to think this video may show that Esther Rantzen KNEW Jimmy Saville was abusing children...

[spareidentity]

... And to think that if she did, ChildLine need to say publicly how awful that is...

Esther Rantzen was interviewed on Sky a couple of days ago, about the documentary which alleged Saville was a predatory abuser. I've just come across , and I'm really shocked by how she appears to duck the question "When did YOU know?"

It does seem that a lot of people knew about Saville, or had their suspicions, years ago :( But I can't help feeling that Rantzen's role at Childline puts her in an entirely different position to anyone else who may have known... She's a 'champion' for the organisation... But if it transpires that she kept silent about abuse, I think that's really appalling, and ChildLine need to make some kind of statement... Because if even the founder of ChildLine keeps silent about abuse, for any reason at all, then doesn't that give a terrible message to all those children and adults trying to find the courage to speak out about what has happened to them, that everyone is keeping silent, and they are right to feel afraid and alone? :(

I find this very upsetting, and if turns out Rantzen did know, I think that is really shocking and outrageous... But AIBU? Do other people draw different conclusions from the video? And if not, could there be a good reason for her not to speak out?

One thing I don't understand about all of this is that people seemed to have been aware of JS's reputation for donkey's years yet still kept employing him? It surely wouldn't have been much to just not renew contracts or sign him up again - and even if he went to court there is no comeback on not renewing contracts etc at the end of a period?

This, in my mind, does make the employers culpable, whether it was symptomatic of "the Age" or not - they had a responsibility and they neglected it.

I think we should be glad that she is clearly speaking out NOW and giving credence to JS's victims by doing so. She is also speaking out, about the misogynist culture of the time, a culture that meant so many people kept quiet about Savile. A culture in which there are plenty others who have done wrong either directly or indirectly at the BBC.

Good on that woman I say.

Perhaps she got involved in childline as a result of what she heard about at the BBC.

I don't think it is realistic to expect her to have taken on an entire culture of entitlement, misogyny and sexism on her own - because that was what this was about. It wasn't speaking out against just Savile but about a whole culture and environment. A very very difficult thing for a woman to do - and most women now that they will not be heard, they will must likely be villified by the men who are invested in this culture.

They are the ones to blame for all this - the men who abuse, the men who turn a blind eye to abuse and the men who participate in a culture where abuse and sexual harassment are something to snigger about.

Don't blame the women.

I don't have much of an opinion of ER as a person, but she set up childline and she is speaking our now in a way that men who saw more than her and could do more than her at the time, still aren't.

"At this stage it is quite clear from what women are telling us that Savile was a predatory sex offender," said Commander Peter Spindler, head of specialist crime investigations, in an interview with the BBC.

Can everyone who is still coming out with 'If these allegations are true/he's not here to defend himself arguments please stop now.

Sorry for typos.

There is a 'now' that should be a 'know' and an 'our' that should be 'out'.

I agree with Mamf - JS's employers no doubt knew what was going on and yet they kept employing him and gave him a children's show???

These are the people to question and blame - the people with power (no doubt men) who kept employing a sexual predator and gave him access to young girls.

Just watch them close ranks and protect each other though. I bet they are dead happy if people focus on ES instead of them.

beachcomber you do speak a lot of sense but I don't think you can lay the blame completely at mens feet. Some men, certainly, but there will have been both men and women appalled at the situation but afraid to speak out.

*I don't think it is realistic to expect her to have taken on an entire culture of entitlement, misogyny and sexism on her own - because that was what this was about. It wasn't speaking out against just Savile but about a whole culture and environment. A very very difficult thing for a woman to do - and most women now that they will not be heard, they will must likely be villified by the men who are invested in this culture.

They are the ones to blame for all this - the men who abuse, the men who turn a blind eye to abuse and the men who participate in a culture where abuse and sexual harassment are something to snigger about.

Don't blame the women.

I don't have much of an opinion of ER as a person, but she set up childline and she is speaking our now in a way that men who saw more than her and could do more than her at the time, still aren't.*

YY to this. you can't blame her for not taking on a one woman crusade against the deeply embedded mysogynist culture of the 70s and 80s.

I know I said you can't take a rumour to the police, but JS had a hold over the police too. He was enormously powerful and well connected, almost untouchable. This Teflon status was engineered by him and which is why despite being interviewed about sexual assaults in his lifetime, there was never enough evidence to get him. Don't go blaming ER for this- the set up was entirely created by JS.

The small true voice of a victim would have been swallowed up by the might of the JS machine.

At the start of this Esther came out in support of JS so interesting to see she's changed her story. Dreadful.

hopefully the ongoing investigation will ensure that this is never allowed to happen again and that no such conspiracy of intimidated silence will ever be allowed to repeat itself.

bisjo- did she?

Wht was the documentary called, when was it on, I missed it. What channel

The jimmy savil one

Just read an article in today's online Guardian with Pete Townsend, where he states he know things about js, but what's the point saying anything as he is dead now (I paraphrase).

The point is for the victims. And to stop this silence. Just cant believe people continue to collude in the abuse.

Pete Townsend is in enough trouble, he should be keeping his mouth shut, not defending dead (alleged) rapists.

Hasn't Viz being openly referring to these rumours for years? It's not like they weren't public domain information for sometime.

The rumours have been all over the internet long before he died, especially relating to Haut de la Garenne, which JS denied ever visiting despite being photographed there.

pigletmania - it was ITV, Exposure - The Other Side of Jimmy Savile. It is on ITV player and .

I agree that there would have been many men too intimidated to speak out at the time too - I don't think all men at the BBC are to blame.

But the ones who held (and still hold) the reigns of power and could really do something about a male entitlement sexist culture would have been men.

I just don't think we should be focusing on women like ER.

What were the police doing? Why did they drop the 2007 (date?) investigation? What was happening in the care homes involved? What were the bosses at the BBC doing? etc.

And we know how these things work - there is a general wink wink snigger snigger culture which lays a veil of 'can't take a joke/should be flattered/she was asking for it' humour to an environment of sexual predation, intimidation and abuse.

People who participate in this sort of culture make it very difficult for others to stand up and be counted. It is very pervasive stuff. And it is very intimidating for women because you know that you won't be listened to and will be squashed by those who are invested or implicit in the misogyny. You will be painted as someone with a grudge/jealous/a prude/vindictive/unreliable/etc.

Also surely there should be an investigation into the people who thought it was a good idea to let a bloke with a caravan show up to give vulnerable and powerless girls 'a good time'. I mean what the actual fuck was going on there??

Beachcomber, each time JS was interviewed under caution, they could not proceed with charges as there wasn't enough evidence to proceed with a case. The man was Teflon, he had so many people in his pocket.

beachcomber I asked what the police were doing too.

Hardly any criminals turn up at the front desk to confess. Even if it proceeds to trial, many of them still plead not guilty. But we still manage to prosecute them and gain convictions. Why not here?

It could be a powerful conspiracy but I think it's much more likely that people in all walks of society did not care about these particular girls and did not regard their sexual assault as a crime so much as a perk of the job.

It's not enough to say Savile was a powerful man. So are many people who are now behind bars for serious crimes. There was no will to prosecute.

ITA.

If they had wanted to they could have got him. I agree that the police probably didn't consider these girls worth the time and the hassle - which of course is why JS selected them to abuse.

I agree that JS was cynical in his choice of victim, especially when it comes to children's homes. It was all too easy to label the girls as damaged and not believe anything they say. They had no voice.

However, don't underestimate how calculating JS was. In the Mailonline article written by his biographer, JS himself says "I could have brought half the (police) station down with me"

The poor girl who committed suicide. The police looked over her diary and concluded that she was just a fantasist. I hope they'll be taking another look at it now in light of all this evidence.

Esther Rantzen saved my life. I took an overdose when I was 13, and was too scared to wake my parents. I rang Childline and they persuaded me to get help. I almost died.

Out of ALL the people involved she is the ONLY one who has dedicated so much to helping abused kids, yet out of all of them she is being vilified.

Another example of the intrinsic misogyny that helped JS to get away with it for so long.

He was a paedophile and a psychopath and he MUST have had the backing of some very powerful people to get away with it for so long.

Blaming ER is much more convenient than blaming those who knew but actively supported and enabled him to do it.

The care home managers, his bosses, the people who knew, but didn't care.

ER cared and has saved countless children from horrific abuse. But hey, she's a woman, let's hold her responsible shall we?

So because no one came directly to her then she didnt feel the need to say anything.
Wrong wrong wrong!!