Report to the People
17th January 2005
New Protection Powers
Some
of the most distressing stories to emerge in the aftermath of the devastating
tsunami disaster have been those concerning the attempted exploitation and even
sale of orphaned children by unscrupulous criminals.
The
exploitation of children in this part of the world is, sadly, nothing new.
But, before we get all high and mighty about how terribly these countries
treat their kids, we must face up to the fact that much of this exploitation is
done by westerners visiting as sex tourists.
And,
whatever steps the authorities in places such as Thailand take to crack down on
this evil trade, we in the west must play our part by making sure that any
paedophile who returns to these shores after abusing children abroad is dealt
with severely.
Not
only that, if these dangerous men are in our midst for the other 50 weeks of the
year, we need to prevent them gaining access to our own children.
It’s
good news, then, that the new Children Act is now in force. This
will prevent people who pose a danger to children being appointed to positions
of trust. They will be placed on a compulsory register and if they work
in, or even apply to work in, a job with children, they will be arrested.
Paedophiles
are notoriously devious, continually seeking out new ways to gain access to
children both at home and abroad – Parliaments, therefore, must keep working
to make the law stay one step ahead.
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