Child abuse inquiry: Turning a blind eye should be against the law
Institutions that work with children should be required by law to report suspicions of child sexual abuse, a landmark independent inquiry has concluded.
The inquiry found crimes are often concealed from authorities, with allegations not recorded and victims “treated as if they were unworthy of protection” and blamed for the abuse.
One of the concerns raised by the inquiry is that many of the individuals who failed to report abuse to the police or social services may have failed to meet their professional or moral obligations, but did not break any laws in doing so.
It said “systemic change” is needed “to ensure reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse”.
The final report in a seven-year-long Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said urgent action is required to protect children across England and Wales after it found many institutions have “historically inadequate measures” that fail to safeguard children from abuse that happened and continues to happen in schools, care homes and in religious settings.
Chair of the inquiry, Professor Alexis Jay, said: “The extent [of child sexual abuse] cannot be underestimated; the sexual abuse of children is an epidemic, that leaves thousands of victims in its poisonous wake.
“We heard time and time again how allegations of abuse were ignored, victims were blamed and institutions prioritised their reputations over the protection of children.
“I urge the UK government, the Welsh government and all other relevant institutions to implement the inquiry’s recommendations as a matter of urgency.”
Home Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I will keep the voices [of victims and survivors] front and centre in everything I do and I will ensure that the findings of the Inquiry, and their invaluable testimonies, are acted upon.
“To date, we have already taken action to tackle this abhorrent crime and learn from the lessons of the past, but I know there is much more to do. This is the start of a new chapter in our efforts to put an end to this terrible crime.”
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was set up because of serious concerns that some institutions had failed and were continuing to fail to protect children from sexual abuse.
During seven years of investigating, the inquiry saw 725 witnesses give evidence and heard from 7,300 victims and survivors who shared their experiences in person, over the phone, via video call and through written accounts.
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Victims abused in institutions
Some 36% of victims and survivors who shared their experience said at least one incident of sexual abuse they experienced took place in an institution outside the family home.
Schools were the most frequently reported location.
Within its list of 20 recommendations, the inquiry lays out that the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse must be an “absolute obligation” for those who work in the regulated activity or work in a position of trust with children.
The requirement of reporting, which the inquiry wants written into law, says “should not be subject to exceptions based on relationships of confidentiality, religious or otherwise.”
Vigilance is also key to the reporting, otherwise, the inquiry notes “there is a very real risk… institutions may continue with, or revert to, poor practice and worse still, actively downplay child sexual abuse”.
Online child abuse
The inquiry’s conclusions and recommendations for change also draw attention to the scale of online-facilitated child sexual abuse, saying it is “not just a national crisis, but a global one.”
They found children are being increasingly groomed and manipulated on internet platforms to commit sexual acts on screen, often for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
It said indecent images of children are being widely distributed and live streams of the sexual abuse of children around the world are prolific, with the number of referrals to law enforcement running into the “tens of millions.”
A change in the law for mandatory reporting is the best and most urgent place to start, it said.
‘Hostile, baffling’ compensation scheme
Many victims and survivors raised concerns and frustrations surrounding the existing compensation scheme, with some finding the legal processes involved to be “hostile, baffling, frustrating and futile”.
Building on the existing Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, as part of the inquiry’s recommendations, it has advised the government to bulk up the compensation given to victims and survivors by seeking contributions to the scheme from the institutions responsible for past child sexual abuse.
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
Temperatures in northern parts of the UK could fall as low as minus 20C on Friday night as wintry weather continues, the Met Office has said.
There are yellow warnings for ice on Friday morning covering the eastern coast of England and Scotland, the South West, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There is also a yellow warning for snow and ice for northern Scotland. All the warnings expire before midday.
In addition, freezing fog is predicted across central and southeast England, and in parts of Wales, which may be “quite stubborn to clear” on Friday morning, said Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick.
“It’s going to be another cold couple of days,” he added, and all areas of the UK are likely to experience sub-zero temperatures.
St Andrew’s church at Kiln Pit in Durham. Pic: PA
Friday night may bring the coldest temperatures of the current cold snap, with temperatures possibly plummeting as low as minus 15C or even minus 20C.
“That’s probably the lowest limits we’re expecting,” Mr Eslick said.
“We probably don’t really expect many places to get close to minus 20C, but we could see one or two places that could just touch that mark overnight Friday into Saturday.”
That is because of still conditions, high pressure, “not a lot of wind and clear skies”.
In addition, snow on the ground helps to create “sort of a perfect scenario to see those temperatures just plummet”, Mr Eslick added.
Saturday is also likely to be bitterly cold, while Sunday is forecast to be a little warmer.
On Monday, temperatures are expected to be more in line with the seasonal norm, at about seven or eight degrees Celcius.
A woman feeds ducks in a frosty High Wycombe. Pic: PA
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The freezing conditions have led to travel disruption, with Manchester Airport closing both its runways on Thursday morning because of “significant levels of snow”. They were later reopened.
Transport for Wales closed some railway lines because of damage to tracks.
Hundreds of schools in Scotland and about 90 in Wales were shut on Thursday.
Meanwhile, staff and customers at a pub thought to be Britain’s highest were finally able to leave on Thursday after being snowed in.
The Tan Hill Inn in Richmond, North Yorkshire, is 1,732 feet (528m) above sea level.
Six staff and 23 visitors were stuck, the pub said on Facebook.
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