A landmark report into child sexual abuse in England and Wales has called for financial compensation for victims in cases dating as far back as the 1950s.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) concluded after a seven-year investigation that heard evidence from more than 7,000 victims, presided over 325 days of public hearings and cost £186.6m.
The damning report chronicles what Mark Easton, the BBC’s home editor, described as the “horrifying realisation of an evil that has corrupted every corner and crevice of our society”.
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The inquiry, established by then home secretary Theresa May in 2015, has made 20 recommendations to the government, including providing compensation for victims of abuse. The economic package would take the form of a “national redress scheme” to support those “let down by the state and non-state institutions in the past”.
It is hoped the money will help the numerous survivors who “continue to struggle with ongoing mental health and addiction issues”, reported The Telegraph. The inquiry recommends a new cabinet-level minister be appointed to oversee the as-yet-uncosted redress scheme.
Further recommendations include the mandatory reporting of abuse allegations by those holding a position of trust and the creation of specialist child protection authorities.
Such policies would operate across the public and private sectors, with The Guardian stating that the report found “appalling failings across the most prominent institutions, from government to the police and religious organisations”. The latter came under particular scrutiny amid allegations that the church has continually sought to protect itself rather than prioritise victims.
While the report has been largely welcomed, so-called “loopholes” within it have been criticised by victims, campaigners and lawyers, said The Telegraph. The report’s failure to “enshrine a specific criminal penalty for those who fail to report abuse, nor those who merely suspect serious abuse” poses the “real risk that institutions can still turn a blind eye”, they have claimed.
And the IICSA has also faced criticism for its decision to examine old-fashioned attitudes towards abuse reaching back as far as the 1950s, said the BBC’s Tom Symonds. Critics have claimed these views “are no longer really a problem” and shouldn’t have been a focus of the inquiry.