I find it rather interesting that Biggs is assumed to be a radical feminist, when most of what she has said seems pretty reasonable to me. Okay, it's feminist, but I didn't see any assumption all men are evil.

Eet - if it is true that Biggs hates all men, then perhaps I'd re-evaluate my position, though I'd need to see statements from ms Biggs indicating that this is the case.
Your statement 'radical feminists like Barbara Biggs' tends to paint a wide number of feminists with one brush.

Until I see some indication that Ms Biggs is attempting to do more than address problems with our legal system, I can't help but feel many posts here have been formulated from assumptions.

TurnRightThenLeft, the article seemed to me to be pushing an agenda where men accused of child sexual abuse are left with few options to defend themselves and without any kind of counter balance. I've heard Hetty Johnson say that she is willing to see innocent men go to jail if it might save a child from sexual abuse. Barbara's article seemed to share some of the same one sided approach.

Maybe Barbera could have addressed some of the following
- penalties for those who make false claims of abuse
- condemnation of those who use this stuff for personal agenda's
- child protection advocates who ignore the vast majority of abuse and portray child abuse as though it was only about child sexual abuse

If she had done some of the above the article might have been something different.

R0bert

David Latimer, last time I did maths 1 + 1 = 2.

The person I really admire is Sabine Dardenne.

(The doctors and the psychiatrists she rejected outright. "The psychiatrist was the worst," she says. "I didn't want to go, my mother made me, and I only went once. This woman showed me splotches of ink, asked me what they were. I said, splotches of ink. She showed me a picture of a little girl with flowers, asked me what it was. I said, a little girl with flowers. She said, is that all? I said, of course it is! That's the day I understood that if I wasn't careful I really would go mad - not with what had happened, but with all the whys and the wherefores afterwards."

She resisted her parents too, particularly her mother, who wanted badly to be confided in, to share her burden. "I just wasn't going to do it," she says. "There was no point. It had happened, it was over, end of story. Telling her about it would not have changed that, and it would only have made her feel 10 times worse.")

Do women lie? Yes and according to the research they are much better at it than men, and yes men do lie as well.

The hardest thing is sorting out who is actually telling the truth.

Professor Daphne Patai in her books often comments on the use of 'Sophistry' basically it is a manipulative technique to appeal to the biases and prejudices of people. Reading the article it seems to base its appeal on appealing to the biases and prejudices of the reader.

There is an angry bunch of (presumably) men around here coming up with some very dubious arguments. Just some examples:

eet says above: "radical feminists see ALL men as guilty of sexual violence."
This is a classic straw man - eet, if you want to refute someone's argument, it is essential to first understand that argument. Radical feminists have never said that all men were guilty of sexual violence, so the argument you are fighting is of your own creation.

RObert says above: "fathers commit a very small proportion of child sexual abuse."
How many studies need to conclude that fathers commit a large proportion of child sexual abuse before wishful thinkers such as yourself accept it? This does not mean that ALL sexual abuse is committed by fathers, or that mothers never commit sexual abuse. But to say that fathers commit a "very small proportion" of child sexual abuse is simply incorrect.

Hamlet says above "Judges have no agenda, except justice."
How can anyone possible make this claim?? It is at best naive, at worst utterly disingenuous.

And JamesH makes a fascinatingly revealing comment about his admiration for a girl who apparently refused psychiatric/psychological treatment after some traumatic event. He quotes her as saying "It had happened, it was over, end of story. Telling her about it would not have changed that."
In other words, this is not a girl who is refusing to be brainwashed into believing something bad happened to her, it is a girl who believes something bad happened to her AND WHO IS CHOOSING TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT. And it is that that JamesH is admiring her for.

"All men are rapists and that's all they are" -- Marilyn French, Author, "The Women's Room"

"I claim that rape exists any time sexual intercourse occurs when it has not been initiated by the woman, out of her own genuine affection and desire." -- Robin Morgan

"Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women's bodies." -- Andrea Dworkin

"Men are the enemies of women."

"In a patriarchal society, all heterosexual intercourse is rape because women, as a group, are not strong enough to give meaningful consent." Catharine MacKinnon,

Gee Hedgepig it didnt take long to find the quotes you claim never existed, I guess I was having a bad deam and these quotes never happened.

Do not put words into my mouth Hedgepig. I admire Sabine because she had the fortitude not to fall in the trap of counselling. She is at the point where some people if they are fortunate enough to reach it, may reach it after many years of counselling.

OK something bad happened to me, I accept that and now it is time for me to get on with the rest of my life. It's called coming to terms with what happened and not letting it destroy the rest of your life.

JamesH, "The Women's Room" is a work of fiction - sometimes made up people say bad things.
I do concede your point about Catharine Mackinnon. She is one radical feminist who does equate heterosexual intercourse with rape. One.
The other quotes were not saying "all men are guilty of sexual violence".

I did not put words in your mouth. I quoted you, and interpreted what you said.

Surely if someone has had a traumatic experience it is reasonable for them to want to seek support and assistance from professionals, (some of whom are better at their jobs than others) It seems also reasonable to want to hold the perpetrator of the trauma accountable. I guess I don't understand why Barbara Biggs and others are so "dangerous" (to use eet's word) for speaking up about their experiences of abuse, and about the inadequacies of our legal system.