Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse

Britain Condemns Leaders in Town of Rotherham for Ignoring Reports of Child Abuse
By STEVEN ERLANGER FEB. 4, 2015

LONDON — The British government on Wednesday severely criticized legislators in the northern English town of Rotherham for a culture of “complete denial” that led to a long-running ring involving the sexual abuse of up to 1,400 children from 1997 to 2013.

A report into the scandal by a senior official at Britain’s Department for Communities and Local Government found a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and bullying, and grounds for possible criminal indictments.

The Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council leader, Paul Lakin, has resigned, and the council’s cabinet is also set to resign. Earlier, Shaun Wright, the police and crime commissioner of South Yorkshire, stepped down over the scandal.

The work of the council will be given to five commissioners appointed by the British government, which will call early elections in Rotherham next year to choose a new council.

“This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators,” the report said.....

To address another child abuse scandal, Home Secretary Theresa May appointed a New Zealand High Court judge on Wednesday to lead an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by powerful figures in British society that date from the 1970s....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/britain-child-abuse-scandal-rotherham-city-council.html 


Spoken-Word Artist Captures Pain and Fear of Child Abuse Kelsey Timmerman Co-authored by J.R. Jamison 
02/04/2015
Taking a story someone has lived and translating it into a story you write -- as if you were them -- is not for the faint of heart, especially when that story is about child abuse, prostitution, and sex trafficking....

Yewande was the artistic director for Facing Sex Trafficking: Atlanta's Dirty Little Secret. She wrote and performed this first-person story of Kasey McClure who suffered years of sexual abuse from her father before she left home and fell into the trap of the sex industry....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelsey-timmerman/spokenword-artist-capture_b_6607344.html