'As soon as the claim was made, the balance of power in that room shifted dramatically,'

That's a doozy of a point antiseptic. This kind of stuff is why I support you at times. The rest of the PC brigade just never come up with these angles.

I'm sure you'll get crucified for it though. pynchme et al(just for you Piper;-) looove talking about power differentials when women are the powerless, but I find they never accept a women, let alone a child women, ever has any power in any situation.

Hey Piper,

As to the above, have you ever experienced a kid who has used 'abuse' allegations to 'get back at' their parents for not letting them do something, and realised too late it's all gone pear shaped? I've heard it can happen. Kids can be too cluey for their own good.

Not making any assumptions about this case BTW, just interested in what protections we have to protect kids form their own sillyness.

Anti,

'she doesn't care if they're genuine, as long as she can use them to help justify her claim for more money from the taxpayer.'

You're very cynical (as am I) and that's a lot of assumptions. The way I see it is people who end up in these sort of positions are often there because they have a special interest in stopping abuse, often due to personal experience.

So it's like a cop movie 'this time it's personal!', where the tough cop 'bends' the rules to get the bad guys.

So good intentions Yeah yeah, but you cant tell me some women working at the rape crises centre wouldn't have understandable issues with men from personal hardships.

Obviously not much can be done about this. I'm sure they mostly do a great job but for the above reasons how would you keep their power in check.

This is intended as a fuller explanation for the open minded.
One of the saddest and most frustrating thing I had to deal with as a counsellor was the consequences of power differentials their residual effects in women, children and men. The injustices both real and assumed.

My concern for this girl in the long run will be the corrosive effect this experience will leave and how it will ADD to the eroding of a meaningful sense of worth and the effects on her attitudes and therefore her life.

This will be part of a cumulative effect.

It is too easy to use the 'caveat emptor' stance and then condemn both the girl and the mum holus bolus. On one hand Throw a handful of money then on the other criticise without being prepared their NEEDS. (the same flawed principal is applied to our indigenous peoples).

The reality is a two way street they have to make some effort....but how do they know what when all they see is exploitation...why shouldn't they get in for their chop? big business, polies, the rest of us do.

I see the same all too convenient non-involvement attitude behind our approach to AWG/politics ....god for bid that we as people show a a concerted effort to rein in their profligate consumerism. We want our polies to do it but woe be tide them if they make our toys more expensive.

We are all culpable for the mess and scapegoating it to the least powerful. 'The powerful exploit the weak' might be entrenched in our history but why our future (that isn't written yet.)

PP it might be trite in your mind but unless we aim higher we are doomed to repeat the past...which is what the girl's mother was probably doing....(her 15 mins of fame...being somebody)
That doesn't excuse her. I simply say why do we allow the degradation to be propagated in the next generation...all because those with power skills etc don't want to lose their ability to exploit with nasty laws.
Better laws is a different issue.

the rape controversy is a smokescreen to excuse child pornographers.
there are strict guidelines for interviewing children about sex crimes. the child's evidence carries little weight under the circumstances. what changed in the room was the concern that child pornography had been broadcast. apologists for child pornographers can conjecture all they like but they can't turn back the clock.

Houel:“As to the above, have you ever experienced a kid who has used 'abuse' allegations to 'get back at' their parents...”

I haven’t experienced with regards to their own parents but within the foster care system many kids over 7 get quite savvy and work out what power they have. They will ring their caseworkers and say they don’t feel safe. Child moved. In more extreme cases and I found a few with other carers who have older kids and they will say “he touched me”. Child moved.

I have sat and listened to girls say how they have done this when bored. Some families completely destroyed, up and had to leave town or country after an accusation like this. No – no protection from own sillyness.

Exam:”PP it might be trite in your mind but unless we aim higher we are doomed to repeat the past...which is what the girl's mother was probably doing....(her 15 mins of fame...being somebody)”

I want the ideal, I just keep getting slapped back down when I try back here at home. In about one hour I am going to be sitting here listening to two managers explaining politely how they know more than me and for me to butt out because they have all the power.

Anti:”Jewels, you raise an interesting point about the response of the state if the girl had become pregnant. It leads to the thought that if she is old enough to take on responsibility for a child she conceives, why is she not old enough to take responsibility for a course of action she conceives? Does anyone doubt she conceived the false rape claim? Why is she not being held to account?”

She isn’t in reality old enough for either but that wont stop anyone letting her parent. She is too young to get more than a telling off from whoever. But flip it over Anti – we have a 14 year old rapist floating about, what happens to him?

TPP, "But flip it over Anti – we have a 14 year old rapist floating about, what happens to him?"

No you don't, you have a story told by an oppositional, defiant teen, the truth of which has already been challenged by an independent witness and dismissed by police.

Kyle and Jackie O will be back after the fortnight's rest. A little button has been found that will solve any future problems. The delay/delete button was the win for public opinion, Yay!

"But flip it over Anti – we have a 14 year old rapist floating about, what happens to him?"

Anti:”No you don't, you have a story told by an oppositional, defiant teen, the truth of which has already been challenged by an independent witness and dismissed by police.”

Hey I never met the girl to claim she has ODD but what if they were all wrong, what if it did happen?

Are we worried about the boy? If it was consensual are we worried about both the kids?

One of my darling foster boys parented two children before 16 years old, used to go by and beat the crap out of girlfriend on her benefit day and take the money.

I’ve been surrounded by sexually active teens for about 5 years now, some really young some become mums under 14. Some girls get raped and some boys get wrongfully accused. What I have never seen is anyone doing anything about it or any process in place to do anything. I’m guessing because it's left up to the parents to seek help?

What I don’t do is look at a kid and decide they would tell a lie like that – not without many years of crap proceeding it and same for a kid that would rape another one.