I can't comment on Lindy Chamberlain. I either never criticised or defended all the others, although I have a problem with ALL of the adults in Portugal. I found them all to be empathetic people, whatever their likeability. I even found Casey Anthony to be more empathetic than FM, although I'm not sure I would go to the lengths of defending her.
Which also brings me to another point. FM and FF were carers. They were not parents. She is not and never was William's mother. (I know I use the acronyms, but they don't mean anything and are just for reference and seem to be the most common ones online.) We hold carers, including foster carers, to a higher standard of care precisely because vulnerable children are being placed in their care. The bias in this situation could well be partially explained by that.
FF doesn't feature because as far as we know at this point he wasn't there at the time. It's also FM who makes herself front and centre in all the interviews (she constantly even talks over the top of him). FF, also, as far as I know, is going for a straight not guilty in all his matters, while FM is intending to use the Mental Health Act, which is essentially saying that she is claiming severe mental or cognitive impairment that means she should not be found guilty regardless of whether the act is proven. If she had such a severe mental impairment that explains her allegedly assaulting a child (because that is what this means), why was she still foster caring?
It's not always gender bias when people single out the woman, was and is my point. I'm not going to tiptoe around someone just because they're a woman when they (a) are the only living adult who was looking after a child when they disappeared; (b) was not his parent; (c) have now been charged with a range of offences that include harming a child.
The female who has been treated repugnantly in this situation is not FM. It is the BM. Before the Coroner's ruling, that poor woman's entire life and every mistake she had ever made was splashed everywhere. She lost her son TWICE: once when she made some mistakes and, right when she was working to get her life back together, the people charged with his care lost him and she was denied any opportunity to have an ongoing relationship with him. Not only that but she has been completely erased from the entire situation, and especially by the FM herself.
Also, I have certainly never criticised the FM for leaving William alone. I have always said that it would be understandable even if she lost track of time and it was 20 minutes.