Neglect can come in various ways - lack of provision, lack of care, lack of consideration and love, etc.
The fact of the matter remains that the children are our future, and need to be protected.
Especially those who have been born of samskara and are directly Krishna's devotees, we have to see our interaction with these children as a service to the Lord, looking after His family. This cannot be emphasised enough.
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to those who due to ignorance and immaturity of their supposed caregivers have been victims of neglect or abuse.
Hopefully we have learned from our mistakes and can now help make amends through support as much as we can.
Just as there have been a small minority of victims, so there have been a small minority of perpetrators.
Let us be pro-active in our actions, let us be part of the solution and give support to resolve, and not create further karma by punishing others who have no part, or who had little control over situations that arose.
To punish all society because some inappropriations were committed is paramount to throwing out the baby with the bath water. I doesn't achieve reform, or reconciliation, rather it is materially entangling for which karma will be paid on again in the future.
There is an interesting analogy of two sons of a common father who both
considered themselves as being victims. They wanted their mutual father
to chastise the wrong doer, their brother. As the two sons stood either
side of their father as he lay before them preparing to receive their daily
massage, each of the two brothers decided to seek out his agenda's fruitive
result.
One son would reach across to the other brother's
side and pinch the father hard on his flesh. To which the father would
turn and chastise the son on that side. That son, then furious at his brother's
actions reached across and pinched the father hard on the brother's side
so that the father would chastise his brother likewise. This went on for
some time.
What both brothers failed to see is that the father was the one who
was receiving the pain. Their agenda's were being met, that is true, but
at the expense of the pleasure of the father.
This from my vision is what is going on in many
situations around the world where devotees forget that they are under Krishna's
control, and try to seek out their own fortune or agenda's in the name
of the suffering father.
Frankly I'm not interested in mentioning names or
organisations, as I'm not trying to make an issue of it for my sense gratification.
I sincerely pray that those who are seeing themselves as fighting in the
name of the father (spiritual master, or of some victims) try to look at
the long term effects rather than the immediate short term gains that they
stand to win.
Having said that, anyone who offends devotees will suffer at the hands
of the Lord directly. It doesn't matter if you/we are right or wrong, we
cannot offend devotees. Some may ask the question; so are the persons in
question devotees, are they acting as devotees. I humbly suggest that first
we become qualified to be able to answer that one - he who hasn't sinned
caste the first stone (or as in the story of Gaura Kishora dasa babaji
maharaj being put into samadhi - he who is totally pure, beyond any blemish
of sin/offense/material attachment can only be the claimant.)
In the mean time, if there are genuine challenges,
that need addressing then policy needs to be established to protect society
from becoming victims to such activities. But let us teach and show the
culture of Krishna consciousness by example, and not follow the American
methods of dragging everything through courts, tabloid newspapers, "revealing
T.V. exposés", etc.
More on this later
The Entire Teachings of His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada:
http://www.vedabase.com/
Bhagavad Gita As It Is:
http://www.asitis.com/
