Alas, how many bear such shameful blows,
Which not themselves but he that gives them knows. William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, 832-833
Though men can cover crimes with bold stern looks,
Poor women’s faces are their own faults’ books ... O let it not be held
Poor women’s fault that they are so full-filled
With more abuses. Those proud lords, to blame,
Make weak-made women tenants to their shame. ibid. 1252-1253 & 1256-1260
The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What’s left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars. Bertolt Brecht
Betrayal is too kind a word to describe a situation in which a father says he loves his daughter but claims he must teach her about the horrors of the world in order to make her a stronger person; a situation in which he watches or participates in rituals that make her feel like she is going to die. She experiences pain that is so intense that she cannot think; her head spins so fast she can't remember who she is or how she got there.
All she knows is pain. All she feels is desperation. She tries to cry out for help, but soon learns that no one will listen. No matter how loud she cries, she can't stop or change what is happening. No matter what she does, the pain will not stop. Her father orders her to be tortured and tells her it is for her own good. He tells her that she needs the discipline, or that she has asked for it by her misbehavior. Betrayal is too simple a word to describe the overwhelming pain, the overwhelming loneliness and isolation this child experiences.
As if the abuse during the rituals were not enough, this child experiences similar abuse at home on a daily basis. When she tries to talk about her pain, she is told that she must be crazy. ‘Nothing bad has happened to you,’ her family tells her. Each day she begins to feel more and more like she doesn’t know what is real. She stops trusting her own feelings because no-one else acknowledges them or hears her agony. Soon the pain becomes too great. She learns not to feel at all. This strong, lonely, desperate child learns to give up the senses that make all people feel alive. She begins to feel dead. She wishes she were dead. For her there is no way out. She soon learns there is no hope.
As she grows older she gets stronger. She learns to do what she is told with the utmost compliance. She forgets everything she has ever wanted. The pain still lurks, but it’s easier to pretend it’s not there than to acknowledge the horrors she has buried in the deepest parts of her mind. Her relationships are overwhelmed by the power of her emotions. She reaches out for help, but never seems to find what she is looking for. The pain gets worse. The loneliness sets in. When the feelings return, she is overcome with panic, pain, and desperation.
She is convinced she is going to die. Yet, when she looks around her she sees nothing that should make her feel so bad. Deep inside she knows something is very, very wrong, but she doesn’t remember anything. She thinks, Maybe I am crazy. Margaret Smith, Ritual Abuse: What it is, Why it Happens, and How to Help
The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. Edmund Burke
Use, do not abuse ... neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. Voltaire
The hierarchy of everything in my life has always bothered me. I’m bothered by power. People, whoever they might be, whether it’s the government, or the policeman in the uniform, or the man on the door – they still irk me a bit. From school, from the first nun that belted me – people used to think of the nice sweet little ladies ... they used to knock the fuck out of you, in the most cruel way that they could. They’d find bits of your body that were vulnerable to intense pain – grabbing you by the ear, or by the nose, and lift you, and say ‘Don’t cry!’ It’s very hard not to cry. I mean, not from emotion, but pain. The priests were the same. And I sit and watch politicians with great cynicism, total cynicism. Dave Allen
They hit me. They pulled my hair. They punched me. They demeaned me. And I mean now that I come to think about it I’m quite angry. None of them were qualified teachers. Dave Allen
A landmark report that shocked the country: widespread sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children by Catholic-run institutions. Sex, Drugs & Religion, news clips, 2010
Over the years charges of sexual abuse have resulted in indictments, convictions or lawsuits against at least sixteen priests from this relatively small diocese. ibid.
During Benedict’s papacy the full scale of child sex abuse – this coverup – would be revealed. Secrets of the Vatican, Channel 4 2014
But he [Benedict] has yet to act decisively on the issue of child sex abuse by priests. ibid.
More people are coming forward with horrific tales of ritual abuse. They speak of being surrounded by cloaked figures and being forced to participate in unimaginable act. Unexplained Mysteries
He that spareth his rod hateth his son. Proverbs 13:24
Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:6&15
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Proverbs 23:13&14&24
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. Proverbs 29:15&17
In the Amish culture allegations of abuse are dealt with by community leaders. Amish Exiles
If you’re a fat person – and especially if you’re a woman – at all stages of your life you’ll get abuse for it, so you have to work out a way of dealing with it. The best way is to be humorous about it – that defuses any tension. Jo Brand
From abuse hurled at women appearing on Question Time to bomb threats sent to campaigners agitating for more female heroes on banknotes, from the sexually explicit trail of women in pop videos to rape jokes, is there a new culture abroad in which men – and it is mainly men – seem to think they have the freedom and the right to speak about, write about, and portray women in a derogatory even abusive way? And is this culture now infecting and polluting the lives of schoolgirls? Kirsty Wark, Blurred Lines: The New Battle of the Sexes, BBC 2014
‘This terrible grab-bag of loathing women.’ ibid. Germain Greer
Especially about his sexual abuse of teenagers. Mad Dog: Gaddafi’s Secret World, BBC 2014
There is not one of us who cannot recall to memory the experience of some case in which a woman submitted to the worst of treatment, treatment degrading and humiliating, and allowed it to continue rather than permit her name to become the subject of a public scandal. Lord Fitzgerald, G v M 1885 L R 10 Ap Ca 208
In the early hours of 25th February 2000 a young child was brought to the Intensive Care Unit at a Central London hospital with signs of horrific physical abuse. Crimes that Shook Britain s3e3, CI 2012
For years he was a TV and radio superstar and a friend of the rich and famous. But since his death in 2011 the sinister truth about Jimmy Savile has been revealed ... One of the country’s most prolific sex offenders. Crimes that Shook Britain s5e1: Jimmy Savile, CI 2014
A rapist, a sadist and a paedophile. ibid.
Jimmy Savile, far from being a lone predator, seemingly played an active role in supplying children to a network of child abusers in London. ibid.
‘I think all children should be eaten at birth.’ ibid.
Over 450 individuals have since come forward to allege that Savile abused them. Most were under eighteen when the offences took place. ibid.
It was the murder of a young mother that devastated her family. The appalling death of Clare Wood at the hands of her former partner brought the horrifying effects of domestic violence to the public consciousness. What happened to his daughter inspired a father’s fight to protect victims of domestic abuse. Crimes that Shook Britain s5e6: Clare Wood
Clare Wood contacted police for help four times in as many months fearing for her life. ibid.
He had hanged himself. ibid.
Operation Yewtree – the police investigation into historical sexual abuse has revealed yet more remarkable cases ... One name when it was made public sent shock waves around the country and the world. Crimes that Shook Britain s6e1: Rolf Harris
Twelve counts of indecent assault. ibid.
For almost a decade rumours swirled of children being raped and brutally assaulted in a small town in north-west England. Scores of children were being groomed by predominantly British Pakistani men. Crimes that Shook Britain s7e2: Rochdale Groomers