All posts tagged: child abuse

Ugandan faith leaders work to confront increase in gender-based violence

Ugandan faith leaders work to confront increase in gender-based violence

Published by Sam

BUPOTO, Uganda (RNS) — Residents of this eastern town of Uganda are still in disbelief months after police arrested a 48-year-old pastor accused of hacking his 44-year-old wife to death. “The pastor killed his pregnant wife because he suspected her of having an extramarital affair with another man in this area,” said Irene Mukasa, a resident of Bupoto, about the Jan. 4 slaying. “We are still in shock because no one is safe. Even men serving God at different levels have also become perpetrators of domestic violence.” Mukasa said such crimes in the region and across the country have left the majority of women to live in fear and avoid expressing themselves freely before men and in public. “Such attacks instill fear in women so that they are not able to question anything or defend themselves against any accusations or abuse,” said the 38-year-old mother of three. Regional police spokesperson Rogers Taitika confirmed the slaying, saying the pastor was arrested two months ago and charged with murder. Taitika lamented the increase in cases of domestic violence …

Church leaders in Kenya give qualified support for plan to close orphanages

Church leaders in Kenya give qualified support for plan to close orphanages

Published by Sam

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Amid a growing push among child welfare organizations to reunite families rather than keep children in institutional homes, Kenyan authorities are set to adopt a new national program that will phase out traditional orphanages over the next decade. Church leaders in the country, whose denominations run hundreds of orphanages, have expressed support for the plan, saying children’s homes have exposed children to abuse. Other faith leaders back private institutional operators in opposing the change. Roman Catholic Bishop Willybard Kitogho Lagho of Malindi said the Catholic Church supports the government plan because many of the institutions are no longer safe for children.  “There have been a lot of abuses in these homes,” said the bishop. “Children have been sexually, physical and emotionally abused. There have also been cases of child trafficking.” Some orphanages, he alleged, were founded by “unscrupulous people who want to gain from donor funding.” The treatment of orphans in Africa has come under fire in recent years as recent studies have shown that as many as half of children …

Child sex abuse suspect back living near school a week after being removed | UK | News

Child sex abuse suspect back living near school a week after being removed | UK | News

Published by skeptic

Police have allowed a man accused of child sex abuse to return to a house next to a primary school, just a week after they removed him on “safety” grounds. Northamptonshire’s force has yet to explain why it moved Verners Ricards Miklavs back to the address a day before his lawyers were due to apply to court to allow his return. District Judge John McGarva approved the return on March 20 on bail terms he was previously under. On March 13, police moved Miklavs to a hotel, before the National Crime Agency made a retrospective bail variation application. It was approved the next day at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after it heard concerns from the force his proximity to the school posed potential child safeguarding issues. The action was taken after “horrified” Tory MP Philip Hollobone was alerted by the Sunday Express. The Kettering MP then contacted Stephen Mold, Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner. Mr Mold took swift action by contacting his officers, who moved Miklavs the same day and paid for him to stay at …

Man wanted for child sex abuse allegations bailed by judge to live next to primary school | UK | News

Man wanted for child sex abuse allegations bailed by judge to live next to primary school | UK | News

Published by skeptic

Verners Miklavs was bailed to an address next to a primary school (Image: Sunday Express) A MAN wanted by police to answer child sex abuse allegations against two young girls was allowed to live next door to a primary school after a judge freed him from custody. Verners Ricards Miklavs, 20, is alleged to have seriously sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl and raped a girl, aged 10, both in Latvia – accusations he denies. He was arrested in Kettering, Northants, under a European Arrest Warrant on January 8 and remanded into custody at Westminster Magistrates Court two days later. On January 25, after he paid a £1,000 security to the court and his Latvian passport and ID card were surrendered, District Judge Neeta Minhas allowed his release on conditional bail to his home next to a school attended by seven to 11 year olds. Miklavs was only moved to an alternative property after the Sunday Express alerted Kettering MP Philip Hollobone to the situation on Tuesday. He immediately contacted Stephen Mold, police and crime commissioner …

Zimbabwe police rescue 251 children used as labor and find graves in religious sect compound raid

Zimbabwe police rescue 251 children used as labor and find graves in religious sect compound raid

Published by Sam

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe police on Wednesday said they have arrested a man claiming to be a prophet of an apostolic sect at a shrine where believers stay in a compound and authorities found 16 unregistered graves, including those of infants, and more than 250 children used as cheap labor. In a statement, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said Ishmael Chokurongerwa, 56, a “self-styled” prophet, led a sect with more than 1,000 members at a farm about 34 kilometers (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Harare, where the children were staying alongside other believers. The children “were being used to perform various physical activities for the benefit of the sect’s leadership,” he said. Of the 251 children, 246 had no birth certificates. “Police established that all children of school-going age did not attend formal education and were subjected to abuse as cheap labor, doing manual work in the name of being taught life skills,” said Nyathi. Police said among the graves they found were those of seven infants whose burials were not registered with authorities. …

Utah Legislature expands ability of clergy members to report child abuse

Utah Legislature expands ability of clergy members to report child abuse

Published by Sam

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah faith leaders who learn about ongoing child abuse from a perpetrator during a religious confession will be able to alert police without fear of legal ramifications under a bill that received final legislative approval Thursday in the state Senate. The measure extends to clergy members the same legal protections that exist for mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, such as doctors, teachers or therapists. It passed the Senate in a 26-0 vote after receiving similarly unanimous approval in the House earlier this month. It now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. State law in Utah, where the vast majority of lawmakers belong to the locally headquartered Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, exempts clergy of all denominations from a requirement to report child abuse if they learn about the crime in a confessional setting. Certain communications to clergy are considered privileged under the law, meaning neither the clergy member nor the person who confessed can be forced to testify in court about the contents …

‘Wind of revolt’ sweeps French cinema in belated #MeToo reckoning

‘Wind of revolt’ sweeps French cinema in belated #MeToo reckoning

Published by Sam

French cinema has been rocked by a new wave of allegations of child rape and sexual assault targeting household names in the industry, bolstering talk of a long-awaited breakthrough for the #MeToo movement in France following a nationwide controversy over Gérard Depardieu. The latest accusations shine a stark light on the culture of impunity that prevailed in a country where auteur worship has long served as a cover for abuse. French cinema’s #MeToo breakthrough has been heralded, and pushed back, often enough to warrant caution – but there are signs the ground is finally shifting, more than six years after cinema’s feminist revolution kicked off across the Atlantic.  In 2017, at the dawn of the #MeToo era, French actor Judith Godrèche was among the first to speak out against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, telling the New York Times that the film producer assaulted her in a hotel at the Cannes Film Festival two decades earlier, when she was 24.  Years later, the actor-turned-filmmaker is at the heart of bombshell allegations that are writing a new …

Urgent warning for parents after surge in children sending sexually explicit images | UK | News

Urgent warning for parents after surge in children sending sexually explicit images | UK | News

Published by skeptic

Parents have been told they must get comfortable speaking with their children about sexting as startling stats suggest a huge portion of under-18s have been sending explicit images of themselves to others. Nearly two-fifths (39 percent) of the just over 2,000 Brits surveyed admitted to sharing explicit content while underage, and many report having their images misused or receiving unwanted sexual content. The survey by cybersecurity firm ESET also found a worrying lack of understanding of the law by young Brits. Shockingly, 44 percent of those surveyed mistakenly believed it was legal to incite or encourage someone to send sexual images if they themselves are under 18. And almost three-quarters (73 percent) of those aged 12-17 regretted sending an intimate image or video of themselves. Cybersecurity expert Jake Moore, who worked for 14 years investigating computer crime for Dorset Police, told Express.co.uk: “The biggest thing is to open up communication with kids. That’s what we’re realising is a big problem. “The issue of sexting probably feels quite strange to parents because they didnt ahve access …

Smartphones and porn to blame for soaring sex offences by children | UK | News

Smartphones and porn to blame for soaring sex offences by children | UK | News

Published by skeptic

Smartphones and violent porn are linked to a rise in children committing sex offences, a police chief has said. Half of the 106,984 child abuse cases reported in England and Wales in 2022 involved a 10 to 17-year-old as a suspect or perpetrator, up from a third in 2013. The most common were sexual assault on a female (15%), rape of a female under 16 (12%), and taking, making or sharing indecent images. Ian Critchley, national policing lead for child abuse protection and investigation, said it was “predominantly boys committing offences against girls”. He added: “It’s exacerbated by violent pornography, [which is so] accessible to boys and, therefore, a perception that [it] is normalised behaviour.” “Accessibility to smartphones has rocketed – not just in 11 to 16-year-olds, but with under-10s as well. This is a debate that does need to be had in our society.” Source link

Reader Views on the Role of Taboos

Reader Views on the Role of Taboos

Published by skeptic

Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Last week I asked readers, “How should liberal democracies utilize or eschew taboos?” Replies have been edited for length and clarity. We in liberal democracies have a fondness for countercultural expression and norm challenging that can seem paradoxical—if so many of us come to love a rebel, when do they stop being a rebel and start being the status quo? Weighing this question, taboo is the fulcrum, not an object we can put on or remove from one of the scales. When someone breaks a taboo in a way that resonates with a lot of people, as in the case of Bronze Age Pervert [an internet personality and bodybuilder who advocates for fascist politics and was profiled in The Atlantic’s September issue by Graeme Wood], that is our cue to relitigate the taboo. To be clear, this should rarely lead to discarding …