Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    Re: .0
    
    >"If anything, with the more open society that we have and more 
    >availability of sex, you would think that children should not be the 
    >first preference for adults."
    
    I'm not convinced there's a relationship between availability and
    preference.
    
    All in all, though, increased reporting rather than increased
    occurrence is a credible explanation.

    
    Is it not also possible that the definition of what constitutes
    abuse has gotten wider over the years?
    
    /. Ian .\

    Didn't the same thing happen with the reporting of child abduction?
    
    As I recall, the Adam Walsh (sorry DEC, I know you give them money)
    I believe reported that 50,000 children were abducted each year.
    Definately an alarming number. The FBI, as I recall later published
    a report that stated that there were, as I recall, less than 100
    each year cases of a child being taken by a NON-RELEATIVE.
    
    Exazageration (sp) does get attention, and the news media goes right
    for it.
    
    Steve

    I think it's easy to get caught up in statistics to either exaggerate
    or minimize the problem.
    
    It's a big problem.  Those of us who work with adult survivors of
    childhood incest and sexual abuse had hoped we could reach the people
    who needed us and do our work and go out of business...believe me,
    that's not what is happening.  And the people I work with only work
    with 18 year olds and older, meaning that there are scores of women
    abused in the 50's, 60's and 70's.  That was before the media picked up
    on it in a big way.  (Yes, there are many people who work with children
    as well.) 
    
    I think one of the fairest assessments of the problem, balanced
    well with both individual stories and non-hysterical statistics,
    is 'The Courage to Heal' by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. 
             
    Holly
    

    This is a subject that I've given alot of thought to and had alot
    of conversations about and I believe that what we're seeing is a
    combination of factors. (My Mom is a foster care social worker in 
    another state and in my parttime law practice I accept appointments 
    to represent children in abuse and neglect cases.)  I believe that
    if you are talking non-sexual abuse, that there are things today
    that would not have been considered abuse 10 years or longer ago.
    With sexual abuse, no.  When talking about sexual abuse, I think
    that there is a higher level of reporting.  The fact that it is
    so widely covered in the media has taken it out of the dark and
    let kids who are abused know that they are not the only one it
    happens to so they are more likely to come forward.  It has helped
    the public to recognise signs of potential abuse and upped reporting
    by neighbors etc.  Educators, health care professionals etc. are
    better trained to recognize the sypmtoms and are mandated to report
    all suspected cases.  So, yes, the reporting is up.
    
    But, I believe that there is also a higher incidence of all types
    of child abuse, including sexual, and I believe that the rise in
    occurences is directly linked to the rise in substance abuse in
    our society.
    
    re 673.3  - I don't believe that kidnapping by a relative is any
    less an abduction than that by a non-relative. Relationship and
    motive don't make "parental kidnappping" any less an abduction.  
    So I don't see how the reporting from the Adam Walsh Center is
    inaccurate.  
                          

re .5:

>    re 673.3  - I don't believe that kidnapping by a relative is any
>    less an abduction than that by a non-relative. Relationship and
>    motive don't make "parental kidnappping" any less an abduction.  
>    So I don't see how the reporting from the Adam Walsh Center is
>    inaccurate.  

I'm not familiar with the reporting from this particular organization; but
much such reporting is inaccurate because it invites the reader to equate
"abduction" with "horrible strangers who steal children and do unspeakable
things to them and they are never seen again."

Legally, kidnapping is kidnapping; but is certainly important to me, as a
non-divorced parent, to know that my child's chances of being abducted are
a couple of orders of magnitude smaller than the propaganda would have me
believe.

So, the statistics may be correct as statistics; but if they are being used
out of context to create an unwarranted level of fear, I would call the
reporting inaccurate.

	-Neil

    
    "legally kidnapping is kidnapping"
    
    In America perhaps, but I'm told by a lawyer here (Britain) that
    there are several offences with quite different legal names and
    discriptions that the public and media label as "kidnapping"
    (abduction, false improsonment, demanding money with menaces, etc
    etc)
    
    As for changes of definition: a while back I worked temporarily
    as a teacher. I received an information pack from my union that
    contained the advice that "teachers should avoid all physical contact
    with a child as courts may now interpret a friendly arm around the
    pupil's shoulder as sexual harassment or abuse". It was clearly
    understood that in earlier times such an interpretation would have
    been laughable.        
    
    /. Ian .\

    Re: .7
    
        
    >As for changes of definition: a while back I worked temporarily
    >as a teacher. I received an information pack from my union that
    >contained the advice that "teachers should avoid all physical contact
    >with a child as courts may now interpret a friendly arm around the
    >pupil's shoulder as sexual harassment or abuse". It was clearly
    >understood that in earlier times such an interpretation would have
    >been laughable.        

    A number of years ago, I was a Little League baseball coach.  The
    coaches decided that it would be in our own best interests if we
    avoided all physical contact with the kids, in order to protect
    ourselves from being misunderstood.  Things like pats on the fanny,
    with an encouraging "go get 'em", or even an arm around the shoulders
    to console someone if they struck out too many times, became dangerous.
    I understood why this was, and is necessary, but I can't help but feel
    the kids might have lost something in the process.  
    
    Mike

This morning's Colorado Springs Gazette tells the story of a girl 
(age 7?) who was taken from the Citadel Mall and sexually abused.
Before he took her from Pet City, he tried to take a 9 year old 
girl from another store (Circus World, I believe) and got as far as 
May D&F before releasing her.  She had been kicking him repeatedly
and many clerks had seen it but "thought she was arguing with her father".

The police are considering this their number 1 priority because he has
already shown himself to be a repeat offender.

In both cases, the parents were in the same store.  The folks in Circus
World were in the next aisle and the mother in Pet City was looking at
the fish with her other two kids while the girl was looking at the puppies.

A woman in the article (some official?) was quoted as saying that they
are trying to teach children to yell "this is not my father" or "this is not
my mother" if they are abducted.

           Carol