Childhood Thieves

Free Rolf Harris read the graffiti on the bridge. It almost has a comical tone to it. I can hear the perpetrator laughing as it is scribed.

I’m listened to the radio and people are texting, tweeting and emailing Jeremy Vine to say how their childhood has been ruined and complaints about how their childhood is being erased as phrases are now taboo, songs and music now not played, people not spoken about.

People’s ignorance and thoughtlessness knows no bounds.

No thought of the victims who have lost their childhoods.

No thought of the victims who have lived in fear of his name being uttered. The anguish and pain they must have gone through every time they turned over the TV to see his face or heard one of his songs.

But I can’t be angry at these people for feeling the way they do.

This is a world they can’t imagine, can’t bring themselves to accept because the world of abuse is a concept no one wants to believe is true. It’s far easier to pretend it doesn’t exist and to dismiss it as nonsense. They must be making it up.

But feeling these things and speaking them publicly for all to hear - among those listening will be a victim of abuse. I find that hard to accept. Having already had to go through the feelings of blame, dirtiness, self-loathing, and many more destructive feelings, they now have to shoulder the guilt of ‘ruining’ a nation of their childhood. Of course, it was their fault! Like they probably deserved it. Like they probably made it up.

They forget that claims of abuse and rape are two of the hardest crimes to prove…even more so, once time has passed. Any time let alone years. They forget that the jury must believe someone to be guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.

Unfortunately, some people do cry ‘rape’. To me, this is almost as evil as those that do commit the heinous crime of rape. Not only does it destroy the person wrongly accused- their lives, their relationships – even if proved innocent, enough damage has been done and some will always point the finger. The doubt goes both ways. People doubt the innocent are guilty, they doubt the guilty are innocent. But it also makes it harder for the person who really has been abused or raped to speak up. They think everyone will assume they are making it up – especially with a high profiled person in the public eye, who is considered a favourite amongst families. Other people do think they are making it up.

I don’t really know why I’m sharing these thoughts with you but I just hope that if one person reads it and then thinks before they utter those ill-considered and hurtful afflictions out loud then it will have been worth it. Just imagine, no don’t imagine, believe for one moment it is true and it is your child who is the victim. Whose childhood are you really mourning for now?

Disclaimer: While I talk of others ignorance, I am very aware that I am voicing my own ignorance when it comes to the law. These words are purely my own thoughts and opinion.