Groping versus sexual predators.

[i-need-a-martini]

Let me preface this post by saying that I thnk anyone that has sex with a child is evil and I do not support anyone who is this way inclined. 

However, as I read the Rolf Harris trial it seems to me that the now grown women he was handy with are taking this to the extreme. He doesn't seem to have done anything beyond being very handy. The only sex he had was with a girl who was in her 2os at the time and there is no crime against that. Yet the news report women standing in the dock sobbing and being emotional or describing their lives wasted by depression, drug and alc addiction all because Harris groped them once. In one case something happened when one of the girls was 5 so not even at an age to fully appreciate that a touch could be sexual.

I don't get it where these women are coming from. How can they be so vulnerable and have fallen apart so readily at something like this?

I come from a big Italian family so I am used to 'handiness'. As kids we learnt to duck certain relatives but it never occurred to me then (and nor does it now) that it was anything other than annoyance.

(I should also point out that I haven't read every article in the Harris case so if there is more to it that I am not seeing, let me know).

[cherry*135]

I think the exact year isn't asking too much. They could probably even remember whether it was summer or winter, if the person remembers what clothes they were wearing (summer dress, long pants etc).  What other kids they were in class with that year etc

[donnashuggy]

I have a lot of time for Tara Moss, has anyone read The Fictional Woman?

I'm still waiting for it to be delivered.

If you are in Victoria this might be worth going to http://www.readings.com.au/event/the-fictional-woman-with-tara-moss

[aftanas]

If the question posed by the poster is whether groping is as bad as raping and murdering a child, and then burning down the family home, then no, it isn't as bad.  But in my view groping a child is very bad.

I believe that children are in a special category of persons.  They come into the world innocent (that is, not knowing right from wrong) and they look to adults to teach them what is and what is not permissible.  They instinctively trust adults and expect adults to protect and care for them.  That is how people are made and I believe all adults have a responsibility towards children to not betray their trust. 

What gropers do is exploit and betray the natural trust of children for selfish reasons, resulting in harm to the children.  I think normal affectionate behaviour between adults and children should be acceptable as children seem to require touching from adults.  But it is sometimes hard to differentiate appropriate and inappropriate touching so I think it is OK to say to a child "No, means no. I am not having a tickle fight with you".  However, groping is clearly inappropriate.  I think adults who grope children should be prosecuted.  

[donnashuggy]

In the past law enforcement did not handle things well and it was often more humiliating to report things than to endure things happening to you. Things have changed thankfully, I escaped what could have been a very nasty incident once and felt extremely humiliated by police when my family reported it. At the time I wish I never said a thing.