UNITED KINGDOM
Press TV (Iran)
[with video]
Press TV has conducted an interview with Ian Williams, an analyst at Foreign policy & Focus, from London, about the cover-up of child sexual abuse cases in Rotherham, Britain, and the abuse committed by high-ranking officials and celebrities.
The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Let me get your reaction about this case, it is really horrific what has happened and also in terms of numbers not only of the number of children, but the number of years that his has been going on for.
Williams: The numbers are appalling. It is difficult to actually believe that 1,400 children in a small city like Rotherham would have been victims like this; but that is over many, many years (16 years) so that makes it more plausible. And this is in the trail of many other scandals.
The difference here is that the perpetrators don’t seem to have been well connected in the British establishment; they seem to have been involved in – according to reports – in one ethnic group and the police were reluctant to prosecute for fear of Racism.
But the pervading problem is that people in authority and adults tend not to take children seriously when they complain and children are basically indoctrinated to think that adults have authority over them.
And that’s re-enforced. If they went to the police station or were turned away or they went to their teachers or parents and were told don’t be silly then they’d go away and nurse the wounds instead of pursuing them.
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