Convicted of a less serious offence”
“Cleared of more serious charges”
“Prostitution related offences”
“Is now a mentor and advocate….his six-week business course that he’s been teaching fellow inmates, “Mr. Combs can reach so many more on the outside than he can on the inside.”
“Transported male escorts, and”Jane” to participate in prostitution”
“He then apologized to all victims of domestic violence who may have witnessed the 2016 hotel security camera video depicting him attacking Ventura.”
“The rapper also said he couldn’t disclose where they were or what they were doing, but that it was a “15-year-old’s dream.”
4 years, minus time served, less than 3 years to serve.
There are many reasons why survivors don’t speak up, don’t disclose and don’t pursue legal justice. There are many systems and structures within society that are designed to keep survivors quiet. There are many mazes put in the path of people seeking visibility or understanding.
The light sentence given to a music and business celebrity is just one of the many reasons. The ways in which he and others avoided accountability for so long is another reason. The victim blaming of those who came forward is another.
The people who knowingly transported myself and others to places of exploitation are not innocent.
The people who booked hotel rooms for child and adult abuse and exploitation to take place are not innocent.
The accomplices who targeted and initiated contact with victims and survivors, with the targets of the abusers, are not innocent.
The perpetrators of exploitation and coercion who used threat and intimidation at the request of others are not innocent.
The producers and sellers of pornograhy used to manipulate and trap survivors are not innocent.
The owners and managers of businesses, cafes and residential properties who knowingly offered their premises to be used by groomers and abusers are not innocent.
The people who supplied the drugs to numb the fear, to “help us sleep through the fun part” are not innocent.
The taxi drivers, the folk who gave lifts knowingly taking children and adults to be exploited and abused are not innocent.
The authorities and professionals who coerced or covered up are not innocent.
The staff in schools, health settings and offices who not only didn’t question the situation or evidence in front of them but who passed the buck due it being “too much” are not innocent.
The community members charged with serving and protecting the public and the vulnerable who knowingly swept it under the carpet and participated are not innocent.
The innocents are those who truly had no idea and who would have assisted if they only could have.
The innocents are the victims and the survivors.
The language used in the coverage and responses to this and many more news items about abuse and exploitation reinforces the notion of the blame belonging to the survivors. (wether it is about Saville, the protected Elite, Cosby, Epstein and Maxwell, several TV and social media personalities, government and business leaders, R.Kelly and countless others or conversations about the local well respected people accused of abuse, the local suspect who was always “so nice”)
The comments made by onlookers and readers question the validity of evidence, the behaviour of the survivors, the past experiences of the survivors, the reasons superimposed by uninvolved people to excuse the actions of the trusted perpetrators or to shame those looking on into never being the kind of person this happens to.
Prostitution used to describe exploitation and abuse. Invitations and accompanying used instead of forced or manipulated. Young women and young men used instead of children. Participants instead of targeted.
The shame is placed upon the survivors. I, and others, spin that coin of guilt and shame daily, always.
The responsibility and accountability for the abuse they endured, the grooming and exploitation they suffered and the pain, violence, manipulation they survived is placed firmly on the shoulders of the survivors.
The reasons for not treating the actions of the accomplices, the actions of those on the outer edges of grooming rings, the actions of those supporting and enabling abuse; are entangled with complicated wording, jargon and business speak, with excuses of times change, “its complicated, we can’t get them all, we have to focus on the vulnerable”.
All children are vulnerable.
All adults are at risk from exploitation and abuse.
4 years is an insult.
4 years is an avoidance.
4 years is a deflection.
I write this from a sense of pain, yes, but also from a place of realisation and awakening.
The people who knowingly facilitated and covered up the abuse and exploitation I and many others survived will not face legal consequences and even if they did it appears evident that their sentencing would be minimal.
The suppliers, transporters, funders and coordinators of the grooming that I and others experienced over decades will never see a court room and even if they did the coverage and comments would ensure the blame stuck to the survivors not the perpetrators.
The world I lived in for decades is hidden yet operates and thrives in plain sight. Disguised and normalised.
The severity of the actions it appears depends on the environment and current judgement rather than its impact.
This must change.