Our girls

Yes you are probably right.
So WHERE is the image of a good, strong man?

David Beckham? Though he is old hat nowadays.

I will put the same link on here that I put on the feminism thread earlier.
I can only find a Daily Mail link re this
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2979456/Young-singers-models-WAGs-win-followers-women-men-sports-stars-politicans-academics.html

You could be right again Penstemmon.
It doesnt help at all that there are so many jobs now done by machines instead of people.

I had very few restrictions placed on me when I was around 12/13. I could go round to my friends' houses, go to the cinema, even go to a rhythm and blues club for young people and get the bus home fairly late at night, go to see pop stars at the local cinema and hang around waiting for autographs (the Kinks, the Stones, etc.). I had a good time but didn't misbehave.

The culture was different then. There was only the BBC and one commercial channel which showed fairly amateurish advertisements. There wasn't 24-hour television, or the internet, or mobile phones. Life was pretty simple and young people weren't constantly bombarded with information to make them feel inadequate or envious of others.

I used to think that paedophiles were those (mainly) men who had been convicted and jailed for the rape and murder of young boys and girls. I never occurred to me that there were 'ordinary' men, celebrities, fathers and grandfathers, priests and vicars, organised gangs and so on who fell into this category.

It was only when I was working with children that this behaviour was recognised, by myself and colleagues.

What is happening, at long last, is the hardening of attitudes which actually condemns this behaviour instead of sweeping it under the carpet. Had there been more of an awareness and less acceptance of this abuse when Savile and co were operating I doubt this latest grooming would have reached such a scale.

I'm niw wondering just what is going to be uncovered regarding MPs, Parliament and No.10 ?

I do agree Anya that the image of the typical offender was of a man on the periphery of society - a weird, dirty old man in a grubby raincoat, rather than a "respectable", personable man, holding down a responsible and respected job and having children of his own. Of course, we know better now.

However, in some cases it appears that it was not so much a lack of awareness that allowed these people to offend but a lack of will on the part of some people to do anything about it. Those who did venture to express their concerns were sometimes strongly discouraged from pursuing the matter. For instance, Mrs Thatcher had apparently already been warned about Savile's behaviour and had been urged not to allow him such freedom of movement.