Angels required to save our children
WHEN I was about five or so, I was randomly molested by a man walking down my street. I was just a few houses up from my home, and he suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my path. I can’t remember what he said at the start, but he soon put his hand in my undies and touched me.
Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, the man let me go. Later, my mum rang the police and they interviewed me. I remember them zeroing in on any cars: were there cars parked nearby or did I see him come out of a car?
I shook my head. I hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Looking back, I think the guardian angels were looking out for me that day, as he could have easily put a hand on my mouth and dragged me into a car. This was the 1970s, when there were so many horrific cases of children snatched from streets.
The rate of child murders these days is far less, thank goodness. But alarmingly, the number of children being sexually abused has risen.
Of course, as everyone knows, most cases of sexual abuse against kids are not from strangers but adults known to them or family members.
But I was shocked to discover when I checked the Australian Bureau of Statistics that more children are sexually assaulted than adults. Nationally, around three in five victims – 61 per cent – are under 18 years, the latest figures show. Of the children being harmed, almost 20 per cent are under the age of nine.
Sexually harming children is one of the most wicked crimes, which is why the story that emerged last week over the high-end luxury clothing brand Balenciaga is so disturbing.
In case you missed it, the ultra fancy, ultra wealthy brand – sold here
in Australia at David Jones and elsewhere – launched a creepy new ad campaign using children styled with teddy bears dressed in bondage gear, with fishnet tops, studded black leather harnesses and neck collars with locks.
The posed children were made to appear vulnerable and unhappy.
The teddy bears were described as having “panda eyes”, a hideous slang pedo term for trauma inflicted upon children which causes black eyes.
In some of the elaborately styled scenes, children are surrounded by ritually laid out objects, including dog leashes and harnesses, dog water bowls with spikes, balaclavas, duct tape, wine glasses and candles in beer cans. And in case that wasn’t enough, papers laid around the children include text that, when you zoom in, detail a famous US court case about paedophilia.
And if you still don’t get the child abuse vibe, online sleuths went further to discover other sinister Balenciaga images included books by artists who depict blood-covered “demonic” toddlers playing in fire and human limbs. Their Paris Week fashion shoot also included a model who looked like a domestic violence victim holding one of the teddies.
The fashion house apologised for its “grievous errors” and blamed a rogue photographer.
Was it a one-off mistake? Or something like the old 1990s “heroin chic”, where they wanted to appear edgy?
Author and women and girl’s advocate Melinda Tankard Reist says there’s no such thing as an accidental photoshoot from a huge global corporate.
“Give me a break,” she said. “Did they all have their eyes closed? No.
“It’s all part of what we call ‘pedo shtick’. We see this pedophilic aesthetic in fashions, clothing and advertising.”
Her team at the grassroots organisation Collective Shout have been fighting what they call “corporate paedophilia”, or profits based on the sexualisation and adultification of children, for years. Balenciaga is not alone.
There are many other examples.
At least Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk is not putting up with this.
Three of the biggest child abuse hashtags on Twitter’s platform were eliminated as soon as he took over.
More can be done. Tankard Reist says we urgently need proof-of-age verifications to stop children accessing pornography.
And the ad industry’s system of self-regulation has failed because there are no penalties.
Nicole Kidman’s Instagram post from last week – promoting Balenciaga’s Summer 23 launch – remains online.
Eyes wide shut it seems.
It’s disturbing to see our culture slowly being poisoned. How so many elites don’t see a problem with
BDSM, kink and porn culture spreading their creepy tentacles to children.
We need a few more guardian angels like Tankard Reist’s team.
Flirting with evil, trading on the ghastly vibe of children being harmed or sexualised is not the new heroin chic.
It’s outright satanic.