tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834822786084044829.post7587897054681924778..comments2024-02-04T19:08:45.476+00:00Comments on CRISTOBELL UNDECIDED: UNDERSTANDING CHILD ABUSERosalinda Huttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01497239700092619580noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834822786084044829.post-74934233592032258432015-01-15T20:41:52.351+00:002015-01-15T20:41:52.351+00:00Apologies, I hadn't intended to come across so...Apologies, I hadn't intended to come across so brusque :(<br /><br />Of course the criminals should be traced and punished, but in historic abuse cases that is often impossible Ergo, if no-one is punished, should no-one be compensated? Its a bit like the McCanns saying when we find Madeleine AND her abductor.<br /><br />These cases are notoriously difficult to prove, and twice as difficult to prosecute. The onus is on the survivor to prove they were abused, and to re-live the abuse as if it happened yesterday. Any police officer has difficulty getting witnesses to current crimes, imagine then trying to get witnesses to crimes that occurred 40 years ago? And every witness is forced to revisit their own personal demons, something many don't want to do, and who can blame them? It seems to me that survivors have to go through hell again, in order for their original hell to be acknowledged!<br /><br />Rosalinda Huttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01497239700092619580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834822786084044829.post-5425261404805522402015-01-15T20:18:57.237+00:002015-01-15T20:18:57.237+00:00I'm not disputing that victims deserve compens...I'm not disputing that victims deserve compensation, I thought I made it clear that I believe they do. However I also believe that criminals should be punished, and part of that is making restitution to their victims where possible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834822786084044829.post-17034852379977810042015-01-15T17:21:58.518+00:002015-01-15T17:21:58.518+00:00Not a fan of the phrase 'throw money at the pr...Not a fan of the phrase 'throw money at the problem', because in 99 out of 100 cases, its money that is needed to fix it. There is no cost free way for the Government and Catholic and Protestant institutions to wriggle out of it. Why should every survivor be dragged through the coals to prove they were abused? If abuse in one home is proved, then that should be it, they don't need to interrogate everyone who was ever in there. Almost all these cases are cold, the characters involved dead, or spirited away to places where they can't cause any more damage. The cases are virtually impossible to prove without eye witnesses and they are few on the ground because of the taboo surrounding the subject. <br /><br />Each survivor who puts forward a claim, or asks to be included in a case, is subjected to inhumane interrogation that would be frowned on if it were used in Guantanamo Bay. Why should each and every survivor be put through this? The paedo in charge of the home I was in, wasn't just abusing the boys, he and his crazy sidekick nun were abusing ALL of us! Once abuse has been established, the trials should stop. <br /><br />As for cost. They will have to face up to it eventually, they can't keep brushing it under the carpet. The local authorities and churches will have to fight among themselves and their insurers, but eventually they will have to put figures on the table. It should then be apportioned, possibly on the time each survivor spent in abusive care. When you have a goal, the ways and means to achieve it become apparent. <br /><br />Many of our parents paid for us to be in care 06:18, and it was a terrible struggle for my father ( as a student nurse, it was over half his weekly pay) and these institutions were also subsidised by the local authorities. In a nutshell, they were raking it in, and not doing the job they were being paid to do. Those hurt by them, deserve a refund. Rosalinda Huttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01497239700092619580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834822786084044829.post-43322219482608556682015-01-15T14:18:42.496+00:002015-01-15T14:18:42.496+00:00Thanks for your very interesting piece Cristobell....Thanks for your very interesting piece Cristobell. I completely sympathise with your point of view and cannot imagine how infuriating and hurtful it must have been to go through such a court case only to see my abusers slip off the hook.<br />That said – and I speak as somebody fortunate enough not to have suffered abuse as a child – I do think that it is important to track down abusers and ensure they face punishment for their crimes. I do not think the answer is simply to throw money at the problem, because we all know whose money it will be - taxpayers' money, not abusers' assets. Money that will not be going towards healthcare, education etc. <br />I'm fine with the Catholic Churches' insurers paying out, but who will compensate for the activities of the abusers employed by councils? The truth is that most of these individuals will not have the cash to cover all the compensation costs of their actions, but what they have should be taken. More importantly, the greatest punishment these abusers can receive is public exposure, and if people learn that child victims will grow up and will, in adult life, expose those who have abused them, maybe that will go some way to curing this canker. Too many bullies and perverts, many of them members of the establishment, have believed themselves to be untouchable. This really needs to stop and only exposure and punishment will do this. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com