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Laws should be introduced that compel people in positions of trust to report allegations of child sexual abuse, an inquiry into historic abuse has called for in its final report. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), one of the largest and most expensive investigations of its kind ever in the UK, was established in July 2014 after a deluge of horrific revelations of abuse came to light.
In its final report, published today, it made a series of recommendations, including the establishment of a Child Protection Agency, a cabinet-level minister for children, and a complete ban on violence against children by people in positions of responsibility (e.g. corporal punishment).
One survivor previously said victims would feel “cheated” if the recommendations of an inquiry, published today, are not hard-hitting enough.
Reacting to the report, lawyers acting on behalf of some of the victims said the recommendations did not go far enough.
However, one recommendation put forward by victims was a need for “mandatory reporting” – making it a criminal offence for someone to fail to report allegations of child sexual abuse that they have either received or witnessed.
The inquiry said this should apply to any person working in regulated activity in relation to children, anyone in a position of trust, and police officers.
It also called for the removal of the three-year period of limitation for personal injury claims brought by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse with regard to their abuse.
Records known to relate to allegations or cases of child sexual abuse should be kept by institutions for 75 years with appropriate review periods, it said, adding that the Information Commissioners Office should implement a new code of practice to reflect this.
The inquiry has already reported on failings among several UK institutions to adequately deal with cases of child sexual abuse, including in Westminster, some local authorities, and both the Anglican and Catholic churches.
It recommended that the Government establish a “single redress scheme in England and Wales, taking into account devolved responsibilities”.
The inquiry called for this scheme to run for five years, with funding drawn from Government and voluntary contributions from non-governmental institutions. Several other recommendations were made in today’s report, alongside the 87 already made in the interim report.
The inquiry, led by social care expert Professor Alexis Jay OBE, has held 325 public hearings with 725 witnesses and processed nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence since it got under way in February 2017. Over 6,000 victims and survivors of abuse also related their experiences to the inquiry’s “Truth Project”.
Politicians and church leaders had ignored and actively covered up allegations to protect perpetrators and reputations, its reports have found.
The inquiry itself was riven by setbacks before it got under way, with Professor Jay being the fourth person appointed to lead it after three of her predecessors stepped down.
Writing in the final report, Professor Jay paid tribute to the “many thousands of victims and survivors who came forward and told the inquiry about the abuse they experienced”.
She continued: “As Chair, I observed first hand the courage and bravery of so many who spoke candidly about the shocking acts perpetrated against them. I urge the UK Government, the Welsh Government and all other relevant institutions to implement promptly the inquiry’s recommendations which are designed to protect children from sexual abuse in the future.”
There are 3.1 million victims of child sexual abuse in England and Wales, according to a 2019 crime survey by the Office for National Statistics, accounting for around 7.5 percent of the population aged between 18 and 75.
In 2020-21, there were an estimated 500,000 victims of child sexual abuse, according to the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse.
Reacting to the contents of the report, Alan Collins, who acted on behalf of a number of the participants, said: “In my view the inquiry has called for the status quo to be put on a legislative footing and I don’t think that is good enough.”
The child abuse lawyer expressed his concern that some of the recommendations allowed for potential loopholes, or would be hard to implement.
He said: “The mandatory reporting recommendations are not comprehensive enough. For example, the report confines mandatory reporting to individuals such as police officers and social workers who will be mandated to report [child sexual abuse allegations].
“However, there is no criminal sanction if they are merely in receipt of a report, for example, from a third party like a concerned neighbour.”
Mr Collins added that the proposed national redress scheme “will be extremely difficult to implement in the current economic and political environment” and would require “real leadership” from politicians.
However, he noted: “Victims and survivors were listened to. That is a considerable achievement given the history of child abuse in the country over the last couple of decades and that is reflected in the report.
“Any criticisms of the detail in the recommendations should not detract from that achievement. But, it only goes to show that political leadership is now required to make the inquiry’s recommendations achievable in the real world.”
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