VERITY LUSH: Would you be brave enough to become a whistleblower?

We have learnt that many, many powerful Hollywood men and women knew what was going on. People powerful enough to not have their careers jeopardised had they decided to indulge in a spot of whistleblowing.

And as has become mightily apparent, if they had chosen to take that brave step then others would have followed and backed them up. In their absolute droves.

Phrases such as ‘culture of silence’ are being bandied about.

Yet again, an old Hollywood sleaze-meister tries to beg for a second chance and pleads ‘sex addiction’ before checking into the infamous Arizona clinic to which all LA perverts before him have checked in.

‘Sex addict’, my backside. We’re not talking alcoholism or addictive substances here. I’ve no clue if sex addiction really exists – I’m frankly not interested – but I’m willing to bet that if it does, then Weinstein is not caught in the throes of a woeful and uncontrollable disease. He is simply addicted to the power that he has revelled in for decades and the gorgeous young girls who have relied on that power to get them a career.

And as for those who stayed silent, well that’s tricky, isn’t it?

Bullying is rife in all playgrounds, industries, offices and lives. We encounter it everywhere.

We may not all be faced by lecherous old duffers yanking their zips down, or mighty career women whipping out their boobs, but we all witness underhand tactics at some point in our lives.

So who among us is brave enough to blow the whistle? Who is brave enough to risk what they have, be it their career, their lunch money, or their teeth, and stand up for what is truly ‘right’?

When someone in authority tells us to do something, no matter how hardcore we perceive ourselves to be, chances are, we’ll do it.

By-standing is up there with bullying, for we are all shamefully facilitating the bully, simply by staying schtum.

I LEFT MY PHONE AT HOME AND BEING CUT OFF WAS SO PEACEFUL

I went out recently without my mobile phone.

Apart from when I’m running, I generally have my phone on me, so this was a rare moment.

A squillion thoughts went through my head.

These included, what if one of the kids’ schools phones me?

But in that case, I reasoned, they’d try my husband at work or an emergency contact.

It made me think back 20 years or so to the time when I broke down near Bosham.

I had to walk to Emsworth before I could call someone out to come and help me.

It was a complete pain in the backside but clearly doable.

In an age where there is no excuse for lack of communication, it was restful to be incommunicado.

DO MEN GIVE A SECOND THOUGHT TO WALKING HOME IN THE DARK?

Perhaps it’s just me getting older, but when I was young I rarely cared about walking around after dark.

I was generally traversing to or from a bus stop or a mate’s house, but walking nevertheless. In the dark. Alone.

The combination of the words in that sentence are enough to make me stop and think.

They simply sound sinister and I’ve no idea why this is.

I don’t think it’s because I’m any wiser now – after all, I watched the news when I was a teenager and in my twenties, but none of it bothered me.

I wasn’t naïve.

I do imagine however that this is more likely to be a female opinion.

It must be so very different to be a bloke.