Esther Rantzen on protecting vulnerable children
Broadcaster and children's campaigner Esther Rantzen CBE delivered a thought-provoking, and at times harrowing, Roscoe Lecture entitled 'Protecting Vulnerable Children from Exploitation and Abuse'.
St George's Hall was packed with over 900 guests but you could have heard a pin drop as Rantzen shared true life accounts of abuse from children she has met through her work with Childline, a charity she helped found in 1986. Her words carried particular resonance as the shadow of events in Portugal, following the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann preyed on everyone's minds.
During her lecture, Rantzen made an impassioned plea for a change to the UK's adversarial legal system, a system, she said, failed to deliver justice for abused children. She cited alternative approaches used in other countries such as Norway, which has adopted an inquisitorial approach for their juvenile justice system.
The lecture marked the end of LJMU's 10th Anniversary Roscoe Lecture Series, which has boasted speakers such as newsreader George Alagiah and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC.
The next series will be launched on 3 October 2007 with a lecture by civil rights activist Paul Robeson Jnr, the only child of the legendary singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson. The lecture entitled 'My Father and Pioneering the Civil Rights Agenda in the US' will take place in St George's Hall, starting at 5pm.
Tickets for all Roscoe Lectures are free and are available by contacting Barbara Mace on 0151 231 3852 or emailing b.mace@ljmu.ac.uk
To listen to a podcast of Esther Rantzen's lecture, click here: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/MKG_Global_Docs/esther_rantzen-roscoe_lecture.zip
Picture: Professor Michael Brown, LJMU Vice Chancellor, Esther Rantzen and Professor David Alton, Chair of the University's Foundation for Citizenship.
