This newsletter gives details about our latest publications and events – we have published a
report into child sexual abuse in contemporary institutional settings and have updated our Truth
Project dashboard with information up to July 2021. We have also held webinars drawing on
our ethnic minority communities research.

Truth Project dashboard

On Thursday 5 August the Inquiry published the latest Truth Project Dashboard and Quarterly statistics, both containing data to 30 June 2021.
More than 5,600 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse have now shared their experiences with the Truth Project in England and Wales. Of these, 5,440 personal accounts have been analysed for research purposes.

Victims and survivors spoke of sexual abuse taking place in the family home and across a range of institutions such as schools, religious institutions and foster care, as well as in sports locations and custody. Almost all described some kind of impact; as well as mental health, this included victims and
survivors’ relationships (54%), school or employment (42%) and their physical health (27%). Nearly half reported having an illness or condition that affects their everyday lives. 5,861 experiences of child
sexual abuse have now been shared with the Truth Project through 4,228 Truth sessions being attended (which includes face to face, video and telephone) and 1,633 written accounts received.

Expressions of interest to share in a private session (video and telephone) closed on 31 July, with the last private session happening on 30 September.
Victims and survivors can still share in writing up to the 31 October 2021 and all of these experiences will be part of the final Truth Project dashboard
For the first time, the Inquiry will also be publishing the journey of Victim and Survivors’ engagement with the Inquiry in a visual dashboard which shows how our Forum member numbers, Truth Project Expressions of Interest and Experiences Shared have all continued to steadily rise across the lifetime of the Inquiry despite the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ongoing engagement with victims and survivors is a clear indicator of the Truth Project’s importance as an opportunity for survivors to speak out.

Victims and survivors’ engagement with the Inquiry

There have also been 22,719 expressions of interest in sharing with the Truth Project to the end of Q2 of 2021.

The Inquiry understands it is a major and very personal decision to share an experience of child sexual abuse, and victims and survivors are encouraged to get in touch so we can help answer any questions or concerns. After contacting the Inquiry, some victims and survivors may choose not to share their experience, or change their mind at any stage during the process, which accounts for the gap between EOIs and Experiences Shared.

Over a third of victims and survivors reported depression as an impact and 88% of victims and survivors have experienced an impact on their mental health as a result of the sexual abuse. One in 10 disclosed the sexual abuse they experienced as a child for the first time when they spoke to the Inquiry’s
Truth Project.
The Inquiry’s Forum is open to all victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. We currently have over 1500 members across England and Wales from diverse backgrounds. Being part of the Forum provides an opportunity to engage with the Inquiry and contribute to our engagement, policy and research work.

Register to join the Forum.

The Truth Project is closing in October 2021, but victims and survivors who would like to share their experience can still do so in writing. More information about how to share can be found on the Truth Project website.

Child sexual abuse in contemporary institutional settings

The research report is based on analysis of 43 Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) case files in which an individual was added to the DBS Children’s Barred List on discretionary grounds and on the grounds of sexual harm between September 2017 and June 2020, across a range of sectors.
The research found that:

Alleged perpetrators across different types of institutional contexts used similar tactics and methods to sexually groom and sexually abuse children.

Most child sexual abuse took place in private and unsupervised spaces where children were isolated by alleged perpetrators, such as physical locations away from the institution or online.

Institutional cultures enabled individuals to sexually abuse children without raising suspicions and there were numerous missed opportunities to safeguard children

Researcher reflection:

“This was a unique opportunity to analyse records from the DBS to better understand how perpetrators offend in institutional contexts and how institutions handled allegations of child sexual abuse. What was striking is that despite significant legal and policy reform to raise awareness and safeguard children from sexual abuse, perpetrators can access and sexually abuse children in contemporary institutional contexts in many of the same ways reported in non-recent child sexual abuse cases. We saw many examples across the cases of sexually abusive relationships being framed as consensual.
Social media was frequently exploited to groom and perpetrate child sexual abuse, providing access to children in unsupervised and unmonitored online spaces. Where reports were made, opportunities to safeguard children were missed or actively blocked because concerns were not escalated and disclosures were not always believed. In some cases, it was clear that institutions chose to put their reputation above protecting children who reported child sexual abuse.” Julienne Zammit, Principal Researcher

Child sexual abuse and ethnic minority communities webinars

Following the publication of their reports about child sexual abuse in ethnic minority communities, the Inquiry’s research and engagement teams hosted two webinars in July to give professionals and victims and survivors an opportunity to hear about their findings. The Race Equality Foundation and IKWRO joined Inquiry panel members to discuss access to and mistrust of services – including experiences of racism and discrimination, shame and honour and education.

The panel discussed the issue of services lacking in cultural intelligence, competence and awareness, how shame and honour are often misinterpreted and extremely harmful to victims and survivors, and why it’s essential to give children age-appropriate knowledge and awareness of child sexual abuse.
Read the Research and Engagement reports or download them from the Inquiry’s
website.