I have read all of the articles posted to this title and I am astonished and disappointed by the depth of ignorance surrounding the subject of Child Abuse in general and also by the sheer volume of wholly inaccurate information relating to the subject, some of which is put forward by people claiming to be professionals working in the field of offender management.
So intent are the contributors on putting forward highly emotional and unworkable theories for the solution to Child Abuse that they have totally lost sight of the title and purpose of the debate.
It is exactly this type of generalized disinformation that dramatically reduces the chances for our Children with regard to protection from abuse, how can we possibly safely educate our Children when we know so little about the real facts.
It takes the same amount of time to search the Internet to find factual, proven information as it takes to write illogical, irrational and, regarding some of the articles written here, totally ridiculous statements that do nothing but further endanger your own Children.
To put the record straight, it is not just men who sexually offend against children, though admittedly they certainly make up the majority of perpetrators, but the list of offender types actually places ‘strangers’ way down near the bottom of a very long and comprehensive list that may well surprise most people, but includes, Mothers, Sisters, Aunties, Cousins, Brothers, Uncles, Step-siblings, Step-parents, Grandfathers, Neighbors, Babysitters, Teachers, Clergymen, Doctors, Scout-leaders, and yes, even Grandmothers.
On some occasions the whole extended family is involved and on some occasions pedophile rings are made up of several extended family units.
Stranger danger actually accounts for the vast MINORITY of all offenses against Children!
Although there is some evidence of a direct link between those offended against becoming offenders themselves, the factual information suggests that this is again a minority group and that in fact the opposite is true, in that abused children often go forward to become perfect parents and role models for their own kids.
Given the above, extensively researched, recognized and checkable statistical information and weighing this against the comments made throughout this particular article heading, it is no wonder that the danger to our Children is as serious a problem as it really is.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the majority of the authors writing to this topic are incensed by the subject and could not feel more strongly than they do about it, and they are therefore the very people who should lead active campaigns against the very real issues such as minimal sentencing and ineffective monitoring and policing of these individuals, but for the sake of your own kids go and research the problem and find out the facts beforehand.
The World’s Children need people like you to effectively direct and project your anger towards effecting change but nobody will listen to a bunch of gibbering idiots campaigning for anything from public stoning, to lynching and even the barbaric idea of allowing parents to murder the offenders as seriously put forward by one writer?
I am more than happy to direct anyone of the writers to sites and organizations that specialize in the subjects covered and if you e.mail me I will gladly forward you a list of organizations desperate for motivated individuals like yourselves to help them.
Perhaps the Children do stand a better chance if we look for the factual location of the real dangers that face them, but unfortunately this does mean looking closer to home for the dangers that they actually face.