Blog

We need to recognise that the media, the solicitors, the police, the therapists, the children's "charities" and many others make a great living out of 'abuse' and are kept in employment; hence the pressure to keep 'discovering abuse' and take seriously any claims of abuse, especially historical as these are difficult and costly to investigate. Many giving considerable overtime payment to police officers and other professionals. A good earner for some, sometimes embroiled in the untenable, because of non-credible witnesses and unfathomable, because of the persuance of a form of 'fairy dust' by the police. Meanwhile, those who are falsely accused are just considered as 'collateral damage', trashed in the process of investigation and are left to meet financial ruin with no redress.  

The last decade has seen a monster being created by the media drive for sales through celebrity, post mortem  and political prosecution – it may have provided ‘closure’ and a pension pot for some middle aged people who claim that their life of alcoholism, theft and drug taking is entirely due to the attentions paid to them by a celebrity or politician 40 years ago – but, it has done nothing but harm the life chances of a generation of children, today now deprived of the time and attention of skilled teachers, youth workers, scout and guide leaders, care workers, foster parents, social workers and even the 'nice policeman' that children would have traditionally approached  if they were in trouble or lost their way.

Who, now with police support of 'always listening' favouring the abuse complainant, pre-juding the accused and accepting allegations, false or otherwise, as true and proper,  wants to make a career in teaching, medicine, care work or fostering? The demand for teachers and foster carers has never been so high. The risk of false allegation by those seeking money has never been so high. The high risk of allegation is one never mentioned in the job role or prospectus for professionals, it needs to be put on the front page, in red letters underlined and bolded as an advisory, much like the risks of a medical operation in a hospital consent.

Multi-million pound legal companies like the Australian Solicitors 'Slater and Gordon' have their stakeholders interests to think about, having targeted the UK for their 'ambulance chasing' practices and touting aggressively for business, luring in complainants (who would not get legal aid) with offers of potential compensation on a 'no-win, no-fee basis'.

We have moved to the extremities over the last ten years. From not believing children and failing to act on serious cases of abuse, to an opposite position of the pendulum swinging to the anarchic extreme tides of false allegation. Believing in every complainant  totally, providing them such credibility that police officers make national appeals for others to come forward. It's a sensible as shouting in a High Street "Has anyone lost this twenty pound note?".  

Maybe some of the zealots of the 'convict everyone regardless' crew should spent some time with the wrongly accused and their families and experience another side of irreparable devastation.