On ‘Scouts Honor’ and the trash that is Boy Scouts of America

Originally posted on Tumblr; Content warning sexual abuse, pedophilia

Ok like. I knew that the Boy Scouts child sexual abuse scandal was bad but I had NO IDEA the depths of just how very fucking bad.

I just watched this doc. The scope of it all is the most mind blowing in the worst way.

Image is a screenshot of the page on Netflix’s website for their film Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts from jump, had systems which basically empowered pedophiles to come on in and abuse en masse. They resisted doing even the most BASIC due diligence to vet volunteers (they legit said even documenting gov IDs on vols was too expensive and too much of a burden), they buried the known reported incidents, they let known offenders move around the country and reoffend, they attempted to scapegoat the problem as “homosexuals” who they formally forbid until 2015 (almost all offenders were straight men), and they actively, continuously resisted putting child safety standards in place that any of us who have worked in youth development know are basic industry standards for very good reason.

No ya know what, that’s not exactly worded right bc it sounds past tense but it’s still mostly the same. They hired a dude who was an expert in child safety to recommend and implement necessary changes and the executive leadership blocked his every attempt until he left in 2020 ready to tell us all the disgusting truth.

Read more of his story here.

Once journalists and survivors pulled the lid back on it all, they estimated maybe 10k survivors would come forward. But over EIGHTY TWO THOUSAND survivors came forward and reported their incidents of abuse. And that’s a populous that is among the least likely to report rape and assault (conservative/religious men) so there’s a chance this is still a massive under reporting.

And the final result? There’s a survivor settlement sure, but the BSA declared bankruptcy and is able to survive on as an agency for now. It’s fucked y’all. Fucked beyond words.