Abuse of young girls

I once reported a neighbor for abusing a young girl. Social Services told the neighbor I had reported him. He used to take her into his shed and they would be in there for ages. He was never taken to court and moved out of area.

Social Services are rubbish at protecting the reporter's anonymity. I know of a case where the parents were separated but the father had seen the grandfather touch the little girl in less than appropriate ways and found suspicious messages on her phone and email accounts. He reported his concerns and stressed that anonymity was important to maintain a positive relationship with the mother who he knew would side with the grandfather. To his horror Social Services didn't respect his anonymity and all hell broke loose. The mother's family closed ranks around the grandfather and the father ended up being warned off by Social Services even though he had reported genuine concerns.

Gardenman99 I am disgusted but not surprised by social services attitudes. How awful that you knew this was happening but were powerless to stop it ?.
I have watched and read alot about these cases, sadly it brings back terrible memories for me. I am not at all surprised that at every level these children were repeatedly failed, even in the courtroom! Heads should roll but they won't.......

The issue of the reliability of these girls as witnesses seems to go hand in hand with a sense that they were troubled girls whose behaviour (drink/drugs) somehow explains the abuse or constitutes contributory negligence on their part. It disturbs me that the basic fact of their vulnerability (sometimes through inadequacy of the statutory services to protect them) seems not to have been the paramount concern of many involved. Even if they might not be reliable witnesses whose evidence would stand up in court (a problem for the CPS), it was clear that they were deeply troubled and vulnerable and action should have been focused on supporting them. These were mainly underage girls.

Absolutely right Luckygirl. Is it too much to hope attitudes will change as a result of these dreadful cases

The drama was bad enough, but the documentary gave a much more information about the wider picture. It seems clear to me the conclusion was that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Also, the policewoman resigned, the sexual health worker was made redundant and the local MP struggled to achieve anything. What does this say about our society?

Nothing with which I can feel comfortable Wilma.