[Itshim]

Originally Posted by Damien

When looking at these historical cases within institutions I think it's worth remembering it was, in part, taking place at a time when wider society was also not taking these kinds of accusations that seriously either. It didn't happen in a vacuum. Think how often euphemisms like 'dirty old man' were thrown around as an almost comical description of an eccentric old man as opposed to people calling them a sex pest or offender.

When people talk of the BBC and Saville, they failed massively there, but the press never really chased up accusations or rumours they had heard of him. A lot of his concerning behaviour was taking place in public but was chalked up to his weird character. Few people knew the reality of what he was doing but few wanted to confront it or explore it further in the first place. Teenagers hanging around the dressing room of pop stars was seen as normal rather than a safeguarding issue.

That's all to say that although cover-ups will still happen I think it's less likely we see such institutional blindness on the same scale in the future as happened in the past. Wider society is more aware of it now. If bits of information came out the press and police are more likely to follow up on it as well.

I would love to think you are correct, something tells me it will still happen