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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

BBC Radio 4 series this week about PIE: In Dark Corners

177 replies

ILikeDungs · 06/01/2025 17:57

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00272c6

Starts Wednesday 8th Jan. 9:30 a.m. R4

Journalist Alex Renton is shown a secret document, containing the names and addresses of people signed up to a pro-paedophile group called the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE, which was active in the 1970s and 80s.
That’s not all: weeks after getting the membership list Alex meets a contact who gives him bags full of documents, crammed with reports, contact details, letters.
As Alex starts following up on leads; detail of the criminal activities committed by some of PIE’s members, and those connected with them, begins to emerge.
It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse. All of this information about PIE; it feels like a heavy weight to carry. Are children still at risk?

BBC Radio 4 - In Dark Corners, Series 2

Journalist Alex Renton investigates a mysterious membership list.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00272c6

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IwantToRetire · 13/03/2025 00:43

Having got put off by the first episode I have only just got round to listening to the complete series.

On one level I was aware (though not the detail) of PIE so was not that surprised by the early acceptance they seemed to have (mainly leftish, queer, political groups). But learnt a lot about how they networked to get try and spread their campaign into the mainstream.

But was totally taken aback by the number of organisations, such as schools, children's service who seemed to either ignore information they were given about the threat of paedophiles in their organisations.

And although initially it seemed the police weren't able to build cases, or when they did were told they weren't worth pursuing, on one level they did seem to carry on trying to prosecute but on such a small way.

The programme didn't make it clear but obvioulsy at some point the idea of a practice of child safe guarding did take whole.

I am sure some of this came out of feminist campaigning. Not just because of paedophiles but the danger, particularly in families of men abusing children.

On one level, PIE trying to put themselves forward as respectable and part of changing attitudes in society (which in the end was mainly about giving men more power by pesuading women they should agree with their male centred notion of sex) they were in a sense visible.

What wasn't visible then and still isn't know the number of men who at any opportunity will try and sexually abuse a child or young person. And they just dont bother with fancy notions of becoming an organisation, with a public face. They just continue to abuse because even in this century the idea the men should have some regard and respect for others, still hasn't been something that many men think they need to live their lifes by.

IwantToRetire · 13/03/2025 01:44

One of the earliest feminist groups to work on the issue of child abuse was The Child Abuse Studies Unit - https://cwasu.org/about-us/ now known as the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit.

There are probably earlier papers but there is one about paedophiles that can be read in an online copy of Trouble and Strife - https://www.troubleandstrife.org/issues/Issue33_FullScan.pdf page 24 .

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