Breiðavík VII: Innbyggð mótsögn í hlýjunni?

Bréf frá lesanda: "Þær eru víða Breiðavíkurnar.... Eitt sem ég velti þó fyrir mér, þegar talað er um að svona hlutir geti ekki gerst í dag etc... Ein af fóbíúm nútímans er kynferðislegt ofbeldi gagnvart börnum – sem iðulega á sér stað á stöðum þar sem mörgum börnum er haldið einangruðum, (katþólskum heimavistarskólum etc.)

Af því leiðir hræðsla starfsmanna við að fá á sig slíkan stimpil, sem hægara er sagt en gert að losna við eða afsanna. Af því leiðir hræðsla starfsmanna við að sýna börnum hlýju og ástúð og veita þeim þá líkamlegu nánd sem þau oft þarfnast. Af því leiðir kuldi og persónuleg fjarðlægð gagnvart börnunum–  sem veldur að sjálfsögðu vanlíðan hjá börnunum.  Þessi fjarlægð  getur síðan þróast út í misnotkun etc. Mér sýnist þessi „innbyggða mótsögn“ sem er fóðruð á fóbíunni aldrei hafa verið sterkari en nú á tímum. Spurningin er því hvort börn sem eru í þessari stöðu, séu jafnvel í enn meiri hættu en áður á að fara á mis við hlýju og umhyggju og jafnvel að verða misnotuð í framhaldinu. Hvað skyldu fagstéttir segja um þetta – er þetta vandamál viðurkennt og hver er lausnin?

Þetta eru bara nokkrar bollaleggingar...".

 

Haut de la Garenne: Your experiences

Police in Jersey are continuing their search at the former children's home Haut de la Garenne, where a child's remains were found.

Here, two BBC News website readers reflect on their experiences of the home.

Both wish to remain anonymous. The first had a couple of brief stays in Haut de la Garenne when he lived in Jersey in the seventies. He now lives abroad. The second website reader used to visit the children's home regularly, and witnessed the cruelty and abuse of the children who were sent there. Here are their stories:

ANONYMOUS

... I spent two brief periods at Haut de la Garenne, and thought it was going to be a relief for me. But it wasn't.

It felt unsafe. At Haut de la Garenne, physical abuse was a regular occurrence. It was common currency to be hit about the head.

School was the same - corporal punishment was the routine for those who, like myself, were not 'compliant' or willingly following rigid rules.

For myself, there was no-one or nowhere to go to, and it seemed that the entire adult population were doing all that they could to beat me down, physically, mentally and emotionally.

Jersey is an island - there is nowhere to run to, and I ran away several times, but the reality was there was nowhere to go. There was no escape.

ALL the institutions failed me. The school, which should have been a sanctuary from home, was a place I dreaded to go.

The local hospital, where I received attention on more than one occasion, never reported anything untoward to the local police or the equivalent of social services. The local police, and in particular the local 'honorary' police, ever keen to ensure that these matters were resolved behind closed doors, never raised an alarm.

Everything that could be done by those in authority to normalise a terrible situation was done, and more than once I was given a thick ear for trying to stand up and make complaints about actions that today would be described as assault.

Life was very hierarchical in Jersey in the seventies. Like the famous milk - as long as the double cream on the surface wasn't disturbed, no-one cared what troubles there were going on underneath.

I was very upset when I heard the recent news. I can't remember the faces of any of the children from Haut de la Garenne. But I can clearly remember some faces of those 'responsible.'

I miss aspects of a very beautiful island, but sadly, memories of the wonderful nature of Jersey are overshadowed by the dreadful memories of the awful nature of some human beings.