Editorial
| Published date | 12 December 2016 |
| Pages | 301-302 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-10-2016-0025 |
| Date | 12 December 2016 |
| Author | Bridget Penhale,Margaret Flynn |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Adult protection,Safeguarding,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Abuse |
Bridget Penhale and Margaret Flynn
Brexit has taught us a lot about nurturing stereotypes since the rapid increase in “hate crimes”
has yet to wane. Figures released by the National Police Chiefs’Council are at higher levels than
they were 12 months ago[1]. In the absence of extra school places, enhanced NHS provision
and housing in areas which have absorbed newcomers –as well as action to address wage
undercutting –the destructive legacy of slavery surfaces[2]. Little wonder that there’s no news
about the former Prime Minister’s promise to launch an “action plan”following the spike in racist
violence after the Brexit vote. The suggestion that child refugees arriving in the UK from Calais
should undergo rigorous checks (including dental examinations) to prove their ages fuels a
xenophobic fire that looks unlikely to be quelled any time soon.
Earlier in the year the Care Quality Commission announced that it would undertake fewer and
more focussed inspections –effectively rolling back the approach of in-depth quality and safety
inspections of hospitals. This is the result of the £32 m reduction in the CQC’s budget and
associated staffing issues. Many hospitals welcomed the reduction and GPs have been
emboldened to request the same[3]. Now the Food Standards Authority’s reduced budget
is resulting in the large retailers being invited to police themselves. Readers may recall that this is
only a couple of years after “horsegate”(Morley, 2016) and related, but unsurprising concerns
about the inability of organisations of all types to effectively monitor and regulate themselves.
We are reminded of the apparent circularity of some issues over time.
During September we learned that the proportion of people accessing mental health services is
increasing and that mental illnesses among young women are soaring, that is, they have now
become identified as a “high risk”group. It is also not surprising to learn that mental health
problems disproportionately affect those facing deprivation and that people in the black ethnic
group have particularly low treatment rates[4].
A very worrying development hinges on Michael Fallon’s assertion that “Our legal system has
been abused to level false charges against our troops on an industrial scale”. The conservative
government wishes to limit the jurisdiction of the ECHR on the basis of cost to the Ministry of
Defence[5]. Fortunately, there are lawyers to remind us that it is the role of the justice system to
determine the validity of claims and it matters that function is quite separate from that of
government[6]. And although there are those who are suggesting that an exit from the EU will
automatically mean a departure from the ECHR, it is clear that membership of both the
Court and the Council of Europe are independent of any EU membership (and indeed pre-dated
this by some time).
During October, the family of the woman whom footballer Ched Evans was accused of raping
stated that his retrial resembled a trial of their relative. This is because graphic details of the
woman’s sexual history (as opposed to Ched Evans’) were set out during his retrial. Ched Evans
had been convicted of rape during 2011 and served over two years of a prison sentence.
However, in the light of the woman’s sexual history, the prosecution failed to secure a
prosecution for rape through a failure to convince the members of the jury “beyond reasonable
doubt”. The press coverage acknowledges the considerable concern that women and perhaps
in particular the majority of rape victims, will be deterred from reporting rape. A woman’s sexual
history was a typical defence strategy which those being prosecuted for rape mounted prior to
the introduction of the Youth and Criminal Evidence Act 1999[7]. We hope that we will not see a
return to that type of defence, but unfortunately it does feel like an endorsement of that tenacious
prejudice “she was asking for it!”Under-reporting of a different variety also features in this edition
with a paper from Steve Moore, that relates to the under reporting of safeguarding issues in care
homes for older people. Based on a relatively small-scale piece of research the paper contains
some interesting and useful findings to this under explored area of the safeguarding world.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-10-2016-0025 VOL. 18 NO. 6 2016, pp. 301-302, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
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THE JOURNAL OF ADULT PROTECTION
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PAG E 30 1
Editorial
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