Inquiry update – March 2022 IICSA

Posted on 14 March 2022

Inquiry update – March 2022   In this month’s e-bulletin you’ll find: The Residential Schools investigation report  A feature about survivors calling for cultural change to tackle child sexual abuse  An acknowledgement of Child Exploitation Awareness Day The Inquiry’s Interim Report: an impact on child migration redress We hope you find this e-bulletin informative. Please get in touch if you’d like further details on our reports or information on the wider work of the Inquiry. Schools reluctant to report child sexual abuse by staff and pupils, report finds   A new Inquiry report highlights shocking and horrific instances of child sexual abuse in schools, with some teachers exploiting their positions of trust to groom and abuse children across all types of educational settings examined by the Inquiry.   The report says schools are not as safe for children as they should be and children’s interests do not always come first when allegations of sexual abuse are made.   Despite numerous changes and improvements to safeguarding over the past two decades, the report says that some children continue to experience sexual abuse and sexual harassment in schools. The Inquiry heard evidence about ineffective safeguarding in schools during the past 20 years. Read more.   Victims and survivors say tackling child sexual abuse needs cultural change   Victims and survivors of child sexual abuse have described their hopes for a society where they are not afraid to talk about their experiences, and underlined the importance of encouraging a more open conversation on sexual abuse.    Speaking to the Inquiry’s Truth Project, survivors spoke of the devastating impacts of the abuse, the difficulties they faced in speaking out and how they hoped to help others by coming forward. The Inquiry recently published a further 50 accounts shared with its Truth Project, which for more than six years has provided an opportunity for survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences and put forward suggestions for change. Read more.   Child Exploitation Awareness Day   Child Exploitation Awareness Day on 18 March aims to highlight the issues surrounding child exploitation and encourage everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse.  Last month the Inquiry published its Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks report which noted there appeared to be a flawed assumption that child sexual exploitation was decreasing, when in reality it has become more of a hidden problem, increasingly underreported when only linked to other forms of criminal behaviour such as county lines. The report received widespread media coverage across broadcast, print and online publications including BBC, LBC, Sky News and The Times. Maggie Oliver, a whistleblowing former detective said there are still “monumental failures” in child protective agencies. She stated that the Inquiry’s report, which warned police and councils failed to properly investigate grooming gangs, “hit the nail on the head”. Chair to the Inquiry Professor Alexis Jay said: “The sexual exploitation of children by networks is not a rare phenomenon confined to a small number of areas with high-profile criminal cases. We make six recommendations which when implemented, we hope will address more effectively child sexual exploitation by organised networks.” The full report can be read here.   The Inquiry’s Interim Report: impact on child migration redress   The Inquiry published its Interim Report in April 2018. It provided an overview of the Inquiry’s work, including research, accounts shared with the Truth Project and the public hearings, which examined the conduct of institutions and their failures to protect children from sexual abuse.    The Interim Report sets out several case studies which highlight this issue, including the Inquiry’s investigation into Child Migration Programmes. This was based on evidence from experts and witnesses, including former child migrants who gave moving and distressing accounts of the horrific abuse they experienced as a result of being sent abroad.    As highlighted in the Interim Report, the Child Migration Programmes report proposed three recommendations that have all been responded to. These were; financial redress, further institutional apologies and the preservation of child migrants’ records. Following this report, the Department of Health and Social Care has made over 1,400 payments to eligible former British child migrants under the ex-gratia payment scheme. Details can be found on our website.   An experience of a child migrant   Dermot was shipped overseas with two of his brothers as child migrants in the early 1950s. He was six years old when he was sent to a completely alien environment, thousands of miles from home. He has used the anger he feels about his experiences to address the issue of redress for child migrants. He shared his harrowing story of cruelty and abuse with the Truth Project.    The Truth Project came to a close in October last year so that all accounts shared can help to inform the Inquiry’s Final Report.   Please get in touch if you’d like further information about the Inquiry’s wider work. Best wishes, The Engagement team Email: [email protected]   We are contacting you because you have previously asked to be included in our e-bulletin database or have engaged with the Inquiry and given us permission to contact you with news from the Inquiry. If you do not wish to be contacted by the Inquiry, please let us know by responding to this email.