Inquiry’s concluding report highlights ‘devastating scale’ of child sexual abuse

In its final report published on Thursday (October 20), the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) described the sexual abuse of children as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake”.

It wants to see a new law making it mandatory for people in positions of trust to report child sexual abuse together with the introduction of a national compensation scheme for victims.

In his first full day in the job, Home Secretary Grant Shapps said his department would act on the report, saying “there is much more to do”.

He promised to act quicker to put an end to the devastating crime and to learn from mistakes of the past.

The IICSA said its concluding report requires urgent action to ensure children are better protected from sexual abuse.

Reflecting the inquiry’s unprecedented body of work, including the findings of 15 separate investigations which held public hearings, a unique research dataset, and more than 6,200 accounts of child sexual abuse shared with the Truth Project, the report makes 20 powerful recommendations to government and other institutions, complementing the 87 recommendations already made throughout the Inquiry’s lifetime.

The report sets out the devastating scale of child sexual abuse, both past and present, describing the extent of the potential crimes facing babies, toddlers, children and young people.

It presents a horrifying picture that underpins the inquiry’s recommendations in this report and the need for urgent action by both State and non-State institutions.

Across England and Wales there are nearly 13 million children; ensuring each and every child is protected from sexual abuse and exploitation, and its often lifelong harmful consequences, must be made a top priority, said the report.

It added: “As the inquiry’s work over the past seven years has demonstrated, child sexual abuse has been hidden from public view for decades and it remains under-reported and under-identified to this day.

“Children have been subject to the most vile and painful acts, threatened, beaten and humiliated, with institutions often choosing to prioritise their personal and institutional reputations above the welfare of those they were duty bound to protect, concealing crimes from the authorities, failing to record allegations and ‘moving on’ known abusers.

“Blame was frequently assigned to the victims who were treated as if they were unworthy of protection.”

The report highlights that “the pain and suffering victims and survivors endured often had significant impacts across all aspects of their lives”.

“Relationships, as well as physical, emotional and mental health were damaged, in some cases beyond repair,” it said. “Some institutions did not respond at all, whilst some others merely offered insincere apologies and inadequate provision of support and counselling.

“Many of the individuals who failed to report abuse to the police or social services, in the instances examined by the inquiry, may have failed to meet their professional or moral obligations, but they did not break any laws in doing so.”

The report also highlights the current and future threat of internet-based sexual abuse, and the “levels of depravity this offending often involves, such as the rape and violent abuse of children on an unprecedented scale”.

“Within the lifetime of this inquiry, the scale of online-facilitated child sexual abuse has increased dramatically year on year,” the report says. “In the UK, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of self-generated child sexual imagery, the age at which children face heightening risks of abuse continues to become younger and younger and, worldwide, the number of referrals to law enforcement runs into the tens of millions.

“This is not just a national crisis but a global one.

“As we await the passing of the Online Safety Bill, the report recommends that the UK Government should make it mandatory for all regulated internet services to pre-screen for known child sexual abuse material and require online services and social media platforms to implement stronger age verification measures.”

The report makes clear that child protection must be given much greater priority in public life. Within the criminal justice system more must be done to reduce the inordinate delays faced by those involved in child sexual abuse cases, it says.

The 20 recommendations made are designed to tackle weaknesses in organisations and practices, which have left children vulnerable to abuse, exposed them to harm or denied them access to justice, the report says.

Three recommendations form the centrepiece of the final report:

• A new law of mandatory reporting making it a legal requirement for those who work in regulated activity or work in a position of trust to report child sexual abuse;
• The creation of a Child Protection Authority (CPA) in England and in Wales to secure a much stronger focus on the complex work of child protection in the relevant institutions and statutory agencies; and
• A national redress scheme for England and for Wales, to provide monetary redress for child sexual abuse for those who have been let down by state and non state institutions in the past.

Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the inquiry said: “For too long, child sexual abuse has been considered a problem of the past, despite lifelong impacts on its young victims.

“Its extent cannot be underestimated; the sexual abuse of children is an epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake and some will never recover.

“Across our investigations, research programme and Truth Project, 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.

“The nature and scale of the abuse we encountered were horrifying and deeply disturbing. As a society, we simply cannot file it away and consider it a historical aberration when so much of what we learned suggests it is an ever-growing problem, exacerbated by the current and future threat of the internet.

“The publication of this report is the culmination of seven years of work.

“To the victims and survivors who have made such an immense contribution to our work, we will be forever grateful.

“I urge the UK Government, the Welsh government and all other relevant institutions to implement the inquiry’s recommendations as a matter of urgency. Unless we are prepared to accept a world where our children, and their children, are always in danger of becoming victims of this terrible crime, action must be taken immediately.”

The inquiry’s conclusions and recommendations for change encompass eight crucial areas: prioritising the protection of children, empowering children and young people, creating a more protective environment for children, identifying and reporting child sexual abuse, the justice system response, supporting victims and survivors, making amends and evolving challenges.

The Home Secretary said he was incredibly grateful to the thousands of victims and survivors who have “bravely come forward to share their experiences with the inquiry”.,

“Their bravery will not be forgotten,” said Mr Shapps. “I will keep their voices 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.

“I want to give assurances – where we can act quicker, we will. I will use all available levers to protect our children, to improve the law enforcement and criminal justice response, provide the support victims and survivors deserve and ensure all institutions and leaders are properly held to account.”

He said over the past seven years, the Government has “responded in real-time” to recommendations from the inquiry to ensure that across government work continues to be driven forward to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse and ensure victims are better supported.

Last January, the Government published the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy, setting the strategic direction for addressing this terrible crime across the whole system, and putting lessons learnt from the inquiry into practice. This has helped to drive initiatives to increase reporting, target offenders, drive up convictions and provide better support for victims.

The Government said it was committed to ensuring that the valuable work of the inquiry is translated into action to end this terrible crime.

It added that it will respond in full to the inquiry’s report within six months, when proper consideration has been given to all of the recommendations, but the Home Secretary has already announced a further £4.5 million for organisations supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse at a national level.

This money will go to seven organisations which provide vital support for children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse, adult survivors, and parents or carers of victims. This includes telephone and online counselling and support services; support groups; specialist support to LGBT+ victims; and survivor-led interventions.

In addition, Mr Shapps said he will champion children’s safety at the highest levels and convene ministers from across government to drive action against the inquiry’s recommendations.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Brandon Lewis said: “This inquiry has laid bare the horrors that many children suffered as a result of historical institutional failings that must never be repeated.

“That is why we will continue to transform the justice system’s response to these heinous crimes – locking up child abusers for longer to protect the public, making sure predators cannot use sports or religious roles to harm young people, and hugely increasing funding for support services so that no victim is left to suffer alone.”

The Government said the Victims Code and draft Victims Bill have been “important steps” in setting out clear victims’ rights and the level of the support they can expect throughout the criminal justice process.

Education Secretary Kit Malthouse said: “The scale of historical abuse and exploitation suffered by these children is horrifying, and their bravery in coming forward will help improve services to protect children.

“Over the last seven years we have strengthened the join-up between police, healthcare professionals, councils and schools, so more children feel protected by the institutions that are supposed to keep them safe, and we will continue to improve children’s social care so every child has a safe and loving childhood.”

Alan Collins, partner in the sex abuse team at Hugh James Solicitors, said survivors will welcome the long awaited IICSA report, in particular the need for a mandatory reporting law.

However, he said: “IICSA expects government to legislate to implement its recommendations and there is the rub. The recommendations if implemented in full could help spare many a child from abuse, and bring some accountability into the child protection system, which is so sadly lacking.

“It is questionable in the current political and economic climate that government (of any shade) will be sufficiently interested and, particularly so, when it has been aware of the problems and has had opportunity to do something.

“A key recommendation is the mandatory reporting of child abuse. Currently there is no law that says that child abuse must be reported to the authorities. What is proposed is a law that says that those in key child protection positions, for example a police officer, must report.

“The rationale behind this is that there has been under-reporting, and we know from many tragic cases had reports been made children would have been spared the tragedy of child abuse in some cases would not have lost their lives.

“The proposed mandatory reporting law is not as tight and comprehensive in my opinion as it should be because what is proposed has potential loopholes, which could see Rotherham-type abusers not being reported.

“There should not be exceptions – all child abuse or risk of abuse should be reported. Always. It should be left to the police and social services then to investigate.”

Ian Dean, director of the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) commented: “We welcome the final report from the IICSA today. The inquiry has demonstrated an important commitment to shining a light on the sexual abuse of children and amplifying victim and survivor voices, to draw attention to the harm that society has averted its gaze from for far too long.

“To honour those victims’ experiences, focus must now turn to using the inquiry’s findings, alongside those from the Independent review of children’s social care and the National Review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, to deliver a joined-up response to prevent abuse and improve professionals capacity to identify and respond to concerns.

“We must also address the absence of and inconsistency across data and professional training on child sexual abuse; leaving too many lacking the knowledge and understanding to recognise the signs of abuse, and the confidence to respond robustly. We need to move away from expectations that children can tell us what is happening, and invest fully in building knowledge, skills and confidence around sexual abuse for all those working with children, be that social workers, teachers, police officers, health professionals and beyond.

“Ongoing focus, investment and momentum to ensure access to timely and effective support for children and families who have experienced abuse is also vital. With at least one in ten children in England and Wales experiencing some form of child sexual abuse before the age of 16, this spotlight must not be allowed to dim. We have made progress, but as this report outlines, there is more work to be done.”