The Metropolitan Police have today issued a very strongly worded complaint against the BBC’s investigative programme Panorama which was broadcast last night.
The argument within the programme was that the pendulum has now swung too far since the Jimmy Saville scandal and that the Police and other agencies have become far too credulous of witnesses of child abuse accepting witness statements too readily.
The Met’ are saying that the programme could do a lot of harm. The effect of the programme and its’ arguments might deter witnesses from coming forward.
It’s a fine balance. Child abuse is an extremely sensitive area. Victims have learned to live with what happened to them in the past or they have suffered for years due to the impact of abuse. The damage and the distress are never far from the surface. In my novels ‘The Catholic Woman’s Dying Wish’ and ‘Every Family Has One’ the characters Kathleen and Darius are deeply affected by their childhood.
Coming forward to make an allegation takes courage and confidence and nothing must stand in the way of them being able to stand up and admit what happened and seek redress for the wrongs of the past. We mustn’t damage their right to come forward and we must, above all, be alert to the fact that child abuse is happening right now. Nothing has changed. This is not something that happened only long ago. There could well be an abuser in every family and a victim in every family. Does every family have one? It’s the title of my novel which looks at the impact on a victim and how it impacted upon her adult life. Here is the link:
And if every family doesn’t have one then every community certainly does. We need to be aware, alert and listen to our children. We need to pick up changing moods and behaviour and seek professional advice if we suspect abuse. Children are vulnerable and defenceless today just as they were in Jimmy Saville’s day but we must encourage witnesses to come forward but at the same time we need to move on from the past and learn the lessons of our past mistakes in order to change society. Standing up in court can add to their damage and distress.
D is for damage and distress: child abuse media coverage
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