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More learning on abuse
Last time, I noted that there's a lot I don't know about the laws around abuse - today's post is more of the same.
In her column today "2011’s Lessons on How We Can Better Protect Children From Sexual Abuse", (law) Professor Marci Hamilton reviews some of the abuse cases that have been made public in the past year and lists 10 "lessons learned". I'll excerpt here:
10. Organizations cover up child sex abuse.
9. The pattern of the cover-up of child sex abuse is the same, regardless of the institution.
8. It takes all of us to cover up child sex abuse.
7. The information about ongoing child sex abuse is all around us and needs to be put to constructive ends
6. Abuse is a lot more prevalent than anyone wants to believe
5. Those who come forward to allege that they were the victims of child sex abuse rarely make up their claims.
4. States must enact better laws if our children are going to truly be safe from sexual abuse.
3. We need better mandatory reporting laws
2. We need to eliminate the statutes of limitations for child sex abuse
1. Politicians are behind the learning curve on these issues
I think I grok all of these except #4. Assuming we improved the mandatory reporting laws (point 3) and fixed the statute-of-limitations problems (point 2), what other legal changes are necessary, particularly to protect children? Are other experts on child abuse calling for changes in states' laws?
Ms Hamilton wrote a book in 2008 on this topic. Do I need to read this book to understand the point of legal failures?
As an aside she notes on point 6 that the rate of abuse is 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys; I didn't realize the rate in boys was that high.
no subject
It has been pointed out that many abuse survivors have certain behavioral patterns and that perhaps I am drawn to them. It has also been pointed out by many of my ex's that I am one of the few people they felt safe sharing this information with*. IE: that my Ex's other lovers didn't know.
It has made me very vigilant when around children these days. I watch for the signs. And thank Crawling Chaos that I have not seen the signs in any of the children I interact with regularly these days.
*It has also been pointed out that I have some of the signs; and given that my childhood was... more interesting than most, it is not unlikely that I have blocked somethings out in my head as well.