UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Chris Tuck
Hearing the news of the resignation of Justice Lowell Goddard as chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse must be upsetting and worrying for many victims and survivors who know about or have engaged with the inquiry to date. As a victim of abuse and campaigner on this issue, I am personally sad that Goddard has resigned, but feel confident that the inquiry will move forward and do the job that it has set out to do. It is important to remember that the inquiry is not just about Goddard; there are many other people involved and a new chair will be appointed in due course.
The inquiry was established in 2014 to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for victims and survivors to have their voices heard and for whistleblowers to share their knowledge and experiences of what went on – and in some cases continues to happen – within institutions that have failed children. The inquiry has statutory powers to compel witnesses to come forward, and now the infrastructure is in place it is progressing with its investigation. It wants to hear from victims and survivors if they were sexually abused while in an institution; or if they were failed by an institution, such as the police, social services or their school, after reporting the incident or incidences only for the appropriate action not to be taken.
I joined the victims and survivors’ consultative panel in July 2015. Since then, we have been working with all the different teams within the inquiry to put systems and processes in place, recruit and train staff, and set up offices to undertake “truth project” sessions. In these sessions, victims and survivors are able to share their experiences of child sexual abuse with a facilitator, who will record what they are told. Alternatively, they can make written submissions to the inquiry.
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