There is, I'm afraid to say, a very big cultural barrier in operation here. A general reluctance to interfere in the 'private affairs' of other families, a feeling that what goes on behind the neighbours' closed doors is none of our business. This applies to physical and emotional abuse as well as sexual, and part of it is grounded in fear of what the abuser may do to any whistle-blower.

Many years ago, I saw a documentasry in which an experiment was undertaken. A dog was left tied to some railings in a busy street. Within ten minutes an indignant crowd had collected. Within fifteen, someone had untied the dog and taken it home.

A month later, an eleven-year-old girl was tied to the same railing in the same street. Over four hours, nobody stopped, nobody responded to her calls for help, nobody even made eye-contact.

When asked why further down the street, the following answers were common.

"It's not my business."

"You don't get involved with strangers' kids."

"I didn't want to be done for kidnapping."

"I thought her parents might have had a good reason for leaving her there."

"It's up to the police or social workers. It's not my responsibility."

"I didn't want to get into trouble."

"I thought it was just kids messing about."

It's easy to believe that someone would just abandon a dog. It happens all the time. The person who took the animal home clearly had no expectation of consequences. But when it comes to a child, nobody wants to believe they've been abandoned or are being mistreated. Nor are they prepared to become involved in what might turn out ot be a long, drawn out business, with the added potential for personal risk.

Even where children are showing clear signs of abuse, there is a tendency to stay out of it: "The teachers at school will have noticed, they'll get on to Social Services."

My late grandmother used to blame it on people having too few children and moving too far away from their families. When she heard of a child being abused by their father, she'd say: "Hasn't that kid got any uncles? Where's their mothers' dad and brothers? If my dad had done that to me, my grandfather and uncles would have come round and given him a pasting!" There is something to be said for that, just as there is something to be said for my wife's view that the women should have made better use of their rolling pins and kitchen knives!