This blog has long advocated the implementation of measures to insure that the good names of the men, as well as those few women, accused of sex crimes are not destroyed on the basis of unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations. We also advocate for speedier investigations of and prompt determinations regarding every allegation, and for withholding punishment until a thorough investigation concludes it is warranted.
It is astounding that our advocacy is attacked by radicals as misogynistic when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
Now, the UK is about to implement every one of those measures described above in dealing with claims of assault and sexual abuse lodged by students against teachers.
A bill was recently quietly promulgated by the Secretary of State for Education that would keep the names of teachers accused of assault or sexual abuse secret until they have been formally charged by police.
According to the Telegraph: "The move comes amid fears that hundreds of long-serving teachers have had their careers ruined after being subjected to unfounded claims by children. In many cases, it is feared pupils or their parents make allegations of assault or sexual abuse to settle a score with staff or even win compensation."
The Bill "is also expected to lead to fresh guidance being issued to schools in an attempt to speed up internal investigations, stop heads automatically suspending staff when allegations have been made and wipe unproven claims from teachers’ employment records."
According to the Daily Mail: "Unions praised the moves to protect teachers from false allegations . . . ."
The Telegraph reports that the action follows the publication of figures showing as many as a quarter of teachers have been victims of false accusations by pupils
Giving special treatment to teachers and not all presumptively accused men stems from the assumption that false claims are rampant in schools and not elsewhere. This is an assumption open to debate.
It does not trivialize the harm to falsely accused teachers to assert that false allegations lodged against men in all manner of other professions, not just teaching, cause similar destruction to innocent lives, yet the teaching profession is singled out.
Why the special treatment? Make no mistake, these protections are proper -- but they should not be limited to teachers. They are limited to teachers because they are supported by powerful teachers' lobbies and suggest politics as usual.
There is one other thing going on here that deserves mention because it is of paramount importance. The issue about whether teachers should be afforded protections has not been couched as "men versus women," as was the debate last summer in the UK over anonymity for men in general who are accused of rape. Instead, the issue here is framed as "besieged teachers versus vindictive students." It is being treated very quietly, as a non-issue, almost in an effort not to engage the sexual grievance industry. The fact is, however, that while some sex charges (and make no mistake, sex allegations are the principal reason these protections are deemed necessary) are lodged against female teachers, the majority of sex allegations against teachers are lodged against males. Yet, thankfully, gender isn't being discussed.
In a war where women's groups have won every single rape skirmish in the past 25 years, it is well to note how this particular issue was framed, and to examine if other rape issues can also be presented as something other than just one more skirmish in the battle of the sexes -- skirmishes that, sadly, men always lose.
The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8284257/Accused-teachers-given-anonymity-in-behaviour-crackdown.html; The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350947/New-education-protection-teachers-falsely-accused-pupils.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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15 comments:
Why teachers? Because they work for the government, and so are special. Non-government men will not be given this protection.
And also because there are bugger all men left in teaching anyway, and now even the women are leaving in droves.
The difference is that teachers unions are a powerful lobby group that governments have to placate, whereas men's rights is still an infant movement that faces powerful opposition.
The other difference is that men are not really human, whereas school teachers are pillars of the community, enlightened, progressive heroes who naturally deserve every human right and due process dreamed of since enlightenment. It clearly follows that they deserve more rights than men.
It is notable that the majority of schoolteachers are women, and there have been a lot of cases in recent years of female teachers caught out screwing students. Gee whiz. Suddenly some people can see the merits in anonymity for the accused!
Perhaps we could make a deal. If others stop telling lies about accused men, we will stop telling the truth about female offenders. Come on ladies! I can't be any fairer than that.
Great comment, Nick.
http://www.rip-factor.com/fempeds.html
You nailed it, Nick.
The only women you hear being accused are teachers - better to keep that under the rug.
It's tragic though to think of someone whose whole life is bent around gaining joy from teaching children perhaps be barred from every doing that again because of an FRC.
Think of this as a start, and a step in the right direction. Public debate can now include this talking point. Altogether good news.
They shouldn't just do this for teachers. All men and women who are accused of these things deserve this protection.
If the media wants to make a news piece AFTER the trial about someone (and points out in the first few words that the person was found guilty or innocent), that is fine.
Before? No, it lends too much to tainting the jury pool anywhere in the world.
Feminism is just like the KKKlan.
It's is so well blended into society you can't tell.
It snuck in.
It's has infiltrated into the news media...
the educational system...
law enforcement...
the legal system...
television...
hollywood...
religion...
It's there and accepted, but without the white robes.
It's not equality, it's control and sexism.
Fight it, stop it, stop false rape accusations, stop false inflated rape statistics.
Nick S - "It is notable that the majority of schoolteachers are women, and there have been a lot of cases in recent years of female teachers caught out screwing students. Gee whiz. Suddenly some people can see the merits in anonymity for the accused!"
I'd also echo that Nick has "nailed" the probable real reason for the new policy.
BTW, there doesn't seem to be the standard "Post a Comment" link on the last two articles posted.
I was especially curious about the one from New Zealand, wherein the false accuser received "name suppression". Is that something she had to petition the court for?
slwerner,
Thanks for the heads up. We made some minor tweaks, and the comments were disabled on those two articles. They are now back on.
This policy sucks for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it violates the 'equal protection' principle which, although not constitutional in the UK, has nevertheless been considered a sound principle of modern law.
The rights of those accused of sex crimes should be the same regardless of their occupation, race, gender etc. What next? Are plumbers accused of murder going to be given extra rights?
Another thing is that much of the justification for the current laws that favor women in rape cases is that women have less power than men in society. Yet surely everyone can agree that children have little power in society. So by the same reasoning, is there not even greater justification for the law siding with children in these cases?
The truth is that as a society we care more about women than we do children, as perverse as that is. A good example is the fact that in many cases of serious child abuse, the relevant authorities are often reluctant to do anything or take children away. Yet the most flimsy allegation of DV by a woman can lead to a man being arrested, evicted from his house, etc.
Women are not seen as being as helpless as children. Rather, they are seen as needing or deserving even greater protection than children.
Putting aside the specific gender ratios of the teachers...
Among female perpetrators of child sexual abuse about eight percent are teachers. Among male perps teachers are fewer than one percent.
Women are only responsible for a quarter of all the abuse. However a teacher-student situation is actually far more likely to involve a female teacher than a male. To put it into perspective about 2.0% of all victims are abused by female teachers whilst about 0.5% of all victims are abused by male teachers. Notably, among those victims, four out of five are boys.
Interesting to me is that anonymity will be available but will only apply in those areas where female perpetration is more likely.
Hi,
Enjoying reading your comments, Im a football coach and was accused if having a fling with a 15 year old student at a school I worked at.
Have a read of my blog;
accused0909.blogspot.com
Shock and horror!! Surely making these men's public means that other females who might also have been assaulted can come forward.!! That's the overwhelming public reason for no anonymity.
Where is the feminist crowd? Why aren't they shouting from the rafters? Oh right I remember the Teachers Union is powerful and the Government told the Feminists to keep their mouths shut else we'll cut your fat cat grants.
Frigging hypocrites.
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