I agree about Hollie Greig. I also wish there was something one could "do about it" but, tbh, raising general awareness probably is doing something. Each time a story hits the news, it must trigger memories and make survivors/witnesses want to tell theirs. We need relentless public pressure on both the government and the police. And I hate to say it, but we need more people to be more suspicious.
What would happen if, say, twenty men who'd been suckered into a network went to the papers all at once? What if twenty high-fliers who don't indulge went together to the papers & exposed those who do? What about all those high-profile chaps who get caught with a borderline teenager; "She said she was 18, and she looked it." Ever wondered if that 15-year-old was bait, and the man decided to take the exposure (and exclusion) rather than join in? I wouldn't know if that was the case, but they know. So do the 15-year-olds.
There have been some powerful discussions on Mumsnet about school kids being used by (mostly Asian) gangs, but no noticeable follow-up. Mumsnetters who work with abused kids - in and out of care homes - post here, and it's almost as if they type in invisible ink. The thing is, so many people do know! Then look away, say nothing :(
Silence is the networks' biggest ally - silence, and ignorance. This country has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world. It must be time for mass disobedience, mustn't it?
About 140,000 children go missing each year in the UK ... there is no exact figure because there's no exact data. 70% are not reported missing. Shows how much we really think of our children, doesn't it.
Sorry, I'm rambling around the topic. I find it disgusting that mandatory reporting doesn't apply to suspected child sexual abuse. It's a crime if you don't report suspected money laundering or illegal immigrants -and nobody's business if you suspect child buggery. I can't help thinking that compulsory reporting of both absent kids and suspected abuse would be some sort of a step forward.