Wikipedia Bans Scientology From Site

Wikipedia Scientology


Wikipedia has banned the Church of Scientology and its members from editing its site after discovering that members of the church were editing articles in order to give the church favorable coverage.

The move is being hailed as "an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits," and it is the first instance in which Wikipedia has banned a group as large as the Church of Scientology.
The Register reports:
According to evidence turned up by admins in this long-running Wikiland court case, multiple editors have been "openly editing [Scientology-related articles] from Church of Scientology equipment and apparently coordinating their activities." Leaning on the famed WikiScanner, countless news stories have discussed the editing of Scientology articles from Scientology IPs, and some site admins are concerned this is "damaging Wikipedia's reputation for neutrality."
One admin tells The Reg that policing edits from Scientology machines has been particularly difficult because myriad editors sit behind a small number of IPs and, for some reason, the address of each editor is constantly changing. This prevents admins from determining whether a single editor is using multiple Wikipedia accounts to game the system. In Wikiland, such sockpuppeting is not allowed.

The Wikicourt considered banning edits from Scientology IPs only on Scientology-related articles. But this would require admins to "checkuser" editors - i.e. determine their IP - every time an edit is made. And even then they may not know who's who.
The case — the fourth Scientology-related dispute on the site in four years — opened in December 2008 and closed Thursday with the Wikipedia arbitration committee voting unanimously to block IP addresses associated with the Church from editing the site.
"The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors," part of the decision read. "Use of the encyclopedia to advance personal agendas - such as advocacy or propaganda and philosophical, ideological or religious dispute - or to publish or promote original research is prohibited."
"Editors who access Wikipedia through an organization's IP address and who edit Wikipedia articles which relate to that organization have a presumptive conflict of interest," it continued. "Regardless of these editors' specific relationship to that organization or function within it, the organization itself bears a responsibility for appropriate use of its servers and equipment. If an organization fails to manage that responsibility, Wikipedia may address persistent violations of fundamental site policies through blocks or bans."

Scientology, the committee concluded, is so controversial a subject that it requires special oversight for the site's purposes:
3.0) This longstanding dispute is a struggle between two rival factions: admirers of Scientology and critics of Scientology.
A) Editors from each side have gamed policy to obtain advantage and disputes have spilled over into, for example, articles for deletion, the reliable sources noticeboard, the conflict of interests noticeboard, and sometimes the administrators' noticeboard.

B) Aggravating factors have been (i) the presence of editors openly editing from Church of Scientology equipment and apparently coordinating their activities; and (ii) the apparent presence of notable critics of Scientology, from several Internet organisations, apparently editing under their own names and citing either their own or each other's self-published material.

C) Each side wishes the articles within this topic to reflect their point of view and have resorted to battlefield editing tactics, with edits being abruptly reverted without any attempt to incorporate what is good, to maintain their preferred status quo.

D) The worst casualties have been biographies of living people, where attempts have been repeatedly made to slant the article either towards or against the subject, depending on the point of view of the contributing editor.

E) However, this problem is not limited to biographies and many Scientology articles fail to reflect a neutral point of view and instead are either disparaging or complimentary.
READ MORE - Wikipedia Bans Scientology From Site

Alysa Stanton: First Black Female Rabbi

Alysa Stanton poses in front of an ark in the synagogue at Hebrew Union College, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in Cincinnati. Stanton is to be ordained June 6 as mainstream Judaism's first black woman rabbi. She will become the rabbi at Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, N.C., on Aug. 1. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)


CINCINNATI
— Alysa Stanton began quenching her spiritual thirst early, discovering Judaism after a search that began at age 9 and worried her mother only when a man called the house one night asking for her youngest child.

Turns out he was a priest Stanton had contacted to ask questions about Catholicism, part of a road that took her through charismatic Christian and Eastern faiths and finally to a position that experts say makes her mainstream Judaism's first ordained black female rabbi.

"I was considered an 'old soul' even when I was young, because my family believed I had a maturity beyond my years," said Stanton, a Cleveland native who remembers being a bit indignant that her surprised mother was questioning the unknown man.

American Judaism will mark the milestone June 6, when Stanton is ordained in preparation for leading a predominantly white congregation of about 60 families in Greenville, N.C.

"It has been a journey with many twists and turns along the way, but Judaism is the language of my soul, and it's what resonates with me," the 45-year-old Stanton said.

Yet Stanton didn't always feel accepted by Jewish congregations or some friends when she converted during her 20s.

"A lot of my African-American friends thought I'd sold out, the Jewish community wasn't as accepting then and some Christian friends thought I had grown horns," said Stanton, who had been a Christian.

"I felt ostracized at times, but I had to learn who I was, what my values were and move forward."
Story continues below

Her mother, Anne Harrison, instilled in her four children the importance of having faith and a spiritual path.

"She didn't care what that was, as long as it was God-based and that we knew there was something greater than ourselves out there," Stanton said.

Her mother wasn't surprised when she decided to become a rabbi.

"Alysa has always reached for the top," said Harrison, 78, of Lakewood, Colo., where the family moved when Stanton was 11.

Stanton, who is divorced and has a 14-year-old daughter she adopted as a 1-year-old, is fairly soft-spoken with a warm, engaging smile and a steady, confident gaze. Congregation Bayt Shalom in North Carolina eagerly awaits her arrival.

"We needed someone who is a magnet, who radiates warmth," said member Carol Ogus Woodruff, 54. "She brings a scholarly awareness but also has great relationships with kids and can talk to different kinds of people."

Questions about race or gender never arose at Congregation Bayt Shalom, congregation President Michael Barondes said. Stanton's ability to listen and to communicate with others immediately impressed members.

The 9-year-old Stanton started her religious search while living in a Jewish neighborhood in Cleveland Heights. The following year, an uncle gave her a Hebrew grammar book that she still has and picks up from time to time.

"I think some things are just destined," she said.

As a student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Stanton drove more than 140 miles a week to study with a rabbi in Denver for her conversion. She later moved to Denver, becoming very involved in the Jewish community.

She also learned to chant the Torah, the five books of Moses.

"That opened something in the recesses of my being, and I had a hunger and a thirst to learn more," Stanton said.

Stanton, who worked as a licensed psychotherapist specializing in grief, loss and trauma, thought she was too old and too poor to start rabbinical studies at age 38. But she believed it was meant to be.

She enrolled in 2002 at the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the nation's oldest institution for training rabbis, cantors and educators of Reform Judaism.

She believes her future is in God's hands but isn't satisfied with the world as it is, said Rabbi Kenneth Ehrlich, campus dean.

"She deeply believes that God calls upon her _ and upon all of us _ to make this a better world, a place that God wants it to be," Ehrlich said, referring to Stanton's work with a hospice and other community activities.

Her ordination is a politically significant and healthy step in the next stage of Judaism's development in America, said Lewis Gordon, founder of the Institute of Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Many believe it could draw more women and blacks to the rabbinate and other leadership roles.

A check of major seminaries in mainstream Judaism show 994 women rabbis will have been ordained as of the end of 2009. And several experts said they know of only one ordained black male rabbi in mainstream Judaism.

Stanton said she is happy to be a face that reflects diversity.

"I want our synagogue to be a place of hope, healing and inclusion," she said. "I want it to be an oasis for anyone seeking spiritual refreshment."
READ MORE - Alysa Stanton: First Black Female Rabbi

'Gumblar' Web attacks spreading quickly

The attackers behind a series of rapidly-spreading Web site compromises have begun using a new domain to deliver their malicious code, security experts say.


The attacks, collectively referred to as "Gumblar" by ScanSafe and "Troj/JSRedir-R" by Sophos, grew 188 percent over the course of a week, ScanSafe said late last week. The Gumblar infections accounted for 42 percent of all infections found on Web sites last week, Sophos said.

Over the weekend, the Chinese Web domain used to deliver the malicious code--gumblar.cn--stopped responding, according to Unmask Parasites, a service used to detect malicious code embedded in Web pages. The attacks' malicious payload has, however, continued to be delivered from a different source, the martuz.cn domain, Unmask Parasites said Monday in an advisory.

"They have slightly modified the script and now inject a new version that loads malicious content from a new domain," Unmask Parasites said.

Changes to the script make it more difficult to identify and stop detection by the Google Chrome browser.
Gumblar was first detected in March and has spread more quickly since then, against the expectations of security experts.

"A typical series of website compromises reaches peak within the first week or so and subsequently begins declining in intensity as detection is added by signature vendors, user awareness increases and website operators begin cleaning the affected sites," ScanSafe senior security researcher Mary Landesman, said late last week in an advisory.

In the Gumblar attacks, the opposite is occurring, partly because Web site administrators themselves are affected by the attacks as they try to address the problem, ScanSafe said.

Sites affected include Tennis.com, Variety.com, and Coldwellbanker.com, according to ScanSafe.
The attacks were carried out in multiple stages, beginning in March, when a number of Web sites were compromised and attack code embedded within them, ScanSafe said.

Then, in early May, as Web site operators began to clean up their sites, the attackers replaced the original malicious code with dynamically generated and heavily obfuscated JavaScript, meaning that the scripts change from page to page and are difficult for security tools to spot.

The scripts attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in Adobe's Acrobat Reader and Flash Player to deliver code that injects malicious search results when a user searches Google on Internet Explorer, ScanSafe said.

They also search the victim's system for FTP credentials that can be used to compromise further Web sites, the company said.

The malicious code embedded on a user's system was previously downloaded from gumblar.cn, a Chinese domain associated with Russian and Latvian IP addresses, delivering code from servers based in the United Kingdom, according to ScanSafe. That domain has now changed to martuz.cn.
READ MORE - 'Gumblar' Web attacks spreading quickly

Yahoo wants to objectify search

SAN FRANCISCO--Yahoo is continuing its attempt to redefine Internet search by focusing on intent, not results.


The company held a "Search Chalk Talk" here Tuesday to discuss the state of Yahoo's search efforts, a renewed priority under new CEO Carol Bartz. There were a few tidbits of news--such as the one-year anniversary of Yahoo's SearchMonkey project--but the talk really served as a further reminder that Yahoo's future vision of search revolves around structured data.

Prabhakar Raghavan, head of Yahoo Labs and Yahoo Search Strategy, made approximately 489 references (give or take) to Yahoo's desire to see the Web as objects, rather than documents. This is something it has been working on for quite some time with the SearchMonkey project, which aims to get Web publishers to use descriptive tags on their pages in order to let Yahoo Search understand exactly what is meant by the content on those pages.

"It's time to kill the 10 blue links," Raghavan said, referring to the top ten search results listed when you enter most queries into a search engine. "We want to move away from document retrieval as center of search to divining the user's intent," Raghavan said.

To that end, Yahoo showed off several search projects it's currently testing, such as the ability to surface results that add in other types of data, such as reviews, to searches for local restaurants. In that example, people are expressing intent--a desire to visit a certain restaurant--and Yahoo Search should be able to interpret that intent and show the most relevant content to help them decide if that's a good idea.

It showed off related projects currently in use where a search for Beyonce brought up the popular singer's home page, but also a list of albums and links to tracks hosted on Rhapsody, where searchers could play the track right from the search result. Or how a search for New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez results in statistical information for fantasy baseball junkies in addition to the usual results containing news, photos, and biographical information.

None of these particular concepts are novel, however: Google's Universal Search has been showing different types of rich content within the regular search results since 2007, for example. And while it's true that Yahoo has beat the structured data drum far more heavily than its larger rival, Google's announcement last week that it's ready to start incorporating certain types of structured data such as Yelp reviews into search results means it's moving in this direction as well.

One interesting tidbit was that much of Yahoo's current work on improving search was inspired by its work on mobile search, which is limited by the constraints of screen size and input method but augmented by technologies such as GPS. Understanding a user's intent in this type of search is critical, because a mobile user has less room to see the data and less time for paging through endless numbers of search results.
READ MORE - Yahoo wants to objectify search

White House aide loses job over Manhattan flyover fiasco

Washington, May 9 : The White House aide who authorized the controversial Air Force One photo-op flight last week around the Statue of Liberty is out of a job.
President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office, the Daily News learned Friday.
A secretary of the Army in the Clinton administration, Caldera took the fall for the public relations fiasco arising from the April 27 flyover, which was designed to replace a publicity photo of Air Force One flying past Mount Rushmore with a similar shot of Obama’s 747 jumbo jet over the Statue of Liberty.
The photo session cost taxpayers 329,000 dollars.
Caldera’s office insisted the flyover was a “classified” mission and should not be disclosed to the public, ensuring that thousands of New Yorkers would be blindsided by an event eerily reminiscent of the 9/11 terror attacks against the Twin Towers.
Federal officials notified Mayor Bloomberg’s office and NYPD officials in advance, but Bloomberg was not informed, infuriating the mayor.
Caldera shoulders the blame in deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina’s review into how the decision was made to go ahead with the photo mission.
Many White House officials were angry at Caldera over the stunt. Defense Secretary Robert Gates apologized for the flyover in a letter Tuesday to Senator John McCain, who posted the memo on his Senate Web site Friday.
READ MORE - White House aide loses job over Manhattan flyover fiasco

Painting The Town Red ...

...and orange, is the very flamboyant, vibrant, Delonix regia.
Also known as the Flame tree and Royal Poinciana, it is a
spectacular sight in full bloom. Said to be a native of
Madagascar, it is one of the most common sights on the Indian
landscape.

By the end of April,the first flush of colour is seen on the
trees.By May, they are in several phases of bloom as you can
see from the pictures below. The blooming period lasts till
October/November. I've seen one tree with some flowers in
the month of December too!





Although these trees grow to be very tall they also spread
and provide a lot of shade. In India, the Flamboyant tree
(yet another name it is known as), is called the Gulmohur and
the Krishnachura.
Enjoy!







READ MORE - Painting The Town Red ...

Airbus A380, Emirates Airline


Dubai-based Emirates has announced it would launch the world's largest commercial passenger aircraft Airbus A380 beginning June 1, 2009 to meet the growing traffic to Canada.Toronto was not originally on Emirates' map of destinations for its next generation Airbus A380. But in the absence of additional flights, Emirates was forced to use the big bird to increase its capacity to Toronto this summer. It currently flies a long haul Boeing 777-300ER on the route, and the A380 will add about 400 seats a week.






























(via)
READ MORE - Airbus A380, Emirates Airline

One millionth English word could be 'defriend' or 'noob'

The English language will celebrate its one millionth word next month, with "defriend", "noob" and "chiconomics" among the candidates, linguistic experts have predicted.

By Matthew Moore

Close up of a dictionary: One millionth English word could be 'defriend' or 'noob'
The English language will celebrate its one millionth word next month, with 'defriend', 'noob' and 'chiconomics' among the candidates Photo: GETTY

The milestone will be passed at 10.22am on June 10 according to the Global Language Monitor, an association of academics that tracks the use of new words.

The widespread popularity of English as a second language in Asia has brought about the most fertile period of word generation since William Shakespeare's time with new terms coined on average every 98 minutes, the Texas-based group claims.
It acknowledges new words once they have been used 25,000 times by media outlets, on social networking websites and in other sources.

The terms it is currently monitoring which could take English to the one million threshold include "defollow" and "defriend", words describing what users of websites like Twitter and Facebook to do contacts with whom they do not wish to stay in touch.

Another internet word "noob" – a derogatory name for someone new to a particular task or community – is also in the running, along with "greenwashing" (what companies do to appear environmentally friendly) and "chiconomics" (recession fashion).

Paul Payack, chief analyst at the Global Language Monitor, said: "Despite having a million words at our disposal it is unlikely that we will ever use more than just a tiny fraction of them.

"The average persons vocabulary is fewer than 14,000 words out of these million that are available. A person who is linguistically gifted would only use 70,000 words."

The organisation first predicted that the millionth English word was imminent in 2006, and has repeatedly pushed back the expected date. Other linguist have expressed scepticism about its methods, claiming that there is no agreement about how to classify a word.
READ MORE - One millionth English word could be 'defriend' or 'noob'

KFC Customers With Free Coupon From Oprah Ask: Where's The Chicken?

Buzz up!
 photo released by KFC, a two-piece meal with the new Kentucky Grilled Chicken product is shown, at a KFC location in Louisville, Ky. Coupons were available on Oprah.com for 24 hours beginning Tuesday after Oprah announced the meal promotion on her show. Each downloadable coupon can be redeemed for two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit. (AP Photo/KFC, Brian Bohannon, File)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Customers at a New York City KFC hoping to redeem coupons for a free meal were disgruntled when the fast-food restaurant ran out of its new grilled chicken, but Internet rumors of a riot were unfounded, a Kentucky Fried Chicken spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"Some customers were upset because they couldn't get their chicken, but there was no riot," said Laurie Schalow.
Schalow said the Manhattan restaurant on East 42nd Street plans to begin honoring the coupons again Thursday after it resupplies the kitchen.
The coupons were available on Oprah.com for 24 hours beginning Tuesday after Oprah announced the meal promotion on her show. Each downloadable coupon can be redeemed for two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit.
KFC, owned by Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., introduced its new Kentucky Grilled Chicken about three weeks ago. The new menu item is being touted as lower in fat, calories and sodium than the traditional deep-fried chicken for which KFC is known the world over. It even has its own secret recipe, kept under lock and key near the original 11 herbs and spices recipe for fried chicken created by KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders.
Schalow said the grilled chicken has been a huge success, and the combination of a bad economy and Oprah's popularity created a "perfect storm."
"We prepared for it," Schalow said, noting that a KFC restaurant can only serve so many people during the lunch and dinner hours. "We didn't prepare for this extreme."
But Schalow said customers have until May 19th to redeem their coupons, Mother's Day excluded, and she encouraged the public to return later.
A spokewoman for Oprah's Harpo Productions in Chicago said they are not aware of any problems with the coupons.
Schalow said KFC restaurants across the United States were bustling on Wednesday because of the coupon offer.
"A lot of restaurants experienced very, very heavy traffic with people trying to redeem the coupons." she said, though KFC headquarters did not hear of any other problems with customers other than the those at the New York City franchise. "All stores are very busy today, very long lines, that's what we're hearing."
Schalow said some KFC stores may have run out of some products, such as mashed potatoes and gravy or cole slaw, "but they are substituting as best they can."
READ MORE - KFC Customers With Free Coupon From Oprah Ask: Where's The Chicken?

Are there women paedophiles?


Boy with a woman


Paedophiles are invariably thought of as men and they mostly are. But do women commit sexual abuse against children, and if so, why is it rarely discussed?
Colin never knew innocence as a child. His earliest memories are of his mother sexually abusing him. In the bath, in his bed and in the night. Until he was 13.
Twenty years later, after a young life derailed by truancy, drugs and violence, he is still deeply affected by what he says happened.
"It's only now that I realise the impact it has had on me. From the age of 14, as soon as it got dark I would have panic attacks and that fuelled my drug-taking because doing it, I felt safe again.
"I couldn't sleep at night and I'd get flashbacks of my mum on top of me. I couldn't hold down a job and I was scared of girls."
I found it hard to even say it was sexual abuse because of the way society views mothers
Colin
The fact the perpetrator was the person who gave birth to him made it harder for him to identify and accept it as abuse, he believes.
"I found it hard to even say it was sexual abuse because of the way society views mothers, and quite rightly - 99% are loving but I was just unlucky to get one that wasn't.
"That's what stopped me from getting help for a long time. I couldn't even acknowledge it myself and there was a worry about being believed and speaking out against my mother. I felt like I was doing something wrong."
It's a comment on how society views paedophilia today that the most shocking aspect of Colin's story is not the sexual abuse itself, but the fact the perpetrator was female.
Yet Colin is not alone in experiencing this particular kind of trauma, says Steve Bevan, who for nearly two decades has run a support group for male victims of all forms of sexual abuse. Out of 18 men currently getting individual and group support, five say they were abused by women, three of them exclusively so.
ABUSE OF TRUST
2007: Tennis coach Claire Lyte, 29 at the time, sentenced to two years in jail for sex with a 13-year-old girl
2007: Margaret Martin, then 47, put on probation for sexually abusing a 10-year-old
2003: Mother-of-four Joanna James jailed for having sex with a 13-year-old boy
2002: Hazel Hallam, then 36, jailed for sexual assault of two boys
1999: First woman goes on Northern Ireland's sex offenders' register after admitting abusing seven boys aged 11 to 14
"Over the years we've had lots of men abused by mothers, sisters, aunties and baby sitters," says Mr Bevan.
"It's hard enough for adult men to admit abuse but to admit to abuse by a woman is even harder because it challenges their masculinity, it challenges their sexuality."
Women can commit a wide range of sexual offences, he says, including rape. And their victims commonly experience sexual confusion and a fear of intimacy. Anger can manifest itself as violence towards a wife or girlfriend in later life.
By its very nature the true picture of child abuse is unclear. But with women perpetrators it's even more so. Convictions are thin on the ground and some believe the issue is an unhelpful distraction from the bigger problem.
Experts agree that women commit only a fraction of child sexual abuse but so much is hidden that it's difficult to be accurate. An influential study in the US in the 1980s suggested 20% of all offences against boys and 5% against girls were by women.
'Teen fantasy'
Professor Kevin Browne, who has been researching the maltreatment of children for 30 years, says between 5% and 10% of abuse against pre-pubescent children in the UK is committed by females, but only about 5% is thought to involve a woman acting alone.
"Stranger attacks by women hardly exist, so most female paedophiles are winning the trust of children first and either have a position of care working with children like a babysitter or they are a relative."
Female offences against teenagers (hebophiles rather than paedophiles) are more of a mystery, he says, because victims don't come forward, partly because in a patriarchal society boys are even expected to enjoy that kind of abuse, and not admit how scared they are by it.
If I was still bathing my 11-year-old son, people would think that was weird but if a man was doing that then people are more likely to think it was sexual abuse
Sharon Lambert
Some believe that society's different attitude to women offenders is reflected in the language of the media reporting it. They point out that teachers "seduce" pupils if they are female but "sexually assault" if male.
In 2005, the NSPCC raised concerns about how disbelief of female paedophiles was hindering detection. Its report said child protection professionals too often met allegations of abuse by females with incredulity, dismissing them as fabrication and allowing women to continue to offend.
It also said that victims suffered a peculiar sense of isolation and stigma because this form of abuse was not so widely recognised.
Eight-hundred victims of female sexual abuse have contacted Michele Elliott, founder of children's charity Kidscape, since she wrote her controversial book, Female Sexual Abuse of Children, in 1992. Three-quarters of the cases feature women acting alone.
IS FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE MORE HIDDEN THAN MALE ABUSE?
Women can get away with it under the guise of being carer
Disbelief that women are capable
Victims reluctant because they think they must be odd
Source: Kidscape
"One of the issues of controversy is the thinking that if women do this, it's because men made them do it," says Ms Elliot.
"I disagree with that. I think there's no difference in the motivation between men and women, which is sexual gratification and power over a child. It's very selfish."
Like male paedophiles, many female offenders convince themselves they are not harming children, says psychologist Sharon Lambert who this month presented her research on the subject to the British Psychological Society's annual conference.
She contacted a number of people through a website specifically aimed at women. There were no indecent images posted but there were stories and poems about their sexual fantasies with children and a forum for women to discuss their feelings and how they could avoid detection.
"They would say they're not as bad as men because they're more loving with their impulses, and a male involved with a child is more abusive."
'Under the radar'
She began correspondence with six people who claimed to be women aged from 21 to 48. They all described themselves as heterosexual and five claimed to be married. They all said they fantasised about young girls but said they had not actually abused any.
"We can't be certain about the connection between sexual fantasies and actual offending. Some adults who fantasise about children may never offend but we can't be sure they won't act out their fantasies."
They all admitted their first sexual experiences came very early in life, aged about seven or eight, with other children their own age. They said they had never been abused themselves.
"There are things you can do as a woman that you can't do as a man," says Ms Lambert. "If I was still bathing my 11-year-old son, people would think that was weird but if a man was doing that then people are more likely to think it was sexual abuse. Women go under the radar."
Unlike Ms Lambert's studies, some perpetrators seem also to be victims. Colin's mother told him she was a victim of sexual abuse from her father, sometimes describing it to him in detail moments before indecently assaulting him.
"Maybe I reminded her of her dad and she felt like she was getting back at him, taking back some control that way, by taking it out on me," says Colin.

Below is a selection of your comments.
My mother abused me for years as a child, from the age of seven onwards. Sadly, later in life, I could talk about the emotional and physical abuse far more openly than the sexual abuse, and it took me until I was forty to be able to get help. The fact that I'm a girl made it, and still makes it, hard to get any support from literature on the subject. I am what they call an adult survivor of sexual abuse, but all the books on the subject assume the abuser is male, and that if it's a parent, that it has to be the father. I have found some excellent research in America on the subject that says female survivors of sexual abuse by their mothers don't come forward because there are so many taboos to face: incest and homosexuality within the family being added on to rape. And people rarely believe a woman is capable of rape, but that is because definitions of rape used to be very prescriptive. I have found counselling professionals are now very sympathetic, but my heart goes out to those who have suffered as I have and still have so few forums and people to share this with.
Anon, Birmingham
Undoubtedly I was abused by a matron at my prep school on the Dorset Coast in the mid 70s. It wasn't until my own children were of the same age as I was when the abuse took place that I realised how appalling it was. There was another boy involved as well and a few years ago I wondered whether we should pursue further but as he had never told his family we decided not to.
Craig, Belfast
I was subjected to sexually inappropriate behaviour from an older female relative when I was 10-12. This, along with neglect by parents, left me with a number of issues and messed up life. I've since spent time and my own money getting to the root of my problems. I'm now 40ish and am only just seeing off my bad past. The NHS do not provide help for this type of support for adults. Whilst it's no longer possible for action to be taken against the woman who did this, I have come to terms with that but why are sentences for paedophilic crimes carried out by women substantially less than if carried out by men?
Anon
My partner started having sex with a house-girl (cleaning lady) when he was eight years old. We spoke about it and he didn't once think consider it abuse - until I mentioned it to him. The woman was a mum and was the one always instigating the activity, but unfortunately at that age and even now many men would not accept that they had been abused.
Katherine, London
My mother always claimed not to know of the sexual abuse against us by our father. But I think she did, they both seemed to conspire to keep us isolated as children, also my grandmother never did anything and I knew she knew. I think not doing anything is as bad as the perpetrator. There's no excuse for it. I have a friend who is male and was abused as a child by a woman, it has affected him very badly throughout his life psychologically.
Lucy, UK
I did a law degree and as part of that did a dissertation that started off as a look at the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and the impact it had on the crime of rape. Whilst carrying out my research I contacted convicted male paedophiles and rapists and found that approximately one third of those contacted had been the subject of sexual abuse as a child by a woman. The awful part was that they stated that they had been unable to report it as they thought no-one would believe them and those brave enough to do so had been laughed at and/or felt there was no support for them afterwards.
Catherine , Cardiff
I think you have to be very careful about some of the blanket statements made in this article. There should be a clear distinction made between adult offending and female/male members of a family/friends who are all underage. After all, most kids play doctors and nurses out of pure curiosity about their sexuality and also most people fantasise about sex with younger people.....caveat here usually older (16) teenagers and never act on it. Predatory adult female paedophilia is probably still quite rare, should be taken seriously but it's still rare and to be honest it isn't just men who are afraid to talk to children because of the possible label of paedophile, I as a single woman won't do it either, I don't want anyone calling me a weirdo either!
Anon, Wigan
I am female and was sexually abused by a married woman when I was a teenager. It started when I had just turned 14 and was babysitting for her, and the relationship continued until I was 20. Her husband became involved in the abuse shortly after she first 'seduced' me and the relationship with both of them completely took over my life and robbed me of a normal adolescence. I participated not through lust but because I was besotted with the woman and was prepared to have relations with her husband if it meant getting closer to her. Neither of them saw themselves as paedophiles because they didn't 'see me as an innocent child but as a mature young adult' and this is how they justified their behaviour. After the relationship ended I went through a 10-year period of not knowing who I was, what I was, of feeling used and abused and ashamed. When I was 30 I told my GP about it and he referred me for counselling which was the best move I ever made - it really helped me to achieve perspective and make peace with myself and with my past. I have a 13-year-old daughter myself now and the thought of anyone doing to her what was done to me sickens me beyond words. It was only when I got older (and become a parent myself) that I realised how I'd been so callously used, abused and manipulated when I was still far too young and innocent to handle any kind of sexual relationship.
Anon, Hampshire
I was abused as a child by my babysitter, a young girl of about 15 or 16. I was between ages of six and eight. I thought that I actually liked it as it was our secret. Now I feel sick that I thought it was OK. I grew up very confused about my sexuality, but I am now in a relationship with a man and I'm very happy.
Jenny, Dorset
I was abused by my mother at bath times, I think I was under the age of 7 at the time. It happened several times. I've tried to talk to her about it, but she just denies it, which makes me even more hurt. I was also abused by an older girl at the age of 10, she was about 12. That may have just been stuff that children experiment with, but she seemed to know what she was doing. It's even more of a taboo than when men are the perpetrators. I don't think I've ever been taken seriously when I've tried to talk about it.
Anon, London
As somebody that was sexually abused by a female, admittedly when an adult, but when I reported it to the police I was laughed at and warned not to waste their time. It's no wonder it never gets reported.
Anon, Salisbury
I can confirm that this type of offence and offender do exist, having recently given a talk to a national conference on this very subject. It is right that the perception of many professionals is that a female could and would not sexually abuse a child. From cases my team have investigated I can confirm that they most certainly do, and as serious as any offending committed by a man. The work of CEOP to raise the profile of female sexual offenders within agencies working with children will hopefully ensure that the disbelief is suspended, and female offenders dealt with in the same robust manner we expect of male offenders.
James Larkin, Northampton
I'm 21 years old and for most of my childhood, I was abused by my father. I recently found out that whilst I was 18 months old, my mother watched as he hurt me time and time again. I was placed into foster care for about two months and then went back home. It continued to happen and I spent the rest of my childhood being made to believe that it was right for parents to do this as they were showing some love. I believe that people like that have experienced the trauma themselves, but what is wrong is that most young girls and boys are being abused by the people who we are supposed to trust.
Toni, Greater Manchester
As with so many problems within our society, the tabloid press are so much to blame. Obviously not for the abuse itself, but for perpetuating the stereotypes of male and female sexuality. The comment about the 'seducing' done by women and the 'sexual assault' carried out by men really highlights this.
Chris, Bristol
Hang on, I think we need to put this into perspective here. Female sexual abusers are very rare. I'm not saying we should ignore their existence and deny the victims but lets not whip up a media frenzy and start fearing every old lady on the bus who hands out sweets to kids.
Sally, Manchester
I'm a 53-year-old man and I suffered when I was a young lad by abuse from my gran. I'm a virgin, never had a relationship and I'm a drunk so YES - It does happen and its affected me my whole life. I've never told anyone and I have to say I'm now close to a panic - light headed, heavy breathing
T, Brighton
I'm slightly worried that people will read something into this article that isn't there - in the bit about these women who fantasise about young girls having had their first sexual experiences early, with children of the same age. I'd just like to point out that that is far more normal than most people think, and it most emphatically does not lead to paedophilic urges as an adult. Most people don't like to admit to it because they think they were somehow odd to be interested in sexual things that early [when in fact it's been proven that babies masturbate even in the womb] and especially because a lot of this happens between siblings, due to their spending so much time together, and this leads people to wonder whether they're incestuous.
Pic Akai, Birmingham
I think that is true. I know if men like me just start talking to children nicely, people will think I'm a paedophile but if a lady does it they won't say anything.
Bilal, Leicester
I agree with Bilal. Unless I'm with my partner, I simply won't talk to kids who appear to be under the age of about 16, for fear of people around me thinking I'm a paedophile. Sad, but true. Now, what's the difference when my partner's there? Well, she's a woman, and women can't be paedophiles - can they?!?
Anon, Manchester
Yes they do exist. My old maths teacher made headline news after sleeping with pupils. Non of which were over 15. I even witnessed her allowing pupils to grope her on school trips!
Anonymous
READ MORE - Are there women paedophiles?