You think you've seen it all. But you won't believe this.

[Charliethefeminist]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6324297/Girl-15-conceived-son-rape-held-sex-slave.html

How much can one rage? This poor girl

So proven to be a terrible person dad shows up, says his piece, and the courts say "that's nice sir, but we don't care" and ignore him?

So proven to be a terrible person dad shows up, says his piece, and the courts say "that's nice sir, but we don't care" and ignore him?

Um... more "We need to establish whether or not there is a possibility for this child to thrive in the care of either or both of its parents, so we will need to assess and speak to both the parents. If we then feel that the child's interests would be better served by adoption, the child will be adopted even though one or both of the parents object."

No matter how foul the parent, you can't really adopt out his or her child with no input from that parent.

@AngryAttackKittens Yes, kind of but it's more nuanced than that. It is about fact finding and weighing up those facts in relation to the child. It is always about what is best for the child, and it would be negligent to simply write off the father without first seeking out the facts and analysing them. As abhorrent as he is presented as being, he cannot simply be ignored.

Social Care is absolutely rubbish at explaining themselves and engaging in the media, which is why Social Workers are like sitting ducks. We have a responsibility to educate people about our role, but we don't tend to do it and hide behind the 'confidentiality' argument . I would argue that there are plenty of ways in which we could engage with the media, without causing any difficulties around confidentiality but for whatever reason we don't. If more people understood what we did, it would benefit everyone.

Sorry x post @LangCleg!

I would argue that there are plenty of ways in which we could engage with the media, without causing any difficulties around confidentiality but for whatever reason we don't. If more people understood what we did, it would benefit everyone.

I have friends who foster/adopt children (one particular friend has ended up adopting all but one of the long-term foster placement children and the other one was a baby who, with her assistance, was eventually placed back with the mother, with appropriate support).

I'm pleased by some of the nuanced consideration, care, and support that some SS can provide in some areas. I do wish SS could engaged more in public discussions so that decisions and limitations are more readily understood.

The reporting makes it sound like he was actively taunting the mother, which would really not be OK. The overall tone is salacious though, so not sure it's in any way a reliable description of what happened, though I have heard of some courts allowing appalling behavior from men on the stand before.

(There was a famous case in NYC of a man who raped and murdered a 12 year old girl - he later went trans and prison married a famous serial killer - and he openly taunted the victim's mother from the witness stand. Have never been able to forget that.)

Sorry x post @LangCleg!

No worries.

The system needs reform because it is letting down vulnerable women. But it is a good system for children mostly. We need to improve matters for those women but without compromising all the good stuff done on behalf of children.

Not an easy thing to untangle but it's actively obstructed by hopeless media reporting, in my view.

Sigh

So this poor woman was groomed and intimidated into staying with her abusers. She wasn't simply kidnapped for 12 years. During that time she had children which she tragically couldn't care for - probably due to her own trauma and inability to keep them safe from the abusers. That's absolutely tragic for her and the children but they still needed to be protected.

The law very clearly states that birth parents must be consulted and represented in care proceedings. Very often the birth parent turns up and says 'I want x y and z' and the court (the judge, not the social worker) decides that the evidence stacks up that x, y and z are not in the children's interests, so they don't happen.
But the law states that the court MUST hear the wishes if the birth parents want to give them.

And this is why social services get a bad name.the people involved in taking these children away need naming and shaming..then charging and forced to justify themselves in court

This utter bullshit is ignorant, vile crap and makes me furious. You have no clue what you are talking about.

The system needs reform because it is letting down vulnerable women. But it is a good system for children mostly. We need to improve matters for those women but without compromising all the good stuff done on behalf of children.

Not an easy thing to untangle but it's actively obstructed by hopeless media reporting, in my view.

I agree.

There is a lot that might be done to enable a better understanding of social work and the contexts it operates within.

We are a gift for the media. They will say and report what they wish (within their legal framework) and we will do precisely nothing. I'm a strange hybrid; trained journalist with an MA in social work, hence my interest and study of this area. The poor media/social care relationship goes back decades, and we've done very little to improve our situation. It is deeply unhelpful and damaging to all.

The poor media/social care relationship goes back decades,

There is the political element in that relationship too of course.

Absolutely @R0wantrees - one of my reasons for disengaging with the profession actually. That and when I was interviewing someone whose son had been murdered. I couldn't complete the interview for various reasons but mainly because I realised I wanted to work with her on her grief, and not exploit it. I was a shit journalist! Bugger, now I need to NC...far too outing...

I found my way into the (very incomplete) understanding I have because of getting into stuff trying to support the women fucked over by austerity. I couldn't understand how so many obvious and outrageous injustices were happening. Have some social workers among friends and family, asked them, read everything I could from judgements to the Children Act.

Now I see why they happen but I also see the absolute political intransigence to even acknowledge the situation, let alone do anything about it.

You can't unknow fundamental values and reflective practice!

apologies post above was a reply to Femaledisrespectful

I don’t really know much about this subject -reading between the lines have groups like this basically decided to take vulnerable girls and intimidate their families? Plus groom the girls so if police do attend the girls say they want to be there ie reference to Stockholm syndrome. Would police really do this even when the girls were clearly underage? I’d read about girls in care being taken and raped but not of girls being kidnapped and forced to live with their attackers. Sorry for my naivety on this topic

Such a sad story. My concern is that it is highly likely that Sarah won't get the support she needs.

Can I just ask, as I have been following this with very much interest,
Are the DC and DM seen as both suffering under the threat of death, daily fear of catastrophic consequences?
All I see is that, both are under it, both need the same protection from authorities there to protect them, but the man is free, threatens the woman to go back or else, and so on, even if it's not said.
It's recognised in abuse that women and their DC occupy the same and sometimes lower level of authority than the DC. That's acknowledged, so why is there no recognition of that in legislation?
What I am hearing is a system that badly tries to fit itself around, but not, and clearly failing badly with the death rates remaining constant all these years.

I think there was also drug dependency involved and it complicated the situation.