The shameful truth is that we love our sex crimes

David Short

Is this really the kind of nonsense the Spectator should publish?

Mr Green

I suppose the reason why sex crimes are figured higher then, say, murder is that with murder the victim's pain is no more. Whereas with a sex crime (or any other crime which inflicts psychological damage as much as it does physical) the victim is still very much alive and suffering.

Moira Hemson

Like Carol Sarler, I was similarly abused once as a young child, though not at knife point. I had accepted a lift from a stranger and when I made the mistake of telling my father about it, I got a sound clout for my troubles for getting into the man's car. This was the way of things 60 years ago. Ruined my life? Of course not! But could someone please let me know the name of a good lawyer....

JohnAnt

Bravely said, Carol Sarler - and absolutely true. Public prurience and the need to blame past grievances for present evils is at the root of a lot of victimhood culture.

Thomas Burger

Expect to get criticised for this article Carol, even though you are absolutely right. The Western world has some sort of sick fascination with anything "sexual", although as you correctly point out, rape is about power, not sex. To show this fascination for what it is [unhealthy], just stirs up the self righteousness indignation.

M

Please don't give this woman the column inches to print her rubbish. What are the victims of sexual abuse in the catholic church or other organisations meant to do, pretend it never happened and not seek justice? Are journalists to be silenced? I think it is the denial that is disgusting, not the reporting. And whatever happened in Guernsey seems to have been brushed aside. Lucky old CS, she goes through life without anything horrible happening to her.

Michel Bruno

Courageous article Carol. Our fixation with sexual crimes is indicitive of a society that is morally regressing.. as though following some kind of primitive tribal necessity to build everything sacred around sexual reproduction.
And yes it is highly damaging to society and to children, and yes, to many innocent adults. Those who put headlines such as 'hang the paedo' into the homes and minds of small children are just as much abusers as the peadophiles that they are fixated with.

Tara

Well said. I was raped when I was 15 and whilst the rape itself was humiliating , painful and unpleasant. The worst part for me was the fear that something worse was going to happen. In terms of what has affected me and soured my life later on it wasn't the rape or the threatened violence but the reaction of my female friends to what happened. They found every excuse possible to justify it, accused me of lying- despite being nearby and hearing my calls for help and spread the most disgusting rumours about my conduct. That a 28 year old man was involved was never considered.

Today at the grand old age of 40, all my friends are male. When it comes down to it however brutal men can be, women are peerless in their ability to inflict deep emotional scar.

gwallan

Ms Sarler...

I can certainly agree that the taking of a life should always be viewed as a greater crime than a non-fatal assault.

I also agree that our communities are way over the top in their outrage over sexual abuse.

However, as an advocate for victims of child sexual abuse, I am also well aware of the dangers posed to kids when adults engage them sexually. This engagement can be severely distorting to a child's development and it is no surprise that these victims are massively over-represented among all negative social indicators.

It is a fine line we walk when we make assertions about these issues.

Tread carefully Ms Sarler.

Tom

Very courageous column. Someone had to say it!

Western societies' fascination with sex crimes (both in the media and in the court rooms) is.. what's the word? PERVERTED?

The fact that murder of an entire family is not mentioned, whereas rape is, is just sickening.

The perverted public, and the victims advocates who don't have the moral compass to comprehend that worse crimes exist (just read some of the comments) are responsible for this situation.

Bjorn

Mr Gwallea,

nobody here is so cruel as to want you to lose your livlihood..we understand that these are pressing economic times for everybody..

Tim

Totally non PC,and a very sensible article.
We've made a culture of sex crimes,put them above all else.Yes they are terrible,but we all have to move on.Can a sex crime be any worse than a violent assault? Or the suffering of a front line soldier living with fear of death on a 6 month tour?
Well said Carol,and congrats to the Spectator for not being drowned out by the PC mob.

gwallan

@Bjorn...

I am a tax consultant by profession. I am not paid for my advocacy.

The reasons for that engagement relate to my being a survivor of child sexual abuse and more than a decade of study into the surrounding issues.

Your sarcasm is misplaced. I've already stated that community reactions are too extreme. However I am also aware of the difficulties many victims DO face. I will not turn my back on hurt people because others who have no experience of that hurt over-react to the situation. Indeed sometimes that help involves keeping victims away from the stupid public outrage.

I have lived my life with a sense that I am obliged to use my experience, skills and knowledge - which by definition I gain from others - to help others. What's your excuse?

Simon Morris

I absolutely agree. Bear in mind that the murderer of Baby P got 12 years for murder & life for raping a two year old. Dreadful as this crime is does not murder merit at least the same sentence?

Michael (Switzerland)

Of course there's some truth in the article, the British (and other) people are obsessed with and hypocritical about sex. But in this case there really was something more compelling: the extent to which an established, revered (by many) and ostensibly irreproachable organisation (i.e., the Catholic church) can for centuries hide and deny at the highest level serious crimes to defend its own two-faced members. It is a good insight into the behaviour of organisations, because it is far from unique, as anyone who has been following the recent revelations of MPs can confirm.

Dirty Euro

We need a victimhood culture. We have a choice of an abusers culture or a victims culture i support the victim. What on earth are you doing complaining about people being upset about child abuse. Do you expect people to be grateful? What on earth are you on.

John Kimble

Fantastic article.

Quite frankly the way we highligth rape as some sort of super crime which is somehow far worse than any other is a huge insult to all those victims of more serious crimes such as horrific violence, torture and murder.

You must be joking! In this country?!!

I believe the prurient 'rubbernecking' interest in such stories (Remember Soham, anyone? The saga went on for weeks and weeks.) is because of a kind of displacement activity that is peculiar to the British. Recently, I noticed in a high street chain bookseller one whole shelf given over to autobiographies of adults who had been abused in childhood. Not one or two such books but a dozen at least. Like, once there was 'chick lit', and now there is 'abuse lit'. Everyone's scrabbling to climb on the bandwagon because they know the interest is high and the vicarious prurience higher. Ka-ching!

Katie

Finally someone with common sense on this whole sorry mess. Thank you and keep writing. You are helping people.

Brad in Seattle

Sexual crimes are viewed as most heinous because society incorrectly views them as primarily affecting women. There is no more sacred creature than the female. Oh, sure, children (even sometimes boys) are occasionally the victim du jour, but they will never trump the victim status of the female. Men are just filthy beasts be mined for money and labor.

Whiskey

Nahh.... I don't really buy this.
I think it was probably written just to be controversial.