http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25463907
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24772777
These articles suggest that it should be a criminal offence NOT to report any suspicions you might have of child abuse, if you work in a school, or are a doctor or a social worker.
And while I understand the thrust of these plans, and even applaud the concept behind them, these plans are ludicrously dangerous and will - I suspect - cause for more damage to society than the person suggesting them intends.
Of all the crimes in this country, rape - and especially child rape - is the most abhorred. And rightly so.
But the problem with that is the mere ACCUSATION of this - even the merest hint of an accusation - can utterly destroy someone's life.
Think about it - you find out the man living next door to you is being investigated for child abuse, what do you do? Do you react in a calm, sane manner and tell yourself "Well - he hasn't been convicted, he hasn't even been charged or arrested for it, so I will wait to find out the truth before taking some action"? Or do you panic, start a petition to get him evicted and basically make his life a living hell?
I am willing to bet you all want to be in group one, but the vast majority of the public would be in group two - the lose your minds and make his life a living hell group.
Do you trust all the teachers at your child's school to know the signs of child abuse? To be able to tell whether a child is being abused or just having a bad day?
And if teachers are scared that they might face prosecution, even jail, for not reporting a passing suspicion that entered their mind, isn't there the chance that they would wildly over compensate and report every little thing, possibly destroying hundreds of lives in the process?
I entirely understand that child abuse needs to be stamped out, and that all the abused children in the country need to be helped. And I am glad that the report that produced these recommendations finally seems to get the fact that the vast majority of abused children are abused by their parents or a close relative. Not by celebrities, not by strangers, not by ex-sex offenders, but by their families.
But this - criminalising people who aren't certain whether someone is being abused or not, so decide not to speak for fear of falsely accusing someone - is not the answer.
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