Today’s daily dose of LangCleg sense

[OnlyTheTitOfTheLangBerg]

Because it bears repeating.

Thanks for the links R0
The Regulatory Capture thread started by Lang describes exactly what's happening.

My favourite thread.

WrathofAsyouwereKIop
Its a very important thread & analysis.

Thanks though is due to littlebowndog. On a current thread discussing the bullying, threats & attempts to silence Prof Selina Todd (Oxford), she said, "remember what LangCleg said about regulatory capture." I needed to go & remind myself!
Hearhooves comment prompted me to think it relevent here too.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3803784-Selina-Todd-threats-security-wrong-side-of-history-my-arse?pg=6

Slightly tangentially, earlier today DH and I were discussing an upcoming funeral that he doesn't want to go to. He feels he would be expected to attend as the service is for a former work colleague in an industry where funerals are a big thing.

I found myself saying "well, who made the rules that you have to go" and thought back to this thread and other recent discussions.

Who made the rules and why? Is a good question to ask about any of this.

Why should no adult be alone with a child in a professional situation? Easily answered.

Why do some adults want to undermine this guidance? Equally fucking obvious.

Why should no adult be alone with a child in a professional situation? Easily answered.

There are many situations in which it's perfectly reasonable & appropriate for a professional to be alone with a child - especially in school situations.
A pupil doesn't need a chaperone when seen alone by their teacher quickly after a lesson for praise, advice, or quiet sanction about behaviour, for example. Also in schools, TAs will be supporting children with additional needs 1:1 so they can fully participate.
The key thing (with respect to the OP) is that social private contact does not occur, unnecessary contacts do not regularly occur and that no child is ever promised confidentiality because information sharing via Safeguarding prevents harm.
Also important to note that the context for the OP the adult was not a professional so no child Safeguarding frameworks were in place.

Fair enough RO, but most schools recommend an open door to classrooms when speaking to children alone, for the protection of staff as well as children.

It’s when these simple principles are removed that you have to ask why? And who benefits?

Asking questions is a vital part of Safeguarding.

Professsionals, whose work includes neccesarily on occasions being 1:1 with children, will be informed by a range of requirements specific to context, good practice & legislation. All of these contribute to the Safeguarding & Child Protection frameworks.

While I agree with you Al, and that's a useful rule of thumb to follow, in practice, esp in sen, it's not always possible.

Jesus, look at this

jme.bmj.com/content/early/2019/12/31/medethics-2019-105567

Please someone start a new thread.

Posting as is highly relevant here.

Tweet

twitter.com/givethemseeds/status/1221631151334289408?s=21

Sorry posting on the hop

Can someone do me a favour and tell me who LangCleg is and wtf is going on

Re regulatory capture, and thinking specifically of the police: it's my belief that the reason they in particular have been captured so quickly and completely is ultimately because of the Stephen Lawrence murder and the subsequent MacPherson report. The ramifications of the Met having been found to be institutionally racist were far-reaching and required a root-and-branch overhaul of modern policing. The report was damning, and having a microscope turned on the failings in the way a major police force dealt with race and racially-motivated crime understandably damaged both the trust between the force and the communities it serves, and the reputation of the police as a whole.

Now along comes another minority group claiming to be THE MOST OPPRESSED EVAH, with a well-funded and organised lobby group at its back, and it feels to me that senior police are so determined that they will give no reason for there to be a need for a transgender-related equivalent of the MacPherson report in years to come that they have rolled over and capitulated without question to every demand made of them, no matter how much those demands may go against logic, common sense or, crucially, principles of safeguarding.

And what's scary about the police being captured is that they're running operation encompass in a number of areas now.

www.operationencompass.org/

I wonder how they'd respond to a mother who is a transwidow describing the manipulation and coercive abuse she's experiencing to a police officer in confidence?

This project is currently top of our safeguarding toolkit in school. I threw a small internal hissy fit when the first slide show we were send was all about how women abuse men too.

Sarah Champion MP writes in The Times of moves to protect children from adults in supervisory positions by closing a significant loophole in Safeguarding 'Abuse of Trust' legislation.
This would also be relevent to many of those adults running youth groups, choirs, drama groups ACF etc as well as the faith & sports clubs mentioned.

Sexual consent and “positions of trust” by Tracey Emmott (Emmott Snell Solicitors)
'Abuse of Trust law is currently limited to certain regulated settings and positions. These include education and care settings, clinics, hospitals, voluntary children’s homes, residential family centres and criminal justice settings. So it covers teachers, social workers and doctors for example.'

www.emmottsnell.co.uk/blog/sexual-consent-and-positions-of-trust

Sarah Champion, 'Children need protecting in all settings, not just at school'
(extract)
"If you leave your child in the care of an adult professional, you would assume that the law would apply evenly if they failed in their duty to safeguard. However, due to a legal loophole, as the law currently stands it is illegal for a teacher — but not a faith leader or sports coach — to engage in sexual activity with a 16 or 17-year-old under their supervision.

As chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on safeguarding in faith settings, I am publishing a report that calls on the government to extend the definition of a ‘position of trust’ to cover any adult regularly involved in caring for, training or supervising a child.

Evidence submitted to the APPG’s inquiry into ‘positions of trust’ found current legislation to be inadequate for protecting young people from adults who would groom and abuse them.

The scale of the problem is hard to determine, due in part to the legality of the act itself, but figures previously obtained by the NSPCC from local authorities showed that between 2014 and 2018, over 650 complaints were made about adults in professions not covered by the existing position of trust law having sex with children in their care.

The APPG’s inquiry found that adults holding positions in faith organisations are perceived as having authority, power and influence within their communities — and the opportunities to abuse that power are significant as a result" (continues)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-need-protecting-in-all-settings-not-just-at-school-7wdmfj6kk

Part 2 of Radio 4's drama 'Dykes' deonstrates very effectively the abuse dynamics, risks & Safeguarding response to circumstances when adults encourage secrets with children.

-its really worth listening to.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3806789-BBC-Radio-4-drama-Dykes-on-now

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse report from last May into the Diocese of Chichester and Bishop Pater Ball is most illuminating about this loophole. It’s a long read but the ending of the exclusion of faith leaders from the provisions of The Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to sexual relationships with 16-18 year olds is one of the reports urgent recommendations.
The report obliquely refers to the part the bishops in the House of Lords may have played in the original drafting of this law, we are perhaps supposed to draw our own conclusions about that.

9years do you have link to thedocument/ relevent part by chance please?

I watched the BBC two part documentary 'Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret' last week & recommend it for anyone still unclear about how the creation of any 'sacred castes', as LangCleg characterised it, enables & protects perpetrators of serious abuse of children &/or vulnerable adults.

Its difficult & vital viewing for those concerned to understand Safeguarding better.

It seems to only be available for another 2 weeks on iplayer

summary
(extract)
"The story of the decades-long pursuit of Bishop Peter Ball by the individuals determined to bring him to justice. It is also the story of a cover-up that went to the highest levels of the Church of England.

Peter Ball's charisma saw him develop a national profile, make TV appearances on chat shows and claim influential friends in the establishment, including the Prince of Wales. But he was also a manipulative sexual predator abusing numerous teenage boys and young men in his spiritual care, subjecting them to sexual assault and sadistic beatings

Using powerful testimony from victims, police and church officials, and dramatic reconstruction, this series charts the story of those who fought for many years to bring a prosecution against Peter Ball. The films show their bravery and persistence in uncovering the truth while he and other offending Church of England clergy continued to get away with their crimes" (continues)
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dbq7

Can’t link directly.

iicsa.org.uk

Anglican Church case studies: Chichester/Peter Ball Investigations report. 9 May 2019

thank you, Im interested to read this so will find it.

There are other reports to read on the iicsa website. They illuminate many dark corners. They are long and depressing though.

I’m sorry to be such a Luddite about links etc.

I was following a lot of it last year & have read some of the reports. Its deeply frustrating & concerning to see familiar patterns & dynamics being repeated in plain sight.

Anglican Church case studies: Chichester/Peter Ball Investigations report. 9 May 2019

Conclusion
(extract)
"The Church of England should have been a place which cared for and supported victims of child sexual abuse. The investigations into the Diocese of Chichester and the events surrounding Peter Ball revealed a number of serious failings in its response to allegations against both clergy and laity alike. From the early 1990s there were inadequate safeguarding structures and policies in place at a national level and, as a result, at a diocesan level.
Each case study provided examples of perpetrators who were able to hide in plain sight for many years. In the Diocese of Chichester, there were perpetrators about whom there were allegations, or even known convictions, who were provided with unrestricted access to children and young people and as a result, continued to offend.
There were occasions when the Church put its own reputation above the needs of victims and survivors. It did not always treat victims and survivors with the compassion or dignity they deserved. The Church acknowledged that “it failed some victims because it allowed its
response to civil claims to become unduly defensive, and dominated by the approach and language of litigation” (continues)

www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/11301/view/anglican-church-case-studies-chichester-peter-ball-investigation-report-may-2019.pdf

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse website: www.iicsa.org.uk/