Dane:”Could I ask, estimated by whom? Whenever I see a claim like this I immediately get suspicious. Too often feminists have just put around rubbish numbers to serve their own purposes.”

Hahahahaha…

“I fear your work with 'teenagers' is really code for telling girls they may have sex, regret it and then blame the boy. It's all about power.”

Why would, in your mind, any adult female wish any adolescent female to act in such a way?

As adults I’ll just take a wild stab in the dark that we actually want our teenagers to act sexually responsible.

This subject is covering a few vastly different sexual encounters though.

Nina:“Sadly, victims of pedophilia have typically been schooled in the exact same myths and stereotypes about sexual abuse as the rest of us. As such, they often have difficulty recognising their experience of abuse as a crime as it may not fit with the clichéd media stereotype.”

My experience is a young teen will adamantly deny there was any abuse, they will insist it was consensual and I wish I had the key to unlock that door. I don’t think I can say that I would blame any myth or stereotype for that but will happily lay blame with the manipulative nature of a perpetrator.

I am wondering how “grooming” has developed over time. I can see it may have been more a “class” or obvious “power” based thing and has now become a very different beast.

Hey Pelican. That’s the thing, ‘they’ spend so much money talking and researching, funding studies etc. I never heard of anyone just asking a foster parent what is going wrong. I applied to be part of a study awhile ago – no they wanted randoms; can’t have someone onboard who had actually thought about the problem.

Examinator:"Publicity for a cause like this is hardly a personal payoff"

It is when the cause is a hot-button issue for feminist women and the one doing the promoting is trying to make a career as a professional feminist.

The NSWRCC is not first and foremost about rape crisis intervention, it is about promoting feminism and expanding its budget. Read the website. Read the Annual Reports (you'll have to search, no clickable links).

nina:"t I would label anyone who is suicidal as "in crisis""

Oh, certainly. How many callers to the Centre have gone on to commit suicide? What is the raw suicide rate among rape claimants, including those who never got in touch with the Centre? You may be right, but some data would be nice.

My point, of course, is that it's only a crisis if there is a genuine likelihood the suicide will occur. If there is not, then it is something else. The phenomenon of attention-seeking "suicide" and self-harm attempts in the female population is well documented.

I'm sure there are some people helped by contact with the Centre. If all they did was offer that help, instead of constantly trying to expand definitions to attract a larger "victim" base and hence greater funding, which it then uses to disseminate a Feminist polemic, I'd be entirely supportive.

ninaf:""NSW RCC A best practice manual for specialised sexual assault crisis telephone and online conselling" I think it may help relieve some of the anxieties you have about the service provision."

From the promotion material for the ($50) manual:"The manual incorporates a feminist framework and adopts a feminist analysis of sexual assault. "

IOW, it's a "feminist" document, not a "therapeutic" one. As I said...

Piper

You took the words right out of my head. I was equally gobsmacked by the claim that adult women would encourage teen girls into irresponsible sex and then blame it on their partner. Crazy stuff.

I agree with Nina that we need a re-evaluation on the most common sexual predator - it is not the stranger, it IS someone either familial or close to the victim. That is not to ease up the pressure on outing paedophiles, but clearly the bulk of sexual abuse is 'closer to home' if not in the home already.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that ensuring children are educated (according to their maturity) and given a stable environment where they can establish a strong sense of self, they are less likely to be coerced into harmful behaviour for the benefit of a controlling person - be they the same age or older.

We require positive role models for both boys and girls. Ones where men and women are presented as valid courteous people, rather than sexualised or hailed as successful seducers.

Constant denigration of one gender by the other does not build self confidence or respect in our young people.

The time is now to lead by example.

TPP. Why would, in your mind,any adult female wish any adult female to act in such a way.
Fractelle. I was equally gobsmacked by the claim that adult women would encourage teen girls into irresponsible sex.

I just can't believe you people, only a couple of months ago we had the case of a mother letting her 12 year old daughter sleep with her much older boyfriend under her own roof. When the girls father complained to DOCS he was howled down. Now i believe he has custody of his daughter but of course all too late as she is now pregnant.What? are you all getting around with your eyes closed and suffering from selective hearing, are you going to tell me that it didn't happen.

In my own town i know of a mother who actively encouraged her 14 yo daughters older boyfriend to sleep with her over at her house. Another mother and her 14 yo daughter were only last year picked up in one of our local hotels for soliciting men for sex.

Fractelle:”Constant denigration of one gender by the other does not build self confidence or respect in our young people.”

Yes. Completely agree. But then letting the men and their DoCS stats from WA stand as TRUTH drives me nuts. I feel if it is not named for the load of feces that it is then someone out there may actually start to believe it. They’re clinging to them and it’s absurd since each one has stated no trust in DoCS and then tell stories to prove how they don’t trust DoCS and how DoCS get it wrong.

Eye:”What? are you all getting around with your eyes closed and suffering from selective hearing, are you going to tell me that it didn't happen.”

Okay I will counter your teens sleeping together with my own true story – 11 year old girl living with unrelated male in his late 20’s – females who contacted DoCS repeatedly ignored (call it howled down if you want) for years. Girl has baby at 14. Before you start on the mum – schizophrenic – dad unknown.

Now are you hoping she had a boy or a girl?

Eye:”… Another mother and her 14 yo daughter were only last year picked up in one of our local hotels for soliciting men for sex.”

And this has nothing to do with the men who are paying 14 year olds to have sex with them? All adults have Duty of Care.

Sorry Fractelle, I really believe there is something wrong with a few men here. Discredit women at all costs.

Even if the cost is children

Piper

<< ...., I really believe there is something wrong with a few men here. Discredit women at all costs.

Even if the cost is children. >>

I agree. Not one women here has claimed that only men are responsible for child abuse. Yet that 'certain male subset' would much rather continue the blame game than enter into any productive discussion.

And yes, the children are the ones paying for it.

E-I-T-S

No responsible and mature adult, male or female would counsel young people into having sex before they were ready. However, the fact remains there ARE irresponsible adults (male or female) who do.

So what are you going to do about it?

You could support policies that ensure children are placed into the custody of people who are genuinely concerned with child welfare. You could also question the instability caused by children having to spend their lives divided between two parents. Surely a stable predictable environment is preferable to gratifying the egos of both parents? Shouldn't custody go to whoever, male of female, is in the best position to care for their children?