‘At least in heaven there’s food’

[PonderWhy]

Don’t know how to upload images but this BBC video footage has upset me and is haunting. Can’t bear the mother waiting for her child to die,

Where is humanity?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/43163173/syria-war-children-struggle-to-survive-in-eastern-ghouta

Is this mother being unreasonable? If not, then what can we do to stop this injustice and misery?

@starlightafar you have no idea how charities are run or audited if you think that.

Charities make a difference, we need to rememeber that.

The greedy CEOs are present in any industry sadly. But I think we need to make an educated decision when donating. It is a tricky one.

paper
I do know a lot about how they are run. Both here and abroad. The money changes 'nationality' at some point. At some point down the line the money is given from large organisations (who take a huge cut) to local businesses in corrupt countries and it is there that most money is taken. Bosses taking another cut before having to show some of it is spent. It is also obvious that charity doesn't help when the situation in those countries stays exactly the same as it did previously. All charity donation does is line the pockets of those who don't need the money. The poor and ill and hungry are sold short again and again and again. And the west seem happy that what money does go abroad, is spent on tents for refugees. As though as because they are dry but still homeless we are virtuous for donating. No, we are fucking lucky to live in the UK.

Where are these little girls when refugees come here?
They are here. I work with 23 Syrian refugee families in my city and I can assure you there are girls, boys, women and men, all thankful to be safe, and are more grateful than anyone one of us for the most basic of things like shelter and living without fear of being bombed.

Of course she's not been unreasonable!

She loves her son and doesn't want him to suffer anymore. Can you imagine being that hopeless? Her sentiment comes from a good place.

I'm crying.

Something like 1% of men are pedophiles

I'd bet it's a lot more than that, they just won't admit to it.

Maybe not a lot more (I can be a bit cynical/pessimistic), but definitely more.

‘Little girls’ who come here come with families. They are rarely unaccompanied because the journey is just too dangerous to make on their own.

There is no safe route to the UK. Which is why we see such a large percentage of asylum seekers being teenage boys/young men.

alpine
Paedophilia is a mental illness (in the DSM sexual disorder section anyway) and generally refers to men attracted to prepubescent children under the age of 9.
So yes 1% is probably correct.
However children are aged up to 15. And many men willingly have sex with them, without being classified as paedophiles.
And actually it is probably more because men with sexual attraction to children are scared of seeking support before committing crimes. If they could, it may help manage those feelings and reduce crime.

Paedophilia is a mental illness (in the DSM sexual disorder section anyway) and generally refers to men attracted to prepubescent children under the age of 9.
So yes 1% is probably correct.

I know it is. I know not all pedophiles abuse children. But that 1% is surely only those who have been diagnosed? There could be plenty who fantasise or have an attraction but don't act on it and don't seek any help, so would be unknown.

And that's because being attracted to a pubescent child isn't pedophilia, it's ephebophilia.

Yeah that's what I thought Alpine. You have a point.

And actually it is probably more because men with sexual attraction to children are scared of seeking support before committing crimes. If they could, it may help manage those feelings

Which is what I said. Many won't admit to having these feelings, so won't be counted.

Sorry!! I'm a bit touchy today.

Not to worry. Hope you're ok.

This is utterly horrific. Yesterday I saw photos of a maternity hospital that had been bombed (not sure if it was in Ghouta). Dead babies in the rubble. I've been never one to turn away from horrific news but I can't bear to watch anymore, it upsets me so much.

If anyone doesn't want to donate to any of the big charities, try this one

hihfad.org/where-we-work

or this

projectamalousalam.org/about/our-work/

or this one, set up by an Englishwoman living in Turkey

love-in-the-language-of-yarn.blogspot.co.uk/

However until Putin stops supporting Assad, this will continue and our governments will continue to say "we can't do anything", just as they have in the past.

When it does finally end, Assad will probably never get his just desserts and everyone will wring their hands and say it must never happen again. "Never again" is a fucking joke.

I donate here: mesopotamia.org.uk
She’s just one ordinary uk woman doing what she can, she’s amazing. Please have a look at her page if you get a chance. She was in the news a while back as she was selling her jewellery and taking out bank loans to pay traffickers to release Yazidi sex slaves. She’s incredible.

@abeautifulmess the 1% as others have said is fairly well established.

The 7% rapists is more contested. There have been studies done with wildly varying numbers. Depending on what cohort you use and what question you ask. "Have you had sex with someone you know didn't want to?" Gets a very different result to "are you a rapist". I used a fairly conservative number. 10% in other studies. There are issues with sample size as well.

The issue is that you need good robust safe-guarding policies because you WILL have rapists and probably pedophiles working for you if you are a large organization. Particularly if you work overseas or with vulnerable people.

I generally just don't trust stats about mental illness because not everyone gets diagnosed, that's all. There's lots of hidden illness. Many people with Borderline never get treated due to being in denial, so never diagnosed

So I'm unsure how we can be so certain, but as I said, cynical

Thinking about it, obviously the data won't just be collecting using official diagnoses, but through anonymous questionnaires too. But, again, unless they sent it out to every single man in the world, received a 100% return rate, and every man answered honestly... and unless every single victim admitted to being a victim of pedophilic abuse... I don't think we can discount the real number being higher than the estimate.

This is shocking. I wish I could stop it. i wish they didn't have to face this. I pray for a change of heart in the people who are ordering this kind of attrocity and I pray for courage for people like that doctor trying to help people. Many on here will wonder what good that will do. So do I, but what else can I do? I donate to red cross, but that's not going to stop it. In the end, at least this woman does have hope that her child will be happy in heaven. No one can take that away from her.

Thank you for those additional links for charities. I understand the sentiments about some people filling their own pockets instead of helping the needy. However, I strongly believe in charity and donating for those most vulnerable. Not donating because of corruption, in my view would make me morally corrupt.

I have just read the news that Boris Johnson would back air strikes in Syria if chemical weapons have been used.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-syria-air-strikes-eastern-ghouta-assad-regime-chemical-weapons-chlorine-gas-a8229506.html

I still remember the horror of seeing pictures on the news of a group of Syrian children gassed to death by Assad a few years ago.