Warning, possibly upsetting, child sex abuse.

If you can bear to listen to the interview with Ian Ackley broadcast tonight on 5Live it's worth seeking out. He describes being called a 'nonce' etc by other boys and people around football who 'knew' what was going on. They assumed these boys were complicit. This continued even after he moved clubs. Ackley was one of 6 men who testified against Bennell in 1998.

In an earlier article Ackley talks about how Bennell only faced specimen charges in '98. He goes on to say "So there is all this stuff he’s never been prosecuted for. Yes, there was buggery. Yes, oral sex. You get him sent down, job done for the CPS. But he never had to face the full scale of what he has done."

These children were let down. And then let down again as adults.

here you go

Ah yes have googled, thanks. Yes, very bad.

No, that isn't either. Google Naz Shah told sex abuse victims to shut up. So sorry.

www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/view,mp-naz-shah-should-resign-after-sharing-tweet-telling-sex-abuse-victims-to-keep-their-mouths-shut_23593.htm Try this one.

I noticed this too. I have been arguing for years that women & girls are not equal before the law - our testimony is not worth the same as a man's. This is getting worse as porn is reinforcing the argument that women & girls 'love' the abuse/ are hyper-sexualised harlots etc.

Also, race comes into play in terms of the Oxfam scandal and others. Researches at Georgetown Law have found the 'adultification' of black girls begins at around 5.
www.law.georgetown.edu/news/press-releases/Black-Girls-Viewed-As-Less-Innocent-Than-White-Girls-Georgetown-Law-Research-Finds.cfm

DaisyDrip the article you tried to share doesn't seem to load. Can you re-attach?

There was an inquiry last year. One of the bits of evidence was that Graham Taylor had apparently told a victim that if he said anything it would get in the papers and he'd be 'taunted' by opposition fans. Shameful

I think as well when a victim demonstrates very disturbed behaviour as a result of the abuse, for example drinking too much, living in a disorganised way, people are far more judgemental when it's a girl than a boy.

Also right fed up with the use of 'child prostitute' e.g. In oxfam case. No such thing exists, they are abused children, below age of consent

I hadn't noticed that - talk about hiding in plain sight. Makes it all even more tragic.

It seems to have been taken a lot more seriously.

Really? Dispatches made a programme in 1997 suggesting that young players were being exposed to predatory peadophiles. The FA refused to be interviewed. 19 years later they set up a helpline with the NSPCC. I don't think that's taking it seriously

How can we expect female survivors to be treated equally to males when we have a woman MP saying "victims should shut their mouths"? When you have a woman in the public eye telling woman to shut up it simply empowers men to do it again and again and again knowing that woman are so little valued.

article

I haven't seen anyone blame the victims for not speaking out sooner, or blaming them for the subsequent victims.

I think looking at the Larry Nassar case in the states is a good comparison. Not as widely reported and I've seen some blaming of the parents for not questioning what was going on

Bloody hell, that never occurred to me, but you're so right (fuck I hope fil brings this up at dinner on sunday, so I can throw it at him I'm still sore about his Saville victims comments)

Yes I agree OP and I started a thread about just that around the time this all came out.

It seems to have been taken a lot more seriously. This is what we need for all victims of sexual assault, not just the ones society deems suitable (due to sex, colour or class)

I've been listening to the reports about this throughout the day. What's clear is as with female victims these male victims were unable to speak out and when they did many weren't believed. Like Saville there are also reports that this was an 'open secret' amongst parts of the football community in the North West.

I haven't heard anything that suggests that these male victims of sexual abuse have been treated significantly 'better' than female victims.

While agreeing with lots of comments about the media, it is worth noting that Burnell's defence did try to discredit many of the victims alleging that they were just after compensation. Incredible given his previous lengthy jail terms for abuse. And I hear that the jury has just disagreed with that and found him guilty of all charges.

Yes. What I've been noticing is that the notion of class has come up quite a bit with the street grooming scandals - these girls weren't listened to soon enough because they were working class or underclass. Er... this scandal affects working class boys. No such rush to discredit them.

It's definitely the patriarchy.

You're right OP and it's a good point. I do think that girl victims of sex abuse are often held accountable in a way that boy victims are not, and of course the same holds for adult victims. That said, I remember reading James Rhodes book 'Instrumental' where he talks about being sexually abused by a teacher. It's a brilliant book but totally horrifying. He recalls telling a family friend about the abuse as an adult and get response was 'well James you were the most beautiful child'

So it's not unheard of for boys to be blamed for their own abuse, but I haven't seen any mention of it in the Barry Benell case

Boys grow up to be men, therefore society sees them as people in training and what happens to them matters. Girls grow up to be women, therefore society sees them as sex and housework providing bots and doesn't care that much if one of their intended functions was demanded of them earlier than is technically legal.

Not exactly being a shiny little ball of positivity today, I know, but I'm not in the let's put a nice but dishonest spin on things frame of mind.

I've heard a lot of people say that a lot of Savilles victims were making it up for the compensation.

I thought people generally did believe the Saville girls because they were under-aged, so no argument really.
I also think there is a same-sex aspect to it. People will more likely believe that a boy (male) didn't want it with a man (male) because that's "not normal".