Rotherham MP responds to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse final report.
Responding to the report, Sarah Champion said:
“Today’s report marks the end of a battle of many years for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation to be heard. Chair Alexis Jay's statement presents the Inquiry's damning conclusion on the state of play in our country:
"The nature and scale of the abuse we encountered was shocking and deeply disturbing. This is not just a historical aberration which happened decades ago, it is an ever-increasing problem and a national epidemic … in any year group of 200 children, it is estimated that 10 boys and more than 30 girls will experience sexual abuse before the age of 16, one fifth of the total."
This is not a startling conclusion. But one I, and others, have been trying to raise for years .
Survivors have had a constant struggle to have their voices heard. Those who have listened know of the immense suffering endured, and the extent to which they were let down, and continue to be let down, by local authorities, government and law enforcement, who have each failed to take the bold and decisive action needed to protect them.
Today, the Inquiry recognises what they have been saying all along: "State and non-State institutional failings identified across the Inquiry's work suggest that large numbers of victims and survivors have been let down by the institutions that should have protected them, today as well as in the past".[1]
The report reflects an Inquiry which has spanned multiple locations, themes and contexts. However, what is clear is that child sexual abuse and exploitation are national issues affecting victims in all regions of the UK. For too long, authorities have either chosen to turn a blind eye to them or have considered them too complicated to address.
Now is the time to ask the difficult questions. It is not enough to produce a list of "lessons learned" or a public awareness campaign. Mandatory reporting, as recommended, will fail unless there is the infrastructure behind it to make sure cases are followed up and victims supported.
There needs to be serious investment in prevention and training and a concerted, joined-up effort by multiple agencies to put an end to this criminal behaviour. As I made clear in my submissions to the Inquiry, where agencies operate in silos, abusers discover and exploit vulnerabilities. There needs to be a constant and holistic focus on disruption: taking a piecemeal approach inevitably leads to issues returning or shifting to another area.
I therefore welcome the Inquiry's recommendations to institute a Child Protection Authority for England and for Wales and to pair that with the introduction of a cabinet Minister for Children to reflect the high priority that should be given to these issues.
In most cases, a shift has already taken place in the exploitation of children, with contact between the perpetrator and the child now starting online.
As the Inquiry notes, even within the lifetime of the Inquiry, "the scale of online-facilitated child sexual abuse has continued to escalate, year on year. In the UK, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of self-generated child sexual imagery, the age of children at risk of online harm has decreased, and, worldwide, the number of referrals to law enforcement runs into the tens of millions".
Broad, disruptive action needs to be taken in response – among other things, the Online Safety Bill must go further. As the Inquiry's Report indicates, the Bill does not prescribe the use of specific technologies in order to prevent harm taking place. Moreover, it only goes so far as to say that providers should use "proportionate systems and processes" designed to minimise the presence of illegal content in the first place.
I continue to have the utmost respect and admiration for the brave victims and survivors who shared their experiences with the Inquiry during the public hearings. I cannot express the full extent of my gratitude to them for engaging with this Inquiry.
It is time for the authorities to do right by them. As matters stand:
· Victims and survivors face a postcode lottery, with some areas receiving worse or no support in comparison to others. The consequences are severe: perpetrators are simply not brought to justice. The Government finally needs to bring forward the long-awaited Victims Bill to fix our broken justice system and put victims’ rights into law.
· Whilst it is self-evident that abuse and exploitation can affect any child and the perpetrator can be from any group in society, there is simply not enough focus on victims and survivors who are disabled or from the BAME community. As I made clear in my submissions to the Inquiry, local authorities need to take urgent steps to improve the accessibility of support services to such individuals.
This public inquiry came at extraordinary cost: both financially and to survivors' mental health. But the report demonstrates that there has been little change. I join with the Chair of the Inquiry to urge the Government to accept the report and recommendations in full and put in place the necessary resources to implement them. I also urge the Government in the strongest possible terms to take accountability for doing so, and, as recommended by the Inquiry's report, to publish details of the steps they have taken within six months.
The abuse and exploitation of children is not inevitable. It can and must be stopped.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sarah Champion was one of the MPs who called for the Government to establish the Independent Inquiry into child abuse in the UK
She was a core participant in the IICSA inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks.
Sarah Champion is the Labour MP for Rotherham and a passionate campaigner for preventing child abuse and violence against women and girls.
Sarah Champion MP is a member of the External Reference Group for Home Office report into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation: Characteristics of Offending. The group provided expert advice and scrutiny on the paper.
More information about the report can be found here:
Sarah has made legal changes on child protection, and made relationship education mandatory for all children. She launched Dare2Care, a campaign to challenge child abuse, provide information, raise awareness and change policy.
More information on Dare2Care is available here:
[1] Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (20 October 2022), K.10, para. 122.