David Cameron: Stop the abuse! We call on you to give children and young people rights!
Stop the abuse! We call on you to give children and young people rights!
This petition calls for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to meet with the children’s rights activist and former chair of the National Association of Young People in Care, Mary Moss, to discuss how those who report abuse can be protected.
The meeting seeks to secure guarantees from David Cameron that:
• Victims will be offered witness protection to ensure that they are able, and are encouraged, to come forward to make allegations.
• Those brave enough to come forward will be taken seriously by police and the authorities.
• Those who report abuse will be able to do so without fear of further abuse, violence, or reprisals from supporters and associates of abusers.
• A budget of £12 million, representing £1 per child in the UK, is ring fenced to provide young people with an elected forum designed to secure children’s rights.
Without these guarantees media focus on celebrity paedophiles will come to be regarded as just horrific, sensationalist news stories that quickly fade from public consciousness.
The convictions of high profile paedophiles will become yesterday’s news. The likes of Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile, and a number of politicians, as well as other high profile paedophiles, will be seen as one-off monsters - when they are far from being alone.
There are 12 million children in this country. Young people have no voice, no representation, no elected forum, and not a single self-defined right to protection from abuse.
Only by providing children with a voice will abuse stop.
• Over 50,000 children are known to be at risk of abuse right now.
• There are 92,000 looked after children in the UK
• 1 in 4 young adults has been severely maltreated.
Mary Moss is a fearless campaigner for the rights of young people, an advocate for a Youth Parliament, and has helped to bring to light a number of cases of child abuse. She is the former Chair of the National Association of Young People in Care.
Mary Moss @justjomakinglaw
MEDIA LINKS
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ITV News UK Editor, Lucy Manning, interviews Mary Moss about child abuse that took place at Elm House Guest House, which is currently the subject of a police investigation.
http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-02-06/elm-guest-house-child-abuse-ring-investigation-arrests/
Leon Brittan confirms he was handed a dossier containing allegations of high profile paedophiles.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10940180/Leon-Brittan-confirms-he-was-handed-a-bundle-of-papers-said-to-contain-allegations-about-high-profile-paedophiles.html