tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/serial-killer-27236/articlesSerial killer – The Conversation2023-08-31T03:28:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2121052023-08-31T03:28:02Z2023-08-31T03:28:02ZAccess and attention: why serial killers like Lucy Letby often work in healthcare<p>British nurse Lucy Letby was last week sentenced to life in prison for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-21/british-nurse-lucy-letby-sentenced-prison-murder-seven-babies/102757606">murdering</a> seven infants in her care, and attempting to murder a further six.</p>
<p>As a forensic criminologist, many people have asked me why a medical professional would murder their patients. </p>
<p>While they’re very rare, serial killer healthcare workers often share common traits, and they target a specific, and very vulnerable, victim pool. </p>
<p>While limited research has been conducted on serial killer medicos, there are some trends among serial killers that can help us understand the role of the profession in the act of serial murder.</p>
<h2>‘Custodial’ killers</h2>
<p>A serial killer is usually defined as someone who kills at least three people in a series, but not in a single event – there needs to be a cooling-off period between the killings. Although the public is generally fascinated by these predators, serial killings are a rare event, comprising <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder">fewer than 1% of all murders in any given year</a> in the United States.</p>
<p>Serial killers come from many walks of life, and not all are dysfunctional loners – many are married or in a stable relationship.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359178913001183">2014 research paper</a> found serial killers can be understood via several subtypes, including: those who kill for sexually sadistic pleasure; professional killers who are motivated by money and the power they derive from the kill; and, as relevant to Letby, “custodial killers”.</p>
<p>Custodial killers are often healthcare workers who murder helpless or dependent people in their care.</p>
<p>The paper’s author writes of custodial killers: </p>
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<p>The most common examples include “angel of death” cases involving nurses in hospitals or nursing homes who surreptitiously murder ill or elderly patients, usually by asphyxiation or medication overdose. This group is likely to contain the highest number of female serial killers.</p>
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<p>It’s likely the method of murder is linked to their profession. Healthcare workers have access to medications not available to others, as well as the knowledge to hide their crimes more effectively.</p>
<p>One research group studied 64 female serial killers in the US between 1821 and 2008, and found <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14789949.2015.1007516?journalCode=rjfp20">nearly 40%</a> of them worked in healthcare. </p>
<p>But the question remains, why do they kill? If we look at women specifically, the 2014 research paper suggests that, unlike men who murder as a result of predatory lust and/or compulsive rage, women serial killers are typically driven by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178913001183">histrionic attention-seeking or financial gain</a>. </p>
<h2>Letby and healthcare killers</h2>
<p>Another research paper specifically studied the characteristics of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jip.1434">16 convicted healthcare serial killers</a>, which the authors defined as “nurses who have been convicted of at least two murders, which they have carried out within a hospital setting”.</p>
<p>While a small sample size, they found 56% were female, and the average age of those being charged was 36 years.</p>
<p>About 44% killed between five and nine victims before being caught, and 75% killed in only one location. Insulin was the most common method of murder, followed by muscle relaxant.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-can-be-psychopaths-too-in-ways-more-subtle-but-just-as-dangerous-84200">Women can be psychopaths too, in ways more subtle but just as dangerous</a>
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<p>Letby fits several of these characteristics. She’s a woman, 33 years old, and murdered seven infants. She killed, as far as we currently know, in only one location, and she used insulin to murder some of her victims.</p>
<p>A 2007 book, Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers: Why They Kill, provides a checklist of 22 “red flags” for this group of killers, including:</p>
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<li><p>secretive/difficult personal relationships</p></li>
<li><p>history of depression or mental instability</p></li>
<li><p>higher incidents of death when they are on shift</p></li>
<li><p>making colleagues anxious or suspicious</p></li>
<li><p>craving attention.</p></li>
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<p>Letby certainly made her colleagues <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/lucy-letby-baby-murder-colleague-b2395533.html">suspicious</a>, and they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/19/doctors-were-forced-to-apologise-for-raising-alarm-over-lucy-letby-and-baby-deaths#:%7E:text=Lucy%20Letby's%20colleagues%20were%20ordered,deaths%2C%20the%20Guardian%20has%20learned.">reported her</a> in the years preceding her arrest. There were more <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11301405/Doctors-Lucy-Letbys-hospital-noticed-shift-patterns-matched-rise-babies-falling-ill.html">child deaths on her shifts</a> than on those of any other staff member, which is how she was caught.</p>
<p>One criminal psychologist suggested part of the rationale behind the killings may have been to gain the attention of a male colleague, whom prosecutors <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/07/lucy-letby-texted-about-doctor-crush-hours-before-attempt-on-boys-life-court-told">claimed</a> she had a “crush” on. This would fit with research suggesting attention-seeking is a motive for female serial killers more generally.</p>
<h2>Other infamous healthcare killers</h2>
<p>Harold Shipman was an English general practitioner who is considered one of the most <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-Shipman">prolific serial killers</a> in modern history.</p>
<p>He was convicted of murdering 15 of his patients in 2000, but is suspected in the deaths of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100413134928/http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/6r_page.asp?ID=3401">up to 250 people</a>.</p>
<p>Most of his victims were older women in good health. He killed many by injecting them with lethal doses of diamorphine (medical-grade heroin), after which he falsified their death certificates to indicate they had died of poor health. </p>
<p>Suspicions were raised as the number of his patients dying was very high, as were the number of cremation orders his colleagues were being asked to countersign. </p>
<p>Given the patients he killed were largely in good health, misguided “altruism” cannot explain his crimes.</p>
<p>Niels Högel, a German nurse, is another example. In 2019, Högel was found guilty of using lethal injections to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/06/06/730281642/german-serial-murderer-nurse-is-found-guilty-of-killing-85-patients">murder 85 of his patients</a>, some of whom he attempted to resuscitate to show off to his colleagues.</p>
<h2>Medics who murder are rare</h2>
<p>The reason the Letby case (like Shipman’s before it) is causing such significant public interest and horror is because we see medics as trusted professionals.</p>
<p>We put our lives in their hands, and cases such as these cause significant fear when one is found to have breached that trust so fundamentally.</p>
<p>But it’s important to acknowledge they also cause such interest precisely because they are so rare.</p>
<p>While medics who turn serial killer are incredibly prolific, we should not fear unnecessarily for ourselves or our loved ones. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about a medical professional, you should report them to the appropriate authority. High-profile cases such as Letby’s have shown these individuals can be caught and their patterns of behaviour can be identified, and in that way we can protect the most vulnerable among us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212105/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xanthe Mallett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These ‘custodial killers’ are often healthcare workers who murder helpless or dependent people in their care.Xanthe Mallett, Forensic Criminologist, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1088252018-12-19T19:08:16Z2018-12-19T19:08:16ZSerial killers’ fates are in politicians’ hands. Here’s why that’s a worry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251176/original/file-20181218-27764-1ub1ka8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New legislation in WA might provide reassurance to victims of crime, but risks political interference when it comes to deciding who gets parole.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1089146540?src=G8gySD72P2Q2imJOHUe7KQ-1-6&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The community has little sympathy for mass murderers, serial killers or anyone convicted of a very serious crime against another person.</p>
<p>Presumably, this is why the <a href="https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/law_a147215.html">Sentence Administration Amendment (Multiple Murders) Act 2018</a> passed through the WA state parliament earlier this month without any substantial opposition and was supported by victims’ families.</p>
<p>When proclaimed, the new legislation will allow WA’s attorney-general to instruct the <a href="https://www.prisonersreviewboard.wa.gov.au/">Prisoners Review Board</a> to suspend the assessment, consideration or reporting for parole (or a re-socialisation program) for certain mass murderers and serial killers for up to six years at a time.</p>
<p>Previously, these orders only lasted three years, which meant prisoners denied parole were entitled to have their cases reviewed every three years. </p>
<p>This change affects six prisoners.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/psychopaths-versus-sociopaths-what-is-the-difference-45047">Psychopaths versus sociopaths: what is the difference?</a>
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<p>The attorney-general will also be able to make multiple instructions, which may mean he or she can order an offender will never be released. This decision is not subject to legal review except in exceptional circumstances. </p>
<p>The primary intention of this law is to <a href="http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/bills.nsf/1CD9337411025C8B4825832900330390/$File/Bill101-1SR.pdf">reduce the trauma suffered by survivors and secondary victims of such crimes</a>. </p>
<p>It fulfills an election commitment made in 2017 by <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/12/Parliament-passes-tough-parole-laws-for-WAs-worst-killers.aspx">the incoming McGowan Labor government</a>.</p>
<h2>Don’t these offenders deserve to die in jail?</h2>
<p>Under WA law, a person convicted of murder and given a life sentence must be given a minimum term of 10 or 15 years, depending on the circumstances of the offence. Alternatively, the court may order the offender never be released on parole in certain circumstances. It’s easy to imagine that mass murderers and serial killers might warrant such a sentence.</p>
<p>However, where a life sentence for murder has been imposed and a minimum sentence served, it is the governor (usually acting on the advice of the attorney-general and the Prisoners Review Board) who has the ultimate power to parole a prisoner. </p>
<p>It appears that minimum sentences were set before the new legislation came into force for these six offenders, some for 30 years.</p>
<p>This arrangement is a hangover from when capital punishment was abolished in WA in 1984. Previously, the executive (that is, the political arm of government) made the final decision about whether the person would be executed. After abolition, the executive retained the power to decide which murderers would be released on parole. This system is unique to WA.</p>
<h2>Who decides when someone’s released?</h2>
<p>The difficulties with these changes to the law do not lie with the idea that mass murderers should never be released, but who decides if this should be the case.</p>
<p>Under the current law, it is the courts that can decide that “life means life”. This is an appropriate role for the judiciary. And it is appropriate for parliaments to make laws in relation to maximum sentences and parole generally.</p>
<p>However, it is not appropriate for politicians to make decisions about a specific person’s liberty, as they may be influenced by electoral or populist considerations rather than the merits of the individual case.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/political-interventions-have-undermined-the-parole-systems-effectiveness-and-independence-94248">Political interventions have undermined the parole system's effectiveness and independence</a>
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<p>In the 1980s, most jurisdictions removed or limited the powers of attorneys-general to prosecute cases and gave this power to <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UWALawRw/1996/14.pdf">independent directors of public prosecutions</a>.</p>
<p>In the same way, <a href="https://lr.law.qut.edu.au/article/view/742">establishing independent parole boards from the 1950s</a>, often chaired by retired or serving judicial officers, was designed to separate decisions about a person’s liberty from political influence.</p>
<h2>Political pressure</h2>
<p>As the debates in the WA parliament reveal, the political temptations are great. Why a delay of six years and not nine or 12? Why only serial killers and mass murderers? And how many victims are required to qualify? Why not paedophiles or child murderers or murderers of one victim? </p>
<p>The answer lies in the broad notion of the <a href="https://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/separation-of-powers.html">separation of powers</a>: politicians make the law, the judiciary applies it and the executive carries out their decisions.</p>
<p>However, governments increasingly have shown a reluctance to trust courts or parole boards as the final decision-makers on sentencing and release powers, and have eroded their authority.</p>
<p>The Victorian parliament <a href="https://www.news.com.au/new-laws-to-deny-hoddle-st-killer-julian-knight-any-chance-of-parole/news-story/f6bd9a732ebfdcad52216575d1a5f543">has legislated to effectively deny mass murderer Julian Knight and police killers the possibility of release on parole</a> and many jurisdictions have introduced <a href="https://lr.law.qut.edu.au/article/view/742">“no body, no parole” laws</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-prospect-of-release-kevin-crump-and-the-human-rights-implications-of-life-imprisonment-51435">No prospect of release: Kevin Crump and the human rights implications of life imprisonment</a>
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<p>In WA, none of the six people subject to these new extended powers has been released after being considered by the Prisoners Review Board. This suggests the system was working effectively without the need for legislative reform.</p>
<p>It is understandable that victims should not be re-traumatised each time an offender is being considered for release, no matter how remote that possibility. And it is reasonable for the community to expect the most serious punishment for heinous crimes. </p>
<p>But it is also reasonable for citizens to expect that decisions about their liberty should be in the hands of impartial and independent bodies. This is what the “rule of law” should mean.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arie Freiberg receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorana Bartels receives funding from the the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with Prisoners Aid ACT. </span></em></p>Under new WA legislation, the state’s attorney-general has the power to order serial killers and mass murders remain in jail, sometimes without judicial review.Arie Freiberg, Emeritus Professor of Law, Monash UniversityLorana Bartels, Professor, School of Law and Justice, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978372018-06-19T21:57:55Z2018-06-19T21:57:55ZIs queer culture losing its radical roots?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223887/original/file-20180619-126566-1nujdh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Has Pride been coopted? This year's Pride parade spectators have been asked to wear black in honour of the victims of serial killers. A drag queen at the Toronto 2016 gay pride parade.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you check out popular Canadian gay magazines such as <a href="http://inmagazine.ca/"><em>IN Magazine</em></a>, <a href="https://www.out.com/"><em>OUT Magazine</em></a> and <a href="https://gayliving.ca/magazines/"><em>Gay Living</em></a>, you may find headlines like: “Gay couple travels across Spain with pets” and “Middle-Age, Sexless Marriage: What’s to be Done?” along with the latest news about RuPaul’s <em>Drag Race</em> or the new <em>Queer Eye</em> series. Perusing these articles, one wouldn’t think gay men had any serious problems at all.</p>
<p>However, the more political <a href="https://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto-raises-the-pride-and-trans-flags-at-a-time-of-tragedy-87032"><em>Daily Xtra</em></a> featured a headline about this year’s Toronto 2018 Pride procession planned <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pride-toronto-mcarthur-gayvillage-parade-1.4643568">to remember not only the victims of an alleged gay serial killer,</a> but also <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/02/annual-pride-toronto-parade-to-be-a-mourning-procession-for-victims-of-alleged-serial-killer-and-the-van-rampage.html">those murdered by a van driver</a> in Toronto in April. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.pridetoronto.com/2018/04/17/pride-torontos-2018-theme-35-years-of-aids-activism/">official theme of this year’s Pride Parade</a>, “35 years of AIDS Activism” seems to have <a href="http://inmagazine.ca/2018/05/torontos-pride-parade-will-pay-tribute-to-bruce-mcarthurs-victims/">subtly shifted to emphasizing Toronto’s loss</a> related to these recent serial murders.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223885/original/file-20180619-126550-10f2cli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A woman walks during the Pride parade in Toronto in June 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch</span></span>
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<p>Spectators at this year’s Pride <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/02/annual-pride-toronto-parade-to-be-a-mourning-procession-for-victims-of-alleged-serial-killer-and-the-van-rampage.html">are now being urged to wear black</a>, “to signify that while the festival goes on, this is a period of huge trauma for the whole city, particularly the LGBTQ community,” as executive director Olivia Nuamah told <em>the Toronto Star</em>.</p>
<p>I do not mean to diminish the horrors perpetrated by these (or any other) serial killers. Yet I would suggest that serial killers are not the most serious problem facing gay men in Toronto today. </p>
<h2>Depression, minority stress and suicide</h2>
<p>Cultural reporter Michael Hobbes writes about suicide and depression in the gay male community in a 2017 article, “<a href="https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/gay-loneliness/">The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness</a>.”</p>
<p>Hobbes writes that gay people are now, depending on the study, between two and 10 times more likely than straight people to take their own lives. We’re twice as likely to have a major depressive episode. </p>
<p>In Sweden, which has had civil unions since 1995 and full marriage since 2009, men married to men have triple the suicide rate of men married to women. So even with all the legal changes, it is still dangerously alienating to go through life as a man attracted to other men.</p>
<p>Hobbes attributes the escalating suicide rates to what is called “minority stress.” He says: “Minority stress in its most direct form, it’s pretty simple: Being a member of a marginalized group requires extra effort.” </p>
<p>Part of the stress also comes from online dating apps like Grindr, Hobbes says. “If someone rejected you at a bathhouse, you could still have a conversation afterwards. Maybe you end up with a friend out of it, or at least something that becomes a positive social experience. On the apps, you just get ignored if someone doesn’t perceive you as a sexual or romantic conquest.”</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223891/original/file-20180619-126531-p7qvrg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The early days of gay liberation: A dance at Gay Activist Alliance Firehouse in 1971.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-5edd-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99">Diana Davies/The New York Public Library Digital Collections.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>Addiction linked to depression</h2>
<p>Depression comes with a side effect: Drug addiction. A 2017 article by music producer Anthony “aCe” Pabey, “<a href="https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/zmvej4/meth-ghb-epidemic-gay-queer-men-grindr">We Need to Talk About the Queer Community’s Meth and GHB Epidemic</a>” explains the situation.</p>
<p>In London, meth users who inject the drug while having sex jumped from 20 per cent in 2011 to 80 per cent in 2012, according to LGBT drug-and-alcohol support service <a href="https://www.nationalvoices.org.uk/wellbeing-our-way/wow-exchange/antidote">Antidote</a>. Hookup apps like Grindr and Scruff have gone so far as to ban words associated with drug use such as “meth” and “party.” </p>
<p><em>Buzzfeed</em> reported that <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/amandachicagolewis/the-responsible-high-that-is-also-a-date-rape-drug?utm_term=.mbLDeqBRN#.uslV3on8m">emergency room doctors in San Francisco have encountered the drug with increasing regularity</a>, particularly among gay professionals. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223896/original/file-20180619-126534-8r33hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 2016 photo, a 19-year-old transgender teen who declined to be identified because she feared for her life after receiving death threats poses for a photo in Texas. Juvenile detention centres are largely ill-equipped to house transgender young people, leaving them vulnerable to bullying, sexual assault, depression and suicide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eric Gay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Many economic challenges</h2>
<p>Depression, suicide and epidemic drug use? How can this be? Aren’t gay men happy hedonists and rich as hell to boot? Not according to a 2014 article in <em>The Atlantic</em>, “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-gay-affluence/284570/">The Myth of Gay Affluence</a>:” “In reality, gay Americans face disproportionately greater economic challenges than their straight counterparts. </p>
<p>A new report released by UCLA’s Williams Institute found <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/study-finds-lgbt-adults-experience-food-insecurity-and-snap-participation-at-higher-levels-than-non-lgbt-adults/">29 per cent of LGBT adults, about 2.4 million people, experienced food insecurity.</a></p>
<h2>The Stockholm Syndrome</h2>
<p>If the plight of gay men is so dire, why are gay magazines obsessed with pets who travel — and RuPaul? Why is the message of this year’s Pride that gay men are just the same as anyone else — including, tragically, the victims of serial killers? </p>
<p>Why are gay men dedicated to perpetrating a false image of themselves as not being victims of oppression? </p>
<p>I believe gay men are presently passing through a kind of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22447726">Stockholm Syndrome</a> in which the captured begin to identify with their captors to such an extent that they wish to become them. In this case, it is the oppressed identifying with their oppressors. </p>
<p>Though the phrase Stockholm Syndrome was coined <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/six-day-hostage-standoff-gave-rise-stockholm-syndrome-180964537/">after a bank robbery in 1973</a>, Irish novelist James Joyce spoke eloquently of the symptoms of identifying with your oppressors in his collection of short stories called <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/321917/dubliners-by-james-joyce/9780140247749/readers-guide/"><em>Dubliners</em></a>. </p>
<p>In "A Little Cloud,” the leading character is a dreamy, melancholy Irishman named Little Chandler — prone to fantasizing about being an English poet: “The English critics, perhaps, would recognize him as one of the Celtic school by reason of the melancholy tone of his poems.” <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26883211">England ruled Ireland from the time of Henry VIII to 1949.</a> Irish citizens — who were persecuted for their Catholicism — toiled away as servants for absentee British landlords on their own stolen farms. </p>
<p>Despite or perhaps because of this history of oppression, Joyce’s Little Chandler has an epiphany: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/james-joyce-and-the-problem-of-justice/D852158AA22F5ABCF0012521CF99154D">“Was it too late for him to try to live bravely like Gallaher? Could he go to London?</a>” </p>
<p>Joyce’s character does not have the strength of will to rebel against his oppressors. On the contrary, he sympathizes with them, because, English literature scholar <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/james-joyce-and-the-problem-of-justice/D852158AA22F5ABCF0012521CF99154D">Joseph Valente says</a> — “Chandler has been colonized by Gallaher’s attitude.”</p>
<p>In the same way, has resistance to homophobia been co-opted?</p>
<p>Recently, hip hop star Kanye West tweeted: “I love the way Candace Owen thinks.” Candace Owens’ message, <a href="http://quillette.com/2018/04/24/kanye-west-future-black-conservatism/">according to critical race writer Coleman Hughes,</a> “is that there’s a stubborn refusal — among Blacks and whites alike — to let go of the narrative that Blacks are continually beleaguered by white racism.”</p>
<p>According to Owens, what we need is a new story about what Black America can be, which “looks toward a bright future instead of clinging to an ugly past.” </p>
<p>Owens is not alone — many people hold these conservative views. Hughes mentions that “a <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-blacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/">2016 Pew poll found that</a> 60 per cent of Blacks without college degrees say their race hasn’t affected their chances of success.”</p>
<p>But we all know that racism and homophobia are systemic issues woven throughout our daily lives.</p>
<h2>Origins of gay liberation</h2>
<p>Is it any wonder that an oppressed minority might hope that wishful thinking might spirit oppression away? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/an-amazing-1969-account-of-the-stonewall-uprising/272467/">Stonewall uprising</a> — the much celebrated night of rebellion of 1969 when radical queers (sex trade workers, lesbians and drag queens) took to the streets to riot against the police at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan — inspired the modern gay liberation movement and it’s the reason we mark Pride weekend. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223892/original/file-20180619-126534-5431u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The raid of New York’s Stonewall Inn in 1969 and the protests that followed inspired gay liberation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Diana Davies/The New York Public Library</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet gay liberation didn’t begin with Stonewall. </p>
<p><a href="http://progressive.org/magazine/meet-pioneer-gay-rights-harry-hay/">Harry Hay</a> — a card-carrying communist and proud effeminate “fairy” — founded <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mattachine-Society">The Mattachine Society</a> in 1950. It was devoted to the notion that oppression had made gay men into different beings than straight men and that consequently there was such a thing as gay culture. </p>
<p>However, in 1953, as the oral historian <a href="http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/john-d-emilio--oral-histories/harry-hay">John D’Emilio tells us</a>, Hay was ousted by the New Mattachine society, which then tackled the enormous task of trying to “adjust to a pattern of behaviour that is acceptable to society in general (and) compatible with the recognized institutions…of home, church and state.” </p>
<p>But this more conservative Mattachine Society had little success. </p>
<p>It took a decade, and the Stonewall uprisings, to effect the changes that helped create what we know today as gay liberation. </p>
<h2>Let’s be radical</h2>
<p>But the pendulum has swung back again. It seems that once again, gay men are committed to lying about their oppression. How long will we continue this futile pattern of oppressing ourselves?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223886/original/file-20180619-126563-1ac4xg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman dances in bubbles during the Toronto Pride Parade in Toronto in July 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I had the privilege of meeting Harry Hay once — by chance — in a Provincetown restaurant in the ‘90s. I’ll never forget it. </p>
<p>I immediately recognized him and felt compelled to introduce myself. (This was a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance!) Hay was old. Standing near, but at a bit of a distance from him, was his lifetime partner, John. </p>
<p>I asked Mr. Hay why he was in Provincetown, and he said, “You won’t like my answer.” I said, “You never know.” </p>
<p>“I’m here to protest gay marriage,” he said. I told him that I agreed with his position. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223904/original/file-20180619-126566-7n0mw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John Burnside and Harry Hay with matching caps, June 25, 1994.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.sfpl.org/sfphotos">SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, he felt compelled to explain it. “You see that man over there? He’s my lover John. John and I have been together for a very long time. But we are not married. We would never marry. You see, at any moment I could leave him. We have that kind of relationship. I mean I could leave him for someone like…like well…like for you, for instance.” And his eyes sparkled. </p>
<p>I can say that Harry Hay — the founder of the gay liberation movement — flirted with me when he suggested he might very well cheat — with me — on his lifetime partner. </p>
<p>I’m not bragging about this. But it all just goes to prove that, unlike many gay men today, Harry Hay was not afraid to tell the truth. </p>
<p>Harry Hay knew that it was only by the admission of difficult truths that we can ever find the path to true liberation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sky Gilbert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Spectators at Toronto’s Pride parade this year are being asked to wear black to honour victims of serial killers. While it’s right to mourn, it’s not the biggest issue facing gay communities today.Sky Gilbert, Professor, School of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/840802017-12-05T10:17:47Z2017-12-05T10:17:47Z‘Jack the Ripper’ was a serial killer who disembowelled women — we need to stop celebrating that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190850/original/file-20171018-32370-q2jo99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From ghost tours, to books, Halloween costumes to theatre productions – and even a museum – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jack-the-ripper-a-womens-history-museum-and-londons-fascination-with-all-things-gory-45456">Jack the Ripper industry</a> is well and truly alive.</p>
<p>His is the name given to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-evidence-points-to-old-jack-the-ripper-suspect-but-here-is-why-im-not-convinced-31445">unidentified serial killer</a> who was believed to be responsible for a number of murders in and around the Whitechapel district of London between 1888 and 1891. It was during this period that the lives of Mary Ann Nichols (Polly), Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly <a href="http://www.casebook.org/victims/">were so brutally ended</a>. </p>
<p>Known as the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ripper_jack_the.shtml">Whitechapel Murders</a>, the killings saw an unsubstantiated number of female sex workers murdered by an unknown assailant[s]. At various points, some or all of these unsolved murders have been attributed to the notorious “Jack the Ripper”. </p>
<p>And yet the fact remains that Jack the Ripper is not, and never has been, real. The name “Jack the Ripper” was simply <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Boss_letter">invented by a journalist</a> to boost newspaper circulation – and it did just that as papers sold from stands all across London town with tales of “Jack’s” gruesome killings. </p>
<p>So while there was a killer – or even many killers – committing horrendous acts of femicide during the period, it was not done by a man named Jack the Ripper. And what can also be said with a great deal of certainty is that it was not a smog shrouded, top-hatted, cloak wafting mythical figure who was responsible. </p>
<h2>The reality of the killings</h2>
<p>What is real, though, are the women who were killed – and the pathological violence enacted upon them. Public recounts of their murders are often sanitised, and frequently omit the true ferocity of the violence and degradation they endured. </p>
<p>This includes virtual decapitations, facial, abdominal and genital mutilations, organ removal and possible cannibalisation. But yet in spite of the sexual injuries inflicted upon the bodies of the women killed, any sexual motives for the killings are frequently dismissed.</p>
<p>It has been argued by <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/reinvention/issues/bcur2013specialissue/jones/">several feminist historians</a>, that the whole grand narrative of the Whitechapel Murders is held aloft to all women – as a warning of what may happen should they breach their prescribed gendered limits of domesticity, geography and sexuality. </p>
<p>In this way, the story of “Jack” and his deeds, is built around a cornerstone of “whorephobia”. This is the hatred of, oppression of, violence towards, and discrimination against sex workers. And by extension, derision or disgust towards activities or attire related to sex work.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190854/original/file-20171018-32338-vp1e5q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sites of the first seven Whitechapel murders – Osborn Street (centre right), George Yard (centre left), Hanbury Street (top), Buck’s Row (far right), Berner Street (bottom right), Mitre Square (bottom left), and Dorset Street (middle left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.casebook.org/official_documents/map/images/ord_map_full">By Ordnance Survey; modified by User:ΑΩ</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The women killed, by and large, are rarely represented as anything but deserving, diseased, destitute, addicted, immoral and unsightly. They were part of a community which was too visible and deemed verminous. And many sources at the time overtly stated that the sins of the fallen, far outweighed the sins of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/31/jack-ripper-museum-victims-women">the hand that slew them</a>. </p>
<p>The humanity and life experiences of the women killed in Whitechapel have been utterly reduced to their jobs and the roles they played in society. They have become more akin to cultural tropes of “disposable street prostitutes” than once living women. More unreal than the unreal “man” who is supposed to have killed them. </p>
<h2>A cultural icon</h2>
<p>Failing to acknowledge the horrific historical truth of these murders has undoubtedly impacted perceptions of Jack the Ripper today. He is seen as an “icon of crime” rather than a horrific serial killer who disembowelled women.</p>
<p>Worse still, since the era of the crimes, hundreds of people globally have lost their lives to killers who have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/06/ukcrime">confessed to emulating</a> “Jack”. And the <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/russias-jack-ripper-accused-butchering-11535928">press still refers to</a> “Jack the Ripper type crimes” when acts of femicide have been committed, particularly if the victims work in the sex industry.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190851/original/file-20171018-32378-dawfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Common depictions of so-called Jack the Ripper.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Jack” did not forge his ubiquitous cultural status, his multi-million pound industry, or his “immortality”. “Jack the Ripper” may be a made up construct but with lives still being taken in his name, it is high time that our cultural relationship with “The Ripper” changed. One way of doing this is by addressing the way such modern crimes are reported. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2014/en/">World Health Organisation’s 2014 report</a>, which looks at how violence can be prevented, highlights the impact language around such violence plays. And given that “Jack’s” name remains associated with an ever growing list of victims – from around the world – it is clear this is something that needs to change sooner rather than later.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Mallinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why are people so obsessed with the notorious serial killer?Charlotte Mallinson, Lecturer in Modern World History (PhD Researcher), University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/778092017-05-16T13:54:30Z2017-05-16T13:54:30ZIan Brady’s lack of remorse for Moors Murders guaranteed the media’s enduring fascination<p>The death of Ian Brady – the Moors Murderer – who with his partner Myra Hindley abducted, sexually violated and murdered five children, Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Anne Downey and Edward Evans in the 1960s, in and around Manchester, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39929538">has died</a> at the age of 79. </p>
<p>Brady and Hindley were arrested in 1965 after her brother-in-law David Smith phoned the police, having witnessed the murder of Evans at their home in Wardle Brook Avenue, Hattersley. They had also taped the sexual torture of ten-year-old Lesley Anne Downey at this house. In 1987, Manchester Council having unsuccessfully tried to let the property, demolished it.</p>
<p>After their arrests both spent the rest of their lives in custody. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moors_Murderers.jpg">pictures of them</a> taken at the time of their arrest were reproduced on a large scale. A picture of Hindley, with her dyed blonde hair that was part of a tribute to Brady’s obsession with Nazi atrocities, became an iconic image <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/aug/26/art.olympics2012">that still had the power to shock</a> some 30 years after the murders. The case has long been a stable feature of the British news media.</p>
<h2>Battling the system</h2>
<p>Following his conviction at Chester Assizes in 1966, Brady was sentenced to life in imprisonment on May 6, 1966. As part of <a href="https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/605007/2/bradypaper%20(3).pdf">our research</a>, we have examined TV and news reports of the trial as well as subsequent media coverage of the crimes. In this work, we found no evidence that Brady or Hindley’s mental health was an issue at the time of the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Moors_Murders.html?id=vi8-NQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">trial itself</a>. No defence of diminished responsibility was put before the court. Brady was examined by psychiatrists following his conviction and there was no diagnosis of mental illness. We found no evidence that Hindley – who died in 2002 – was ever considered for transfer to a forensic mental health institution during the time that she was in prison. </p>
<p>Given the nature of his crimes, there was the constant possibility that Brady would be violently assaulted by other prisoners. As a result, he spent long periods in isolation for his own protection and was moved from one maximum security prison to another. Brady spent 20 years in prison before being transferred to Ashworth Special Hospital in 1985 under the Mental Health Act. There were concerns about his mental health then as he was experiencing auditory hallunicantions and had become emaciated. </p>
<p>Brady went on <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/bradys-hunger-strike-is-longest-in-penal-history-138735.html">hunger strike in 1999</a> as a protest against his treatment at Ashworth. He remained on hunger strike until his death, but he was being force fed – something the authorities are allowed to do with people detained under the Mental Health Act. He also had the right to appeal to a tribunal and did so on the grounds that he was not mentally ill and he should be allowed to return to prison to die. </p>
<p>A Mental Health Review Tribunal took place in Manchester in 2013. Such hearings usually take place in private due to the sensitive and personal information about the patient’s mental health and treatment that is discussed. Only <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/broadmoor-patient-albert-haines-loses-appeal-bid-2376176.html">one previous</a> tribunal had been held in public. Brady’s lawyers argued in a lengthy case that his tribunal should also be public, and won. </p>
<p>Brady appeared via a television link from Ashworth and members of the public were able to queue for tickets to attend the hearings. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10125981/Ian-Brady-wants-right-to-die-in-Scottish-jail.html">A report</a> in the Daily Telegraph captured best the way Brady’s evidence became a theatrical event: “The camera relaying the hearing to the public and media panned round and there he was, only too real in his dark glasses, grey hair swept back fully recognisable as that youthful serial killer of another age.” </p>
<p>Much of the reporting at the time gave the clear impression that the tribunal might provide a final opportunity for Brady to reveal the whereabouts of 12-year-old Keith Bennett’s body. Brady had always refused to do this. The hearing was, rather, one final attempt by Brady to obtain a victory over the authorities. In the end, the tribunal ruled that he still met the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act and should not be transferred back to the prison system.</p>
<h2>Struggle to comprehend</h2>
<p>Brady made no real attempt to explain his actions and never showed any remorse. He never sought to be released and refused to cooperate with any form of treatment programme. </p>
<p>In his evidence at the 2013 tribunal, Brady <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/ian-brady-words-petty-criminal-compared-tony-blair/">described himself</a> as a “petty criminal” in comparison to “global serial killers and thieves like Blair or Bush”.</p>
<p>Despite the intervening 50 years and thousands of words written about the case, the murders are still conceptualised as pure evil – <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Beyond_Belief.html?id=D_beQgAACAAJ&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">beyond belief</a>, to quote the title of Emlyn Williams’ book on the topic. Modern day serial killer dramas such as <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/criminal_minds/">Criminal Minds</a> place profiling and explanations of the hows, whys and motivation of serial killers at the centre of the drama. This offers a logical explanation for events and provide closure for the audience. </p>
<p>There is no explanation or closure in the case of the Moors Murders. Greater Manchester Police <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2017-05-16/greater-manchester-police-we-will-never-close-the-moors-murders-case/">confirmed</a> that the case would remain open after Brady’s death as the body of Bennett is still missing. </p>
<p>Brady never showed any remorse for his crimes. Winnie Johnson, Bennett’s mother, spent the rest of her life attempting to find her son’s body. She wrote to Brady asking him for information. At various times, Brady hinted that he would reveal the whereabouts of his missing victim, using this information as a pawn in his power struggles with authorities. Police were reportedly trying to find out this information <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/did-ian-brady-leave-letter-opened-deathrevealing-keith-bennett/">right up to the end</a>.</p>
<p>Such an act might have indicated that even Brady was capable of some final contrition. But this turned out to be a forlorn hope. So we are left struggling to comprehend how someone could commit such acts and this is reflected in the media responses to his death. The monstrous and evil imagery takes centre stage and emphasises the way in which this case remains a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-moors-murders-50-years-on-how-brady-and-hindley-became-an-awful-celebrity-template-58665">template</a> for the reporting of serial killing</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin King is affiliated with the Labour Party.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cummins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The serial killer Ian Brady has died at the age of 79.Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of SalfordMartin King, Principal Lecturer, Social Care and Social Work, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/586652016-05-05T10:34:06Z2016-05-05T10:34:06ZThe Moors murders 50 years on: how Brady and Hindley became an awful ‘celebrity’ template<p>Manchester is the world’s first modern industrial city. It has reinvented itself as a financial, media and creative centre and recently was <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/cities">included</a> by Lonely Planet in its list of the top 10 cities in the world to visit. But 50 years ago, Manchester was the focus of the world’s media for rather different reasons as Ian Brady and Myra Hindley – who subsequently became known as the Moors murderers – were <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2512000/2512119.stm">sentenced to life imprisonment</a> on May 6, 1966. </p>
<p>The case has become a tragic template for the way that the media responds to such awful crimes – including giving the killers a nickname. The Moors murderers have been an almost constant feature of the news cycle since their arrest – and, yes, this article is part of that process. One of the more bizarre aspects of our current “celebrity” culture is that the term is so broad that it includes sexually sadistic killers such as Brady and Hindley, as well as Harry Styles from the band One Direction. </p>
<h2>Lives behind bars</h2>
<p>The nature of the crimes that Brady and Hindley committed, combined with the fact that a young woman was involved, mean that the murders and the search for the victims continue to fascinate the public.</p>
<p>Brady and Hindley were convicted at Chester Assizes for the abduction, sexual assault and murder of Lesley Anne Downey (10), John Kilbride (12) and Edward Evans (17). The bodies of Lesley Anne Downey and John Kilbride were buried on bleak, unforgiving Saddleworth Moor. Two other children, Pauline Reade (16) and Keith Bennett (12), went missing in Manchester during the period, too. It was always suspected that they had been murdered by Brady and Hindley but searches at the time were unable to find the bodies. </p>
<p>In 1985, however, Brady and Hindley confessed to the murders. A huge police operation <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/2/newsid_2491000/2491503.stm">saw both taken separately</a> to the moors in an attempt to locate the bodies. Pauline Reade’s body was found in the summer of 1987 and her family were finally able to lay her to rest. Keith Bennett’s body has never been found. </p>
<p>Hindley remained in prison <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2481193.stm">until her death in 2002</a>, while Brady was in prison until his transfer under provisions of the Mental Health Act to Park Lane – now Ashworth – Special Hospital in 1985. He is now the UK’s longest serving prisoner. He has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-brady-be-kept-alive-the-ethics-of-force-feeding-15266">force fed</a> for a number of years as he has been on a hunger strike in an attempt to force a return to prison. </p>
<p>In 2013, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/moors-murderer-ian-brady-breaks-his-silence-after-47-years-i-killed-for-the-existential-experience-8672684.html">he appeared</a> via a TV link at a mental health tribunal arguing that he was not mentally ill so should be returned to prison. He believes that he would not be force fed in prison and so would be allowed to end his life there. </p>
<h2>Popular fascination</h2>
<p>There have been numerous books, plays and TV documentaries about the murderers, from the publication of Emlyn Williams’s seminal 1967 book <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Beyond_Belief.html?id=D_beQgAACAAJ&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">Beyond Belief</a> to ITV’s superb 2006 drama <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491807/">See No Evil</a>, in which Maxine Peake played Hindley. The focus overwhelmingly has been on the motivations of the killers and the minutiae of the offences themselves. The suffering and pain of the victims’ families rarely are examined in depth. </p>
<p>It is not just the brutality of the crimes that is behind the media fascination. Brady and Hindley were arrested just as the future of the death penalty was being debated and it was effectively abolished while they were on remand. The case became a conduit for debate on questions about crime, punishment, the nature of evil and other social issues such as the role of the press. </p>
<p>In the immediate aftermath, the crimes were seen by some commentators as a consequence of the more liberal social attitudes of 1960s Britain. The novelist C P Snow in <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Sleep_of_Reason.html?id=kj3gagTPsdoC&redir_esc=y">The Sleep of Reason</a> argued that “permissive attitudes” were the “earth out of which this poisonous flower grew”. The continued search for the bodies of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett, the peer <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/aug/06/guardianobituaries.prisonsandprobation">Frank Longford’s campaign</a> for Hindley’s parole, and Brady’s hunger strike have all fed the media’s voracious interest in stories about the murders.</p>
<p>American literature scholar Mark Seltzer has <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/778805?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">argued</a> that public culture has become addicted to violence. He uses the term “wound culture” to refer to this fascination with the public display of defiled bodies.</p>
<h2>Families tormented</h2>
<p>The Moors murders have become an archetype for the symbiotic relationship between the media and what the late academic criminologist <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585189308407983?journalCode=rjfp19">Keith Soothill called</a> “the serial killer industry”. TV and film dramas are awash with disillusioned police chasing serial killers. As Brady showed at his tribunal, he was very aware of the media interest. He has sought to manipulate this for many years – giving hints that he might reveal more details, including the whereabouts of Keith Bennett’s body. We are simultaneously drawn in and repulsed. </p>
<p>There is a macabre form of celebrity attached to murder, which is extended to families in high-profile cases. The result is that the suffering of the victims’ families is largely marginalised. When The Independent carried an obituary of Winnie Johnson, Keith Bennett’s mother, in 2012, it <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/winnie-johnson-mother-of-moors-murders-victim-keith-bennett-8069892.html">said</a> she was: “an ordinary mother whose life became defined by the tragic death of her son”. In remembering the awful events of this case, this should be the real focus of our concern – the pain and suffering endured by the families of the victims. </p>
<p>Manchester is the home of many firsts of the modern age, from <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8282000/8282223.stm">splitting the atom</a> to the first <a href="http://curation.cs.manchester.ac.uk/computer50/www.computer50.org/index.html?man=true">programmable computer</a>. Unwittingly, it was also the site of the creation of two of the UK’s most notorious celebrity serial killers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ian Brady and Myra Hindley continue to fascinate the public, half a century after they were sentenced to life in prison.Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of SalfordMartin King, Principal Lecturer, Social Care and Social Work, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.