Last weekend, I watched “Keep This Between Us” on Hulu, a four-part docuseries initially airing on the Freeform network. According to the show’s news release, the series “exposes an epidemic of widespread grooming —manipulative and coercive behavior by abusers to gain access to potential victims — in U.S. high schools.” It’s a timely topic, as accusations of grooming dominate recent headlines, aimed almost exclusively at LGBTQ people and curricula.
What’s notable about this series — and why I wanted to highlight it — is that it examines filmmaker Cheryl Nichol’s experience being groomed by a straight male high school teacher, not the demographic most currently associated with the term “groomer,” but statistically, the demographic most likely to sexually abuse children, a crime that’s rarely meaningfully addressed by pundits or legislatures, even though it’s disgustingly common. Putting the bulk of the blame on the LGBTQ community allows scores of adult groomers to continue their behavior unchecked and puts kids at risk.
The CDC reports that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the U.S. experience child sexual abuse. These statistics are appalling when you consider the amount of lip service and rhetoric we devote to “saving children,” and when you consider these statistics are based on reported data, I’d imagine the actual numbers are larger.
I’m not suggesting that LGBTQ adults don’t groom children — I was unfortunately acquainted with a gay guidance counselor who used his position of power to assault minors — but A) being a member of the LGBTQ community is unequivocally not synonymous with grooming, and B) statistically it’s adults who identify as straight who abuse the most children.
