Category Archives: Abuse of Power

April 6, 2025 · 1:00 am

Light from Darkness, Part 2

“One Spring, Gurs Camp” (1941) by Karl Robert Bodek and Kurt Low, Yad Vashem Museum, Israel, Image courtesy of Yad Vashem Collection

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Abuse comes in many forms.  From 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany it was governmental, with the goal being complete extermination of the Jews [1].

The artworks comprising the Yad Vashem Collection were created by artists (Jewish and non-Jewish) between 1939 and 1945 to provide a living testament of the Holocaust [2A].  A hundred works from the collection were exhibited in Germany in 2016, just three years after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded – a far Right party whose leader, Björn Höcke denigrated the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe [3][4].

Art in the concentration camps served simultaneously as a witness, a means of self-assertion, and an expression of optimism [2B].

The works are both heart wrenching and awe inspiring.  In “One Spring, Gurs Camp” (above), the barbed wire depicts imprisonment and loneliness.  The butterfly and the mountains in the background, however, suggest hope. 

One of the two artists who collaborated on “One Spring”, 28 y.o. Kurt Low, was released and able to flee to Switzerland.  The other, 37 y.o. Karl Bodek, was ultimately murdered at Auschwitz. Continue reading →

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February 2, 2025 · 1:00 am

Dreadful Sins

Portrait of Gisèle Pelicot by Ann-Sophie Qvarnström as an illustration for Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.O International)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

“Madam, we the women of East London feel horror at the dreadful sins that have been lately committed in our midst.”

–Petition to Queen Victoria by 4000 impoverished women of Whitechapel

In fear for their lives, the women of London’s Whitechapel petitioned Queen Victoria for relief when Jack the Ripper was at large [1][2].  The Ripper is known to have murdered 5 women, but the exact number of his victims is uncertain [3].  These women were all characterized as prostitutes, though they may simply have been destitute women.

Serial Killings

Despite his infamy, Jack the Ripper was not the first serial killer of women.  Nor will he be the last.  The savagery of such attacks will not be addressed here. 

There are, however, men who have no compassion for women — whether they ever become serial killers or not.  They do not recognize women as human beings, and feel entitled to use and degrade them.  A few celebrity predators come to mind, though fame is not a prerequisite.

Sex Trafficking

Worldwide, of course, there are sex traffickers who exploit women by force, fraud, and coercion for their own financial gain.  Drugs are commonly employed to secure control over women in the sex trade. 

Rape by Proxy

Dominique Pelicot, aged 71, went a step further.  Pelicot was recently convicted in France of repeatedly drugging Gisele (his wife of 50 years), then recruiting 50 different men to rape her over a 10 year period [4A].  The men (who, themselves, ranged in age from 26 to 68) were likewise convicted, though some claim they believed they were taking part in an erotic game [5].

Pelicot took thousands of videos of these men abusing his unconscious wife.  Though she was asleep during the assaults, Gisele Pelicot suffered large gaps in memory, hair and weight loss, as side effects of the drugs her husband was surreptitiously administering to her [4B].  She feared she was developing Alzheimer’s Disease or a brain tumor. Continue reading →

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August 4, 2024 · 1:00 am

The Toxic Workplace

File:Workplace Bullying.jpg

Workplace bullying image, Author GwenFord (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

The victims of childhood abuse may remain vulnerable to abuse as adults in a variety of circumstances.  Domestic abuse is one example.  Workplace abuse is another.

Hostile Workplace

Abusive conduct in the workplace can range from insults or derogatory statements, humiliating public censure, bullying and threatening remarks, to sabotage of an employee’s work product/professional growth/reputation, sexual harassment, and blatant discrimination [1][2][3][4]. 

Actions that intimidate, belittle or degrade individuals, foster a toxic environment.  They often occur as part of a pattern of behavior.

Dangers of Workplace Abuse

Aside from the psychological impact negative behaviors like these have, they can lead to injuries on the job and outright violence — the third leading cause of occupational fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics [5]. 

Legal Rights

Employees are entitled under the law to a workplace free of harassment and hostile conduct.

Unfortunately, some employers turn a blind eye to such behavior, rather than actively discouraging it.  As a result, employees in a certain category (for example, Hispanics or young women) may routinely be targeted for abuse.

While this can expose an employer to legal liability, the more important question is how an employee should respond. Continue reading →

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May 26, 2024 · 1:00 am

Rape as a Weapon II

WARNING: Graphic Images

“‘Neighbourhoods and homes were continuously attacked, looted, burned and destroyed,’ especially those where Masalit and other African communities lived, and their people were harassed, assaulted, sexually abused, and at times, executed [1A].”

The United Nations confirms that rape is being used as a weapon against women and girls in the Sudanese civil war [1B][2A].

NGOs describe rape as an everyday occurrence, with both warring parties participating, and numbers estimated as high as 4,400 during this latest conflict [2B].  But civil war has been ongoing in Sudan (in three stages) since 1955, and rape has been employed from the outset [3].

“…systemic rape in homes, detention facilities, public checkpoints, and interrogation centres…committed mainly by members of the police force, intelligence officers, interrogators and prison guards…[including] forced nudity, [punitive] virginity test, and sexual torture [4A].”

This tactic is not new.  We have seen it used in Iraq; Rwanda; Syria, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere in the Middle East during the Arab Spring; in India; and most recently against Israel [4B][5][6][7A][8][9].  In Rwanda, between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped during the three months of genocide. Continue reading →

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May 19, 2024 · 1:00 am

Celebrity Predation

File:Spacey Star.jpg

Kevin Spacey’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Author Mike Crawley of Southampton, UK (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Actor Kevin Spacey — the star of such acclaimed films as LA Confidential, The Usual Suspects, Glengary Glenn Ross, Seven, and Pay It Forward — is not the first celebrity to be accused of sexual assault.

Combs Lawsuits

Five separate lawsuits covering a period of 30 years have been brought by male and female victims (some of them teens) against the rapper and record producer, Sean “Diddy” Combs, for alleged sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking [1].

Like Spacey, Combs denies the allegations against him.  However, a disturbing 2016 video on YouTube shows him physically assaulting the R&B singer, Cassie Ventura, whose case was settled in 2023 [2].

Spacey Acquittals

Spacey, it should be noted, was the same year acquitted in Britain of sexual assault relative to his interaction with four different men between 2001 and 2013 [3].  A New York jury earlier acquitted Spacey of molesting then 14 y.o. Anthony Rapp in 1986 [4].

More Spacey Accusers

“I take full responsibility for my past behavior and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me…I never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never.”

–Kevin Spacey [5]

A 2-part documentary on YouTube now features ten more men who claim to have been sexually assaulted by Spacey between 1976 and 2013 [6][7].  The stories by these men are nauseatingly familiar, reflecting an abuse of power as much as sexual predation.  Continue reading →

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April 14, 2024 · 1:00 am

Kidnapped Ukrainian Children

File:Victims of War in Ukraine - Kyiv Hospital - Exhibition by Still Miracle Photography 03.jpg

Ukrainian child’s drawing of a tank from “Faces of War:  The Human Factor” (2015 London photography exhibit), Author Still Miracle Photography (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

The war in Ukraine is disproportionately impacting Ukraine’s children.  At least 30,000 have been kidnapped and deported to Russia [1][2].  Fears are that the number is far higher.  Russia is refusing to disclose information about these children.

This mass deportation is being called cultural genocide, a deliberate effort to destroy the Ukrainian people [3].

Russia’s goal is to brainwash and weaponize these children, who are apparently assembled in camps before deportation and pressured to submit [4].

Children are told by Russian teachers and psychologists that their families will not come for them.  They are threatened that their medication will be withheld, if they do not obey.  Some have even been placed for weeks in solitary confinement.

The children’s identities are erased, and false papers issued.  Russian adoptions are then arranged. Continue reading →

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April 7, 2024 · 1:00 am

Male Sexual Victimization at Madigan Army Medical Center

File:MAMC in the fall.jpg

Madigan Army Medical Center (2007), Author Public Affairs Office Madigan Army Medical Center (PD as work product of federal govt.)

Madigan Army Medical Center at  Joint-Base Lewis McChord in Washington State has been the site of more than one scandal.

In 2012 the hospital was accused of reversing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnoses, in order to cut costs [1].  A nationwide inquiry was prompted [2].  In 2015, an operating room fire severely disfigured a toddler undergoing routine surgery [3].  A $12.3 million verdict resulted.

Now Major Michael Stockin, a 37 y.o. pain management anesthesiologist at Madigan, is charged with having sexually abused 42 male patients including combat veterans [4][6]. Continue reading →

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March 24, 2024 · 1:00 am

Child Abuse in Hollywood

File:Hollywood boulevard from kodak theatre.jpg

Hollywood Boulevard, Photo by David Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

The television network Investigation Discovery (ID) is running a documentary series on child abuse in Hollywood.  Titled Quiet on Set – The Dark Side of Kids TV, the series is both engrossing and disturbing [1][2].

Dating back to Jackie Coogan and Judy Garland, the abuse of child actors is nothing new.  Both federal and state laws now limit the hours children may work, require that they receive education on set, and protect their earnings [3].

But there are, also, subtle pressures on children to conform with the demands made of them, in the interest of advancing their careers. Continue reading →

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March 17, 2024 · 1:00 am

Abuse at Elite British Boarding Schools

Charles Spencer departs for his first day at Maidwell Hall.

Charles Spencer leaves for Maidwell Hall, Photo courtesy of Charles Spencer by way NBC News

Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, has written an expose about the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse he endured at Maidwell Hall in the 1970s [1].  Titled A Very Private School, the book exposes the grim realities at one elite boarding school.

Clearly though this is not an isolated problem.

A Widespread Problem

“How I hated schools, and what a life of anxiety I lived there.  I counted the hours to the end of every term, when I should return home.”

–Winston Churchill [2]

A 2018 documentary “Boarding Schools: The Secret Shame” disclosed 31 separate investigations into alleged sexual assault at British boarding schools [3].  The suspicion is that there are many more such instances under investigation.

While it is a legal requirement for schools to report abuse, there is no assurance of compliance.  Because records are decentralized, even Britain’s Dept. for Education may not be aware how many schools are failing to meet standards [7]. Continue reading →

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March 3, 2024 · 1:00 am

A Blind Eye

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Marko_I._Rupnik.jpg

Former Jesuit Marko Rupnik, Author Centroaletti (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

Gloria Branciani first accused the Catholic priest, Marko Rupnik, of adult  clergy abuse as long ago as 1993 [1].  Some 20 women (most of them nuns, members of the Loyola Community, a now defunct religious group Rupnik co-founded) have made the same accusation against him.

Clergy abuse is the misuse of religious authority to harass, exploit, or engage in sexual activity with victims [2].

Branciani described Rupnik’s emotional, psychological, and spiritual manipulation at a recent news conference.  Evidently, Rupnik’s sexual proclivities included a partiality for threesomes which he likened to the Trinity — a comparison simultaneously blasphemous and narcissistic.

Though complaints have now been ongoing for decades, the Catholic Church has yet to remove Rupnik from the priesthood.

Background

Rupnik is a famous artist in Catholic Church circles [3A].  His mosaics decorate sanctuaries and shrines worldwide.  That may be why the church turned a blind eye to his abuse. Continue reading →

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