THREE years to the day since the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final recommendations, a new campaign has been launched to address the “growing government inaction and unacceptably slow progress” on their implementation.
IICSA was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, who presented its findings and 20 key recommendations on 20 October 2022 (News, 20 October 2022). Since then, none has been fully implemented, although, in January, the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, pledged to introduce mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, recommended by IICSA, so that failure to report would become an offence, incurring professional and criminal sanctions (News, 10 January).
In April, the Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips MP, announced new funding for survivors, and that the Home Office would remove the three-year limitation period on victims’ and survivors’ bringing personal injury claims in the civil courts (News, 11 April).
In the Commons on 16 June, Ms Cooper reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to implementing all the IICSA recommendation relevant to the Home Office in full. “That work is either completed or well under way,” she told Sam Carling MP (North West Cambridgeshire, Labour).
Professor Jay now chairs Act on IICSA, which is calling on the Government to fulfil its promises further on child protection. On Monday, the campaign group launched “The Elephant in the Room”, speaking of “the stark reality that, despite IICSA providing a clear blueprint for change, the UK continues to ignore the alarming truth that an estimated 500,000 children are sexually abused every year, with fewer than one in five ever disclosing their abuse, even when directly asked”.
John O’Brien, a core group member who was also on the Inquiry panel with Professor Jay, said: “IICSA laid out exactly what must change to protect children from sexual abuse. Yet three years later, those recommendations remain largely unimplemented. This failure to act leaves our children at risk of damaging their futures and is in many cases, taking their lives.”
Another core group member of Act on IICSA, Lucy Duckworth, said: “We are still ignoring the elephant in the room. Half a million children are being sexually abused every year, and although we have the plans for immediate action, we still refuse to run with them. There is no excuse for this delay.
“If IICSA’s recommendations had been implemented, many of the cases in the headlines today could have been prevented or certainly intercepted earlier. This inaction on child sexual abuse will be a stain on our history and it is now up to all of us to ensure that it must end now.”