Weekly Ethical Reflection |
31 May to 14 June
Can there be sexual abuse without an abuser? Can there bullying without a bully?
There is clearly an overlap between the abuse that occurs when one person sexually imposes him or herself on another (whether or not the one doing the imposing is an abuser) and the abuse that occurs in bullying. Indeed it seems clear that some sexual abuse is a particularly nasty form of bullying, with rape, which is often regarded as being more about power than about sex, as the prime example.
Many years ago, in a book entitled Sexuality, learning difficulties and doing what's right (1995, David Fulton) my friend Denis Rowley and I explored the idea that people with learning difficulties were sometimes sexually abused by others who in themselves were not sexual abusers. We wanted to draw attention to the possibility that a person with learning difficulties, whose sexual interest in and actions towards another were not reciprocated, might not understand the commonly accepted 'rules' about the need for consent (or at least willingness to participate) in sexual encounters. But can there be bullying without a bully? In other words, might it be the case that bullying sometimes goes on, in situations in which the perpetrator does not intend to use her or his power in abusive ways?
Gavin Fairbairn, Professor of Ethics and Language, Leeds Metropolitan University, g.fairbairn@leedsmet.ac.uk
Last November, in Salzburg, Professor Fairbairn chaired a highly successful conference on Bullying and the abuse of power: from playground to international relations, with contributions by a number of Leeds Met staff and PhD students. This year's conference will take place in Prague from 8-10 November; details at: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/ethos/bullying-and-the-abuse-of-power/call-for-papers/. The call for papers has just closed, but since Gavin chairs the steering committee, late submissions (within reason) from Leeds Met will be treated kindly.