In our locality in Kansas, there is much poverty. There are a lot of females who use the moral panic to benefit themselves financially. If they want a divorce and wish to receive all the assets, they claim sexual abuse. Even the girls have caught on, they can use this accusation to their benefit when it is untrue. So, “substantiated” doesn’t mean much. Like one poster said, many real abuses go unreported, so its all just a guess.

Some of the real victims of it all are the families (including children) of the accused. Their lives are ruined by the accusation to their relative. I am posting so that more people will stop to consider that this moral panic is greatly inflicting enormous pain on so many people. I do wish the media would do more research before they report something which has such a great chance of being untrue.

The purpose of this story is to reach out to as many people as possible, to present hope, to inspire, and to encourage those who have been unfortunate to have experienced unfair adversity in their life. I appear to have been successful in that goal. Here are some excerpts from reviews . . .

This is a moving story about one girl’s journey to find feelings of self-esteem and self-worth.
- Jill Zimmerman Rutledge, LCSW, author of Dealing With The Stuff That Makes Life Tough: The Ten Things That Stress Girls Out and How To Cope With Them

This short but potent tale is indeed the story of a young girl, Anastasia’s, metamorphosis out of the smothering and woundedness caused by cruelty and abuse. … Perhaps this unique story will touch many lives … Perhaps this story will bring one person into a life of more fun and less pain!
- Review by Viviane Crystal, Member of Reviewers International Organization

… I couldn’t put the book down until I completely finished it on the back cover. It is so down to earth, so well versed I could feel times that I was “Anastasia.” Reading the words, but the brain saying “you’ve been there” too.
- Emily Schuessler, Customer, Ontario

“Anastasia and the Ghostly Owl (The Choice Was Hers!)” is a book with a purpose, namely to inspire readers to overcome whatever challenges they may face … It’s an unusual book … this book is meant to serve as a blinking arrow penetrating the darkness to point you toward the light that lies at the end of your own personal tunnel, and I think it succeeds very well in doing just that.
- Daniel Jolley, one of Amazon.com’s Top 50 Reviewers

“Anastasia and The Ghostly Owl” is about hope and overcoming obstacles that you will read and re-read, and will be a classic treasured by generations to come.
- Florence Starr, Customer, and Founder of The Home For The Aged in Fernie, BC

“‘Who am I?’ is a question that many people of many ages ask – it is the first question of the story. Anastasia asked this of herself over and over; of course, life is properly a process of discovery, and this can take place at different times and in different ways for each individual. … This book shows a creative spark and an intense desire to share with others. … this is Wladichuk’s first book … A good premier effort.
- FrKurt Messick, one of Amazon.com’s Top 50 Reviewers

I appreciated the simplicity of this very complex story – I read the book 3 times within a 24 hour period and each time I was forced outside my comfort zone and caused to remember and experience again my own journey to self-actualization. – Thank you for sharing this story with me.

- Tom Jones, Customer who also put his review on Amazon

Child abuse, of course, is not restricted to any one particular segment of society, so I am contacting various groups and organizations with the intention of inspiring others who have suffered unfair adversity. Please take a moment to visit my website at http://www.ghostlyowl.com to read excerpts from “Anastasia and The Ghostly Owl (The Choice Was Hers!)” and to see what reviewers and customers are saying about my book.

This is the only book that is available which does not describe the horrific details of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse. If you are looking for a book that does not do this, then “Anastasia and The Ghostly Owl (The Choice Was Hers!)” is the book for you!

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Sincerely

Anita E. Wladichuk, Author

“Anastasia and The Ghostly Owl (The Choice Was Hers!)”

Ghostly Owl Publishing Company

Suite 479, 104-1015 Columbia Street

New Westminster, BC V3M 6V3

Canada

Email: anastasia@ghostlyowl.com

Website: http://www.ghostlyowl.com

You really must adjust the statistics you have give to reflect the truth. You talk about sexual predators and then show that over 70% of abuse is perpetrated by parents. But that’s ALL abuse, including neglect.

Of course most child neglect and physical abuse is perpetrated by parents on their children. But of the parents accused of abuse, less than 3% were accused of sexual abuse.

You should not support your arguments by distorting the facts. Most sexual abuse occurs outside the family, although most also involves people that the child knows and does not regard as a stranger.

Approximately 79 percent of perpetrators were parents. Other relatives accounted for 7 percent and unmarried partners of parents and “other” accounted for 4 percent and 5 percent of perpetrators, respectively. The remaining perpetrator relationship types accounted for less than 1 percent each (figure S-6).
What were the characteristics of perpetrators?

Female perpetrators, mostly mothers, were typically younger than male perpetrators, mostly fathers. Women also comprised a larger percentage of all perpetrators than men, 58 percent compared to 42 percent(figure S-7).

Of the parents who maltreated children, less than 3 percent committed sexual abuse, while 63 percent committed neglect. Of the perpetrators who were friends or neighbors, nearly three-quarters committed sexual abuse, while 10 percent committed neglect.

*** end quote***

As you will see, for sexual abuse, the figures within families are actually pretty low, while the figures from other adults in the child’s life are much higher.

It is all very well to exhort parents to give their children more freedom and not to overprotect them, but you should be careful not to encourage them to do that by distorting the facts.

Generally I agree with your overall point. But that first charge sticks out to me as largely irrelevant. With data that only goes up to 2000 I don’t think we can use it as a “things are that bad” position. If anything it helps the position of those who would say that online is a dark place by allowing them to say “this chart shows that the data is outdated in the MySpace/Facebook/etc. world”

In my never-ending search for new and interesting blogs, this article has stood out. I work with Social Services in the UK and it can at times be very upsetting to see some of the cases of neglect and abuse involving children.

Obviously our two cultures share various structures but I find it interesting that, in my experience at least, there doesn’t appear to be that same fear of the Internet amongst children in great Britain.

I’d never really considered this issue before, but find it quite refreshing – for want of a better word. Moral panics are all too common in the media, and has been ever since the creation of the first newspapers. The modern age of interactive, 24-hour media has only brought the same panics into our living rooms on much larger a scale. In essence this has all stood to exacerbate the public’s perceptions of any given social ‘problem’. It’s good to see that, with regard the Internet at least, people’s fears are not out of context or irrational.

True, there is certainly an issue there, but it is certainly not the biggest factor involved in child abuse present today.

You rightly state that the prevalence of Internet -related abuse is comparatively low and that the main perpetrators are almost always parents or close, personal relatives. Unfortunately, because children are often so trusting of their family, scared to speak out, or in many cases think that what is happening to them is either normal or their fault, I am unfortunately certain much more takes place behind closed doors than that of which we are currently (or ever) aware.

Very interesting article.
Regards,

Craig

P.S.: A startling moral panic: The elderly in the UK believe themselves to be at the most risk of petty crime and theft. Young people (under 25-years) understand themselves to be at the least risk. Surprisingly, official and independent figures unanimously show that the truth is the complete opposite to public perception.