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Press TV has conducted an interview with Ian Williams, an analyst at Foreign policy & Focus, from London, about the cover-up of child sexual abuse cases in Rotherham, Britain, and the abuse committed by high-ranking officials and celebrities.

Press TV: Let me get your reaction about this case, it is really horrific what has happened and also in terms of numbers not only of the number of children, but the number of years that his has been going on for.

Williams: The numbers are appalling. It is difficult to actually believe that 1,400 children in a small city like Rotherham would have been victims like this; but that is over many, many years (16 years) so that makes it more plausible. And this is in the trail of many other scandals.

The difference here is that the perpetrators don’t seem to have been well connected in the British establishment; they seem to have been involved in – according to reports – in one ethnic group and the police were reluctant to prosecute for fear of Racism.

But the pervading problem is that people in authority and adults tend not to take children seriously when they complain and children are basically indoctrinated to think that adults have authority over them.

And that’s re-enforced. If they went to the police station or were turned away or they went to their teachers or parents and were told don’t be silly then they’d go away and nurse the wounds instead of pursuing them.

That’s part of the problem – How do you ensure children’s voices are heard in general, but especially in instances like this?

Press TV: You talked about for fear of racism authorities did not go through with prosecutions...

Williams: Fear of accusations of racism.

Press TV: But do you really believe that? We’re talking about cases of children that are being abused in the form and manner that they have.

Williams: There is a pervasive fear in all bureaucrats of doing anything that might get boxes ticked... you know... I have personal experience – my son was going out with an Asian girl who was dragged away and committed to a mental hospital because she wouldn’t marry the people her parents wanted her to. And the staff there regarding this as a custom they didn’t want to interfere with. It was clearly abuse - and since then they’ve changed the guidelines.

But there is a tendency across the world to think that people have their own customs and that the rights and duties that apply to one group don’t necessarily apply to another. We can see that with cases like female mutilation where quite often doctors and police turn a blind eye because it is the custom of the family and the parents.

In this case perpetrators were doing things apparently with some feeling from the community either that the victims deserved it or equally so much revulsion at the idea that “our people don’t do that”. And I’ve come across that before.

I’ve revealed cases to the United Nations of sexual harassment and had a deputation of Arab ambassadors saying we are bringing Arabs into disrepute because it so happened the perpetrator was Arab. I said no, he’s bringing Arabs into disrepute. You’re not I’m not, it’s up to him, you should stop him unless you want him to bring you down by identity.

And that’s what we have to persuade people that there is a humanity beyond group identity that when people perpetrate crimes it doesn’t matter what their ethnicity is we are all equally responsible for stopping them - And nurturing the victims as well of course no matter what their ethnicity.

Press TV: The former chairman of British Association of Social workers David Niven he said that not only is it not realistic to believe that this will never happen again, he said the UK has always had a problem recognizing and addressing child sexual abuse. Why has the UK had this problem?

Williams: The crux of it is it’s about power relations. Children are powerless and without a voice and make accusations against adults. In all previous cases pretty much the adults involved have been members of the local establishment. So you’re asking the police to possibly take action against their own chief constable, against the counselors, against MPs, against the civil servants and judges who employ them.

And that’s been the characteristic of much of the scandal recently that what’s been getting revealed is the degree to which the British establishment was protecting its own in these practices.

These people instinctively close ranks just like ethnic groups might. The British upper classes, if one of theirs or a significant number is being accused of this type of activity, they will either shudder and say “no it’s not possible” or consciously go to protect them. And the same is true for various ethnic groups and religious groups.

Just like the church managed to cover up these scandals for many years because they protected their own - They thought that by revealing it they would put their institution and their colleagues into disrepute. So they protected evil things.

As I said we have to open up these institutions and organizations and show that we have a common humanity and a common responsibility to humanity that our primary urge is not to cover up the great name of the British army or the Freemasons or the Church or whoever, but to make sure all humans are treated properly especially those who are weak and vulnerable without a voice like children.

The whole field of children’s rights is only just really developing and has only been developing over the last few decades in Britain. The concept that children do have rights apart from the adults whose families they’re in.

Press TV: Our guest John Bird said this is probably going on in other parts of the UK. I’m looking at the Jimmy Savill case, I’m looking at this case and perhaps there are some other cases that I’m not mentioning... I would think there should be an investigation on a wide scale because it’s not like this is one incident or two, these numbers are pretty big...

So what have authorities done? What have you heard they’re going to do or are they just going to sit back, have this case just come into the news and then perhaps get forgotten?

Williams: One of the problems here of course is that one of the institutions that most notably closes ranks and puts all their shields together under threat are the police forces.

What these investigations reveal is that the police forces condoned or ignored or generally by act of omission or co-mission allowed these things to happen.

It’s very clear in the Rotherham case that the police force ignored the complaints; similarly in Rochdale with Tutle Smith, the MP there, complaints were ignored and bypassed right across the country. It’s always this nexus of power where people are looking after each other.

I think one of the key points to emphasize to non-Brits is that it is the English upper classes who send their children to public schools at the age of 8 to be brutalized and sodomized in dark and damp dormitories.

The people who administer the law in society to a large measure are conditioned to accept this as normal and character-building almost. You just have to read George Orwell’s essay, Those were The days to get some idea of the grinding brutality of it. And he’s one of the few who actually broke ranks and said this is awful this is terrible it’s not character building, it’s ethic-destroying behavior.

And of course he said it was one of the reasons why the British empire was as bad as it was because it was run by people who come from this type of background; or one of the reasons why British society is as bad as it is, is that it has come from people from a background who have been condoning it.

And also more often than not the victims in these cases are almost certainly from ethnic groups or working class, lower class... There is a double-bar against them: they are children: and they are lower class. Why would anyone listen to them?

Press TV: The level of abuse is said to be categorizing Rotherham into the nation’s sex exploitation capital. Is this going to raise some alarm bells in order for there to be a complete in investigation in other towns? And not only that we know that some victims have come forward and they want compensation. Are they going to get it?

Williams: Victims coming forward, I’m afraid when they ask for compensation, they might deserve it, but it tends to color people’s ideas because w are so used to people suing with financial motives.

To put a sense of perspective, yes children should be heard, but their complaints should be investigated very thoroughly – I’m just putting a caveat here.

In the United States there have been some horrifying cases where therapists have got their hands on children and basically manipulated their memories and produced some horrific and totally unsubstantiated charges against adults.

There is a reason why children don’t have full rights, but yes their complaints should be investigated. They should be investigated thoroughly and dispassionately. – on both sides.

This is the caveat, but all over the country I suspect people will be looking, some of them will be greedy and want compensation; others will want justice – deservedly after all of this time; and yet others will be closing ranks to try and cover their tracks as we saw the pattern with the Church in America where the financial claims led the Church to close ranks because they were scared the Church would be bankrupt; the same with other institutions.

It is complex. The real issue is to make sure the children’s voices are heard. An institution like a children’s ombudsman I think they have in some Scandinavian countries – a public official who will receive complaints from children and treat them seriously; and can order officials to act on them.