jaylee Chillson shot herself at a party when a deputy was trying to get her to return home.

Stacie Chillson/Facebook

“All summer she was harassed by these people via Snapchat and Instagram and phone calls,” he told the outlet.

On Saturday, Jaylee said she was going out with the dog but ran away — ending up at the party with a 20-year-old man before she took her life, according to the report.

The bullied girl had been receiving counseling for the past two years, her dad said.

“Her therapist, nobody saw this coming. There was never any reason when this happened to even suspect this was going to happen,” Jeb said.

“Tons of families have reached out to me saying that their families are experiencing the exact same problems in school,” he added. “Bullying is just a terrible pandemic in this area.”

In a heartbreaking Facebook post, Stacie wrote that “the world lost one of its brightest lights. This girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know and has since she was just a little girl.”

“There wasn’t a day that went by that she couldn’t make you laugh till you couldn’t breathe. She is amazing. Perfect. Everything you could ever ask for in a daughter,” the shattered mom continued.

“She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She is our everything. Our hearts our shattering. It’s unbearable. It’s not fair. She was our best friend. The best daughter. The best big sister. The best granddaughter. There is nothing that will ever make this hurt go away,” Stacie wrote.

She railed against those who harmed her daughter.

“I’m also angry. I’m angry with those that hurt my baby. I’m furious with those I KNOW hurt her and will talk about her now like they didn’t play a part in crushing her. I’ve read days worth of messages from her ‘friends’ that treated her absolutely awful,” Stacie added.

The Post has reached out to the school district for comment. The family did not immediately respond to messages for comment Monday.

The school's tolerance of bullying should be treated as a criminal act. Was there something about Jaylee that made her a target or is this kind of evil happening to anyone? Was she on drugs when she pulled the trigger? If so, will someone be charged for providing them?

I hope the local coroner holds an inquiry into Jaylee's suicide and names those who contributed to it.

Child abuse comes in many colours. This one involves a man surrounded by children and dogs who leaves a loaded gun lying on the sofa. Children almost always suffer from man's stupidity and madness.

Shocking video shows girl, 3, shooting herself while

relative watches football

By Yaron Steinbuch, NYPost

Published Sep. 27, 2023, 12:14 p.m. ET

Shocking video captured the moment a 3-year-old Florida girl shot herself with a handgun — while a relative celebrated a football touchdown on TV.

The chilling footage posted by WPLG shows Serenity picking up the pistol at her home in Miami Dade on Saturday after Orlando Young, 23, jumped up during the game.

A bang is immediately heard in the footage and the toddler is hurt.

“It looks as if she is getting ready to pick up the gun, the gun went off and I guess the bullet went through her finger,” Serenity’s grandmother, Robin Fuller, told the outlet.

“The police arrived because I called the police myself when I received the phone call and eventually the police arrived and they asked, ‘Where is the baby?’” she said.

Fuller said Serenity was supposed to be under the care of her other grandmother, who was not seen in the video at the time of the incident.

Young told police he had made breakfast for the girl and then watched over her, CBS News Miami reported, adding that he was a relative of the hurt girl.

He "momentarily left his gun unattended on the couch because he was excited about a touchdown," a police report said.

She was ​taken to Homestead Hospital and then transferred to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, where she underwent surgery, officials said.

The young girl was ​taken to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, where she underwent surgery, according to officials.

WSVN

Young was arrested on a charge of child neglect with bodily harm.

“They are trying to save the finger so we are just going to pray that the blood flow goes back through,” Fuller told WPLG earlier.

Serenity has since been released and is in good spirits, she said.

Young was arrested on a charge of child neglect with bodily harm.

He faces additional charges for getting into a fight with an inmate, according to the outlet. 

Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > Nygard's sex den in his office; JPMorgan forks out millions for Epstein association; Meek's sentencing on Friday

..

Peter Nygard used power, status to sexually assault women

in office bedroom suite, court told

Nygard has pleaded not guilty to 5 counts of sexual assault, 1 of forcible confinement

Mark Gollom · CBC News · Posted: Sep 26, 2023 1:00 AM PDT

Fashion mogul Peter Nygard, left, is shown in a court sketch from last Thursday as jury selection got underway in Toronto for his sex assault trial. (Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press)

Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard used his power and status to lure and sexually assault five women in the private bedroom suite of his downtown Toronto headquarters from the late 1980s to 2005, a Toronto court heard Tuesday morning.

In her opening argument, Crown attorney Ana Serban gave a brief but detailed synopsis of each of the attacks Nygard, now 82, is alleged to have committed against the women, who ranged in age from 16 to 28 at the time.

Nygard had previously met each of the women and would give them "the tour" of his headquarters at 1 Niagara Street, court heard, which would eventually end up at his bedroom suite.

This suite included a bed, televisions and a jacuzzi, but also doors without handles and locks controlled by Nygard, the Crown alleged. It was in this room that Nygard sexually assaulted the women, court heard.

Nygard pleaded not guilty last week in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.

On Tuesday, Nygard was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit and white shirt, with no tie, and black-rimmed glasses. His hands were cuffed in front of him, with his long white hair tied back into a bun. 

Nygard was uncuffed and helped by a court security guard into his seat at the defence table where he took a seat beside his lawyers. This was a prior agreement, that he would be allowed to sit with his defence team and have access to a pen.

Nygard stood, showing no emotion, as the charges against him were read to the jury.

Nygard also faces sex-related charges in Manitoba and Quebec, and is set to be extradited to the U.S. to face sex-related charges there once his criminal cases in Canada are completed.

He founded the now-defunct Nygard International in Winnipeg in 1967, but stepped down as chairman of the clothing company in February 2020 before it file for bankruptcy.

JPMorgan to pay $75M to settle Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit

with US Virgin Islands

By Shannon Thaler, NYPost

Published Sep. 26, 2023, 10:28 a.m. ET

JPMorgan Chase agreed on Tuesday to pay the US Virgin Islands $75 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the Wall Street behemoth enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring by ignoring red flags related to Epstein’s accounts at the investment bank.

The settlement comes just one month before JPMorgan and the USVI were set to go to trial in Manhattan over the bank’s ties to Epstein, which CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly claimed in two-day deposition in May he knew nothing about until the sex offender’s 2019 arrest.

For the CEO of a major bank, he was remarkably poorly informed, almost like it was deliberate.

JPMorgan didn’t admit to any wrongdoing as part of the agreement, which will see $30 million contributed to USVI-based charitable organizations and $25 million paid to enhance the USVI’s infrastructure and law enforcement.

JPMorgan will dish out an additional $20 million to cover attorneys’ fees.

“The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes,” JPMorgan said in a statement.

Epstein owned multiple private islands in the USVI, including Little St. James — also known as “pedophile island” — where Epstein and his gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly abused underage girls.

AP

Patricia Wexler, a spokesperson for the bank, said the settlement “recognizes that JPMorgan remains committed to previous and ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking through its anti-money laundering (AML) program, and lists a number of processes we previously committed to.”

“There are no new commitments,” Wexler noted. “Our controls, compliance, risk and other functions are always improving, and we are continually investing to become even better.”

Also on Tuesday, JPMorgan reached an agreement with Jes Staley, a former executive who was sued by the bank earlier this year for allegedly failing to disclose information about Epstein’s abusive regime to his bosses.

In the lawsuit, filed in March, JPMorgan said Staley — the ex-chief of Barclays who was forced to step down in 2021 over the Epstein scandal — should personally be held liable for any damages that JPMorgan will have to pay out as part of the lawsuit the banking giant faced against the USVI involving the convicted pedophile.

The terms of JPMorgan’s agreement with Staley, who has maintained his innocence, are confidential.

The Virgin Islands was initially seeking at least $190 million to settle the suit, including $150 million in civil fines and at least $40 million in penalties — more than twice Tuesday’s result.

JPMorgan also reached an agreement with a former executive, Jes Staley, who the bank claimed failed to disclose information about Epstein's abusive regime to his bosses. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon maintained his innocence throughout the case, instead pointing fingers at Staley, who was the CEO of JPMorgan’s Asset Management division in 2004, when Dimon first joined the bank.

REUTERS

In June, JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to settle a lawsuit with Epstein victims, including an anonymous Jane Doe and other unnamed Epstein accusers over the course of a 15-year period.

Following the latest settlements, JPMorgan concludes its legal saga involving its affiliation with Epstein, which had revealed the bank’s deep ties with the late financier in a series of explosive court filings.

In July, freshly public evidence filed in Manhattan federal court released emails showing a top banker at JPMorgan desperately sought help from Epstein as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme slammed the bank’s clients in 2008 — despite the fact that Epstein had recently been convicted of sex-trafficking charges.

On Dec. 12, 2008, Mary Erdoes — a star banker who is now the CEO of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management division — frantically emailed Staley as the Madoff disaster began to unfold.

“The ny/palm beach community will be in shock. Can you call JE [Jeffrey Epstein] to get the scoop from down there?” Erdoes continued in her email to Staley.

Six months earlier, in June 2008, Epstein had pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Jeffrey Epstein on the corner of East 38th Street and Second Ave, NYC

Februrary 2011

David McGlynn

Yet Erdoes, who began working for JPMorgan in 1996 and rose to become chief of the bank’s prestigious asset and wealth management business in 2009, continued to work with Epstein until 2013, the USVI alleged in a motion for summary judgment.

“Epstein was a personal resource to Erdoes,” claimed the court documents, which also said that “Erdoes personally sought Epstein’s help in resolving a $600 million tax issue” on behalf of another unidentified individual during his time as a JPMorgan client.

In response to the court documents, filed in July, JPMorgan spokesperson Darin Oduyoye told The Post at the time: “Mary has always held herself and her colleagues to the highest standards of integrity and trust, leading the Asset & Wealth Management business by example.”

The bank didn’t yank Epstein from the client list until 2013, when red flags emerged related to Epstein’s massive cash withdrawals.

Leading up to the Oct. 23 trial, the USVI claimed that JPMorgan maintained a relationship with Epstein through his initial bout in prison and during his sex-trafficking probe because he brought a slew of deep-pocketed clients to JPMorgan.

One of those wealthy individuals was Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who became one of the bank’s biggest clients with investments worth more than $4 billion.

The USVI’s motion for summary judgment also revealed that “Brin became a client of JPMorgan’s San Francisco Private Bank in 2004” — one year after Epstein introduced Brin to Staley.

“The overall Brin relationship is one of the largest in the Private Bank, of +$4BN,” wrote banker Robert A. Keller in a memo, according to the USVI, where Epstein owned multiple private islands, including Little St. James — also known as “pedophile island” — where Epstein and his gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly abused underage girls.

Other members of Epstein’s high-net-worth network he allegedly recruited to the bank: Bill Gates, the sultan of Dubai, Prince Andrew, Hyatt hotel heir Thomas Pritzker, billionaire hedge fund founder Glenn Dubin “and many other ultra-wealthy clients.”

Epstein committed suicide while awaiting trial in 2019.

Epstein was suicided while awaiting trial in 2019.

I wonder is $75mn will make even the slightest difference to JPMorgan's bottom line? 

Ex-ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek should get up to

15 years for ‘sadistic’ child porn case: feds

By Priscilla DeGregory, NYPost

Published Sep. 26, 2023, 12:51 p.m. ET

Disgraced former ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek — who traded “sadistic” child pornography content involving infants and toddlers — should get as much as 15 years behind bars at his sentencing later this week, federal prosecutors said.

Meek, 54, is set to be sentenced Friday in Virginia federal court after he pleaded guilty in July to transporting and possessing child sex abuse material — and has asked the judge for the minimum of five years in prison.

Federal guidelines recommend that Meek should get between 12 1/2 years and 15 years behind bars — which prosecutors argued is an appropriate range for his sentence as they detailed his sick acts in court papers.

“He clearly sought out individuals across the internet for the specific purpose of sharing (and expanding) his [Child Sexual Abuse Material] collection for his sexual gratification,” prosecutors Zoe Bedell and Whitney Kramer said in a filing from Friday.

The once-acclaimed national security journalist sent and received child porn materials of “infants and toddlers and content depicting sadistic and masochistic abuse of prepubescent children,” the prosecutors wrote.

He looked for kids online, “including by posing as a minor himself,” and was part of a chat group called “C–ks, C–ts, and Kids,” the filing states.

Meek’s slew of perverted acts also included using one underage girl’s “affection” for a public figure to convince her to send him “at least a dozen screenshots” of her breasts and pubic area, the court papers claim.

James Gordon Meek should be sentenced to as much as 15 years’ imprisonment, prosecutors said.

AP

His phone had screenshots taken from messages exchanged with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old of their breasts — and in the same chats, he is seen on video “naked and holding his penis in his hand,” the filing alleges.

Meek’s twisted tastes were wide-ranging, with his conduct spanning “multiple platforms and years” — up to almost a decade, the feds claimed.

Victims of child porn trafficking suffer even more than regular abuse victims because they continue to be victimized by the fact that the materials can exist on the internet indefinitely, the feds explained, emphasizing the seriousness of Meek’s crimes.

“A significant sentence of imprisonment is warranted to deter the defendant and others from engaging in this conduct in the future,” the prosecutors wrote.

Meanwhile, Meek’s lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov, asked for the lightest sentence possible, calling the guideline range “excessive,” according to partially redacted court papers filed Monday.

Meek’s lack of criminal history, the good deeds in his life and his remorse and total acceptance of responsibility all warrant leniency, Gorokhov wrote.

“Meek’s criminal conduct in this case is completely at odds with his proven personal values,” the lawyer wrote.

Which simply means he's a liar and a hypocrite.

Meek — who is divorced — is the “doting father” of two daughters, ages 16 and 20, who have suffered “pain and embarrassment” from his actions.

Of course, children almost always suffer from the perverted actions of men.

He “has lost nearly everything,” with his reputation and financial well-being destroyed, his family being subjected to the scandal and many of his friends cutting ties with him, Gorokhov wrote.

And, somehow, he didn't realize he was putting all those things art risk? How do you get to be a nationally known journalist when you are that stupid and irresponsible.

Meek’s extensive coverage of the war on terrorism in the Middle East — including viewing photos and footage of war — came at a cost “in the form of his mental health,” Gorokhov wrote in a heavily redacted portion of court papers.

“It is notable that trauma has been found to lead to this type of emotional numbing, combined with an increased tendency towards impulsivity,” the lawyer wrote.

In child pornography cases, “individuals are reluctant to seek out help both because of the shame involved and the fear of legal consequences,” Gorokhov wrote.

The attorney noted that while that’s no excuse, it helps explain Meek’s conduct.

The shamed journalist resigned from ABC News and went off the grid immediately after the feds raided his Arlington, Va., home on April 27, 2022, seizing his electronics.

The judge overseeing Meek’s case will not be bound by the federal sentencing guidelines. But because of the recommendations, Meek is unlikely to get a sentence near the maximum of 20 years behind bars that he faces with his plea.

Meek was hired by ABC News in 2013 after working for the Daily News, where in 2006 he broke that al Qaeda’s plan to bomb New York City tunnels had been foiled.

He won an Emmy in 2017 for his breaking news coverage of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, and he investigated and produced Hulu’s acclaimed documentary “3212 Un-redacted” about a 2017 US special forces mission in Niger where four soldiers were killed.

He also served as a senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the US House Committee on Homeland Security beginning in 2011.

Gorokhov didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

=====================================================================================

Approaching Sodom > Suicide Girl's Parents Sue TikTok; LGBTQ angry with Muslim city counsel/mayor; Gender discrimination not grounds for asylum - UK

..

French parents want to take TikTok to court following

daughter's suicide

Issued on: 19/09/2023 - 17:59

By: Shirli SITBON, France24

The parents of Marie, a 15-year-old French teenager, have pressed charges against TikTok after their daughter committed suicide in 2021. They believe that by sharing a flow of videos about suicide to Marie, who suffered from low self-esteem, the platform pushed her to take her own life. FRANCE 24's Science reporter Shirli Sitbon looks at ways a new French bill could tackle negative algorithms and online bullying.

Canada releases its first accredited assisted suicide training curriculum

SEP 21, 2023 8:00 AM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

Canada has now released its first national training program in medical assistance in dying for licensed physicians and nurse practitioners. The suicide training curriculum is accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

In Canada, an individual does not need to have a fatal, terminal condition to be eligible for what is warmly called MAiD, the clever abbreviation for Medical Assistance in Dying. According to Health Canada: The Trudeau government “committed to supporting individuals who meet the eligibility criteria to have their MAiD request considered in a fair, safe and consistent manner, while supporting efforts to protect those who may be vulnerable, including persons who suffer from a mental illness".

How many Canadians trust the Trudeau government to be “fair, safe and consistent,” and supportive of the most vulnerable, as it promises to do in the MAiD program? Trudeau promised in 2019: “A re-elected Liberal government will make sure every Canadian has access to a family doctor, to mental health services, to affordable prescription drugs and to national pharmacare,” and “to boost health care funding by $6 billion over the coming four years.” As expected, the big spender Trudeau lied. But there’s one area to which he has proven to be dedicated: his government’s assisted suicide program.

According to official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, “some people are suffering from mental health disorders because of the government’s policies.”

After eight years of Justin Trudeau, everything feels broken and people feel broken. That’s why many are suffering from depression and they’re losing hope.

Conservative MP Ed Fast added that “it is deeply concerning that this government appears to be moving from a culture of life to a culture of death.”

In 2019, Trudeau announced his intention to “bring in legislation to expand access to medical assistance in dying” and commissioned “expert panels” to investigate “other areas of assisted death, including advance requests and extending the right to mature minors and people with severe psychiatric disorders.” In case you might be wondering what a “mature minor” means, it refers to a child who is deemed by a healthcare provider to be mature enough to give consent to his or her death. So MAiD-participating healthcare providers are afforded the powers of the state to decide whether to give their stamp of approval to this decision, with no sufficient oversight possible. Canadians must simply trust in their opinions in a way that is very different from healing and the pledge to “do no harm.”

The Conservatives are now working to repeal the MAiD law. In the face of opposition:

On February 2, 2023, the federal government announced plans to delay MAiD eligibility for people whose sole medical condition is mental illness until March 17, 2024. This is a one year delay from the original timeline. They said that this delay will provide them with more time to develop practice standards and training, and to allow for better data collection and sharing.

Bear in mind that mental health is a legal factor in weighing the ability of an individual to participate in court proceedings. That’s because the individual may not be reliable, due to the instability caused by mental illness. When one applies this reasoning to MAiD accessibility, how can a mentally and psychologically sound decision be made by a deeply distressed mentally ill individual?

Society lacks resources to care for the suffering. Given the financial and emotional demands in Western societies, devoted caregivers are in scarce supply, so the state has moved in with a solution to end their lives, rather than create more humane ways to care for them. Meanwhile, the Trudeau government’s waste is profuse and record breaking. No other government in Canadian history has seen such reckless spending. Then there is Trudeau’s unethical spending. Add in Trudeau’s suicidal immigration policies (no pun intended), and all this is breaking the backs of taxpayers in a severely broken system that he created.

Trudeau’s solution to help those in need is to offer services to end their miserable lives legally, in their deepest moment of despair. He continues to make headway. In February, a parliamentary committee recommended in a report tabled in the House of Commons that medical assistance in dying “should be expanded to include minors” with a restriction attached. The child’s natural death must be “reasonably foreseeable.” Last year, the Trudeau government even funded an assisted suicide activity book for kids: The Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Activity Book.

What about medical practitioners who are opposed to participating in any part of the MAiD process on religious grounds, or simply as a matter of conscience? According to the website Dying With Dignity, the practitioner is allowed to decline. However, this isn’t straightforward. They cannot simply decline and then leave the matter up to the patient to pursue. In Ontario, “objecting providers must make an ‘effective referral to a non-objecting, available, and accessible physician, nurse practitioner or agency.’” So while a practitioner may be unwilling to participate, he or she is bound to do so by making a referral. This is reminiscent of a section in the criminal code that prohibits counseling someone to commit suicide. It states:

241 (1) Everyone is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years who, whether suicide ensues or not,

(a) counsels a person to die by suicide or abets a person in dying by suicide; or

(b) aids a person to die by suicide.

To some health practitioners, forcing them to “make an effective referral” would be regarded as a morally egregious offense that would be no different from counseling someone to commit suicide. Such a requirement violates a practitioner’s right to exercise his or her moral conscience and religious freedom.

The moral decay in Canada and woeful disregard for human and religious rights across the board is becoming increasingly evident and severe. Take, for instance, the “rights” afforded by the state to a child to make life-altering decisions about gender at a turbulent time in life. A National Post article, Some parents object as Canadian schools quietly aid students’ gender transition, revealed that school boards “are urging schools to both automatically honor request to change a student’s name and pronouns, and not to tell parents if requested.”

The Trudeau government’s MAiD program is presented as kind and caring, as is “gender affirming care.” Many, in their moments of pain, will trust their government to be “fair, safe and consistent,” as the government promises. Yet ironically, if a poll were taken on how many Canadians actually trust the Trudeau government, the results will be dismal for Trudeau.

======================================================================

A Pride flag ban sparks accusations of betrayal in

tiny Michigan city

by Allan Lengel, Washington Post, September 17, 2023:

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — This city of 28,000 was once so Polish it was dubbed “Little Warsaw.” But in recent decades, an influx of immigrants gave Hamtramck new character. Bengali and Arabic joined English on signs at City Hall. Yemeni and Bangladeshi mosques, restaurants and shops proliferated.

And last year, a Muslim who emigrated from Yemen as a teenager became mayor — the city’s first leader in nearly a century with no Polish roots — alongside what is believed to be the nation’s only all-Muslim city council.

Many residents in this tiny enclave just north of downtown Detroit saw these changes as a sign of the Hamtramck’s progressiveness. The Muslim community that had previously experienced discrimination, including voter intimidation and resistance to mosques’ public call to prayer, had finally taken its seats at the table.

Yet the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that made Hamtramck something of a model is being put severely to the test. In June, after divisive debate, the six-member council blocked the display of Pride flags on city property — action that has angered allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community, who feel that the support they provided the immigrant groups has been reciprocated with betrayal.

“We welcomed you,” former council member Catrina Stackpoole, a retired social worker who identifies as gay, recalls telling the council this summer. “We created nonprofits to help feed, clothe, find housing. We did everything we could to make your transition here easier, and this is how you repay us, by stabbing us in the back?”

The council’s unanimous vote in the middle of Pride Month seemed intentional to Stackpoole and others, though the resolution banned not only the rainbow flag but all flags except for the U.S., state, city and POW/MIA banners. Mayor Amer Ghalib, 43, defends the action as one of neutrality, saying no group should be able to promote a political agenda on city property.

“We’re not targeting anybody,” he said recently. “We are trying to close the door for other groups that could be extremist or racist.”

Not everyone buys that.

“The sole purpose was absolutely to go after the gay pride flag,” maintains Josh Hansknecht, a local middle school teacher and president of the Hamtramck Queer Alliance. The issue has laid bare tension between the LGBTQ+ community and socially conservative Muslims like the mayor….

 

Suella Braverman says LGBT, gender discrimination

not grounds for asylum

By Paul Godfrey

British Home Secretary will tell a gathering at a U.S. think tank in Washington that it was time politicians and thought leaders take a look at whether the U.N. refugee convention and the way it is being interpreted in the courts fit the modern age or whether was in need of reform. File photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- British Home Secretary Suella Braverman will tell an audience in Washington on Tuesday that protecting LGBT people and women fleeing discrimination is unsustainable and should not be considered grounds for asylum because it could lead to almost 800 million people moving to another country.

Braverman will make the claim in a speech to the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute arguing for changes to the 1951 U.N. refugee convention, according to excerpts briefed to British media in advance.

She is expected to say that the number of people on which the convention confers protection has risen from an original 2 million in Europe to conferring the right to move to another country upon "at least 780 million people," citing analysis from Britain's center-right Center for Policy Studies.

"It is therefore incumbent upon politicians and thought leaders to ask whether the refugee convention, and the way it has come to be interpreted through our courts, is fit for our modern age or whether it is in need of reform.

"I think most members of the public would recognize those fleeing a real risk of death, torture, oppression or violence, are in need of protection. However, as case law has developed, what we have seen in practice is an interpretive shift away from 'persecution', in favor of something more akin to a definition of 'discrimination,'" Braverman will say.

"Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.

"But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection."

Braverman's comments came in for strong criticism from human rights groups and the Labor opposition.

"LGBTQI+ people are tortured in many countries for who they are and who they love, and their pain is no less than other survivors we treat in our therapy rooms," said Freedom from Torture chief executive Sonya Sceats.

"They deserve precisely the same protection too. For a liberal democracy like Britain to try to weaken protection for this community is shameful."

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Braverman of ramping up the rhetoric making it harder for Britain to work with other countries on the issue and "chasing headlines abroad to try and distract from her total failure to tackle Tory asylum chaos at home."

"International conventions aren't responsible for appalling Tory failures to go after the criminal smuggling gangs, to take asylum decisions or clear the backlog," she wrote on social media. "Those failures are the responsibility of [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman.

"We need more international cooperation to stop smugglers and trafficking gangs, establish return agreements and make sure countries work together to ensure those fleeing persecution and conflict get sanctuary. But Braverman rhetoric makes it harder to get countries to work with us."

Braverman has been forging ahead with a series of controversial immigration and asylum policies -- most of which are stalled -- from accommodating asylum seekers on barges instead of costly hotels to trying to push through a scheme launched by her predecessor, Priti Patel, to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.

The first part of the scheme, the Illegal Migration Act under which asylum seekers who arrive without permission will be detained and deported to their own or a "third safe country", passed into law in July, but the Rwanda policy is stalled in the courts which have ruled that Rwanda is not a safe country.

Britain currently has no similar arrangement with any other country, meaning removals are on hold indefinitely.

=====================================================================================