Mal Fletcher comments on the recent spate of accusations of sexual misconduct from public figures.

Once we personalise the discussion, we often do little more than engage in herding behaviour, we join a mob.

When it comes to some alleged perpetrators, the fear of being the subject of knee-jerk viral campaigns is leading in some cases to knee-jerk pseudo-apologies.

A few times now we've heard this refrain from an accused party (most often a man): "I don't remember the incident, but I'm sorry if my behaviour caused any offence."

This is not a real apology. It is too conditional and too vague to be a sincere expression of regret and repentance for a wrong done.

It is more often an attempt to dampen down the passion of the baying lynch party, whose fingers are poised to punch out vitriolic responses on Twitter or Facebook.

Accusations must be made through proper channels. They must then be investigated and adjudged through the legal system, not via Facebook or Twitter.

Sadly, the very immediacy and (much overrated) potential to right wrongs that make these platforms attractive to some people are responsible for making objective facts subservient to opinion.

The spate of misconduct stories also indirectly reflects a more general confusion over sexual mores.

In some British pre-school settings, young children are now being encouraged to learn about gender identity and fluidity. This, say the lobbyists who have proposed it, is to allow young children to grow up with a tolerance toward transgenderism.

I suspect their true motive is to promote transgender lifestyles, rather than educate children about gender.

Gender curiosity is normal in children; it is part of their development of identity and a sense of their place in the world.

Conflating this natural curiosity in children with confusion is irresponsible. Using it to try to change sexual mores represents social re-engineering at its worst.

I am not conflating the issues of gender-fluidity and sexual assault. They are clearly miles apart in most respects. My point is that our response to them may reflect a deep, underlying confusion about sexual and gender roles.

It is past time that we faced up to the problems of sexual harassment and assault in the workspace. For too long, we've allowed them to go unanswered.