2022-10-25
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) has published its final report.
It can be downloaded here.
There is also a Rapid Read, and an Executive Summary.
Just a few quotes from the Executive Summary:
"The deviousness and cruelty of perpetrators was limitless"
"The protection of personal and institutional reputations above the protection of children was a frequent institutional reaction. Statutory agencies were not informed, perpetrators were ‘moved on’ and there were failures by those in authority to thoroughly investigate allegations. Records about child sexual abuse allegations were not kept"
"The scale and extent of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation are difficult to ascertain as data collection is poor. The available data present a confused and confusing picture, and there is no consistent approach to the recording of data, including by key statutory agencies such as the police and local authorities"
"The investigation into the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales revealed a sorry history of child sexual abuse where abusive priests and members of religious orders and institutions preyed on children for prolonged periods of time"
It is not my intention to single out any particular religious organisation.
The Church of England fares little better:
"As with other religious organisations, the Anglican Church is marked by its explicit moral purpose in teaching right from wrong. In the context of child sexual abuse, the Church’s neglect of the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of children and young people in favour of protecting its reputation was in conflict with its mission of love and care for the innocent and vulnerable"
I'll let our readership search for references to other religious groups, ethnicities etc as your fancy takes you (the day still furnishing me only 24 hours), but a very limited search does suggest that the report may be rather light in these areas.
There is still a vast amount of information in this report, which leaves little doubt about the scale of the problem.
The letter sequence "satan" (which may be of interest to some) cannot be found in this report as downloaded, and the sequence "parliament" occurs once only. The sequence " MP" occurs a few times but only once in connection with "perpetrator groups".
Clearly this is a considerable report, and we must all reach our own view on how thorough it is, whether the recommendations go far enough, not far enough, or too far.
For good or ill, it is now published.
