tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse-19192/articlesIndependent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse – The Conversation2023-04-18T16:12:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2035812023-04-18T16:12:02Z2023-04-18T16:12:02ZChild sexual abuse: what the data tells us about perpetrators and victims<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521353/original/file-20230417-974-u6hui8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=176%2C154%2C7172%2C4748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/childrens-hands-on-misted-window-775920718">Amir Bajric/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65152581">announced plans</a> to make it a crime not to report child abuse. As part of this, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has vowed to “stamp out” grooming gangs who perpetuate child exploitation. Ending child sexual abuse is of utmost importance. But comments by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, have been <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/muslim-groups-urge-suella-braverman-to-withdraw-irresponsible-and-divisive-grooming-gang-comments-12854820">deeply unhelpful</a>.</p>
<p>Braverman suggested that the lion’s share of child sexual abuse is carried out by organised gangs, populated by British Pakistani men victimising predominantly adolescent white girls. And Sunak argued that victims of gangs have been ignored due to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/child-abuse-grooming-gangs-fed-political-correctness-rishi-sunak-nrk605k7h?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Best%20of%20Times%20-%20Monday%203rd%20April%202023&utm_term=audience_BEST_OF_TIMES">“political correctness”</a>. </p>
<p>While some child sexual abuse is perpetrated by gangs, evidence indicates that this is a small percentage of the whole. ONS <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/abuseduringchildhood/findingsfromtheyearendingmarch2016crimesurveyforenglandandwales#survivor-and-perpetrator-relationship-by-abuse-category">data from 2016</a> found that around two-thirds of perpetrators were either family members or close to the child.</p>
<p>And the suggestion that grooming gangs are mostly from ethnic minorities is also inaccurate. A 2020 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944206/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf">Home Office report</a> on group-based child sexual exploitation cited research finding that offenders are “most commonly white”.</p>
<p>A report by the <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221214225943/https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/18725/view/an-explorative-study-perpetrators-child-sexual-exploitation-convicted-alongside-others.pdf">Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)</a> also found that the majority of known perpetrators are young, white men. However, most perpetrators are never actually identified. So, while there is generally a lack of evidence when it comes to ethnicity of perpetrators, what we do know suggests a more mixed picture than Braverman’s comments indicate.</p>
<p>Discussion of group-based child sexual exploitation often references the high-profile cases in Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford. Notably, the victims in these cases were of adolescent age. </p>
<p>Portraying these cases as the typical child sexual abuse case overlooks abuse that happens in the home, which is more of a risk for younger children and is more prevalent. This month, 21 people <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785">were convicted</a> in a major investigation in Walsall and Wolverhampton, adding to the evidence that child sexual abuse committed by groups is not due to any single ethnicity.</p>
<h2>Uncovering truth</h2>
<p>The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated in 2019 that 7.5% of adults aged 18 to 74 – about <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/childsexualabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2019">3.1 million people</a> – experienced sexual abuse before the age of 16. </p>
<p>Such statistics are likely to be underestimates, given survivors’ reluctance to speak out about their abuse until later in life. This is because perpetrators often use techniques to keep their crimes hidden, grooming the children they abuse into a state of fear and confusion. A <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221214231121/https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/26714/view/truth-project-dashboard-august-2021.pdf">recent study</a> found that at the time of the abuse, 67% of the abused children did not tell anyone.</p>
<p>This silence is what inspired researchers to launch <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/victims-and-survivors/truth-project.html">the Truth Project</a> in 2016, as part of the IICSA. </p>
<p>More than 6,000 adults shared their experiences of surviving childhood sexual abuse as part of the Truth Project. One of us worked as the principal psychologist and clinical lead of the project from 2019-2022. I heard firsthand of the lifelong impacts abuse left for many survivors, and witnessed the courage and generosity of those who came forward to help protect future generations of children. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grooming-an-expert-explains-what-it-is-and-how-to-identify-it-181573">Grooming: an expert explains what it is and how to identify it</a>
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<p>The Truth Project found that for 35% of participants, the abuse started when they were between four and seven years old. For another 32%, it was between the ages of eight and 11, meaning more than two-thirds of abuse started before adolescence. </p>
<p>Nearly half of all abuse happened within the family home (42%) perpetrated by a family member (47%). The next highest location was the child’s school (15%). Aside from family members, almost always the abuser is a person in a position of responsibility for the child – a <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221214231121/https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/26714/view/truth-project-dashboard-august-2021.pdf">teacher, religious professional or care worker</a>.</p>
<p>These figures, while shocking, mask the personal cost to the survivors. The inquiry’s <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/document/i-will-be-heard.html">final report</a>, published in November 2022, made clear the impact of society’s failure to curb abuse. Nearly 90% of Truth Project participants said that their mental health had been affected by their experiences. Over half said it had affected their relationships as adults. </p>
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<img alt="A middle aged man sitting on a couch and looking solemnly out a window" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521359/original/file-20230417-24-3b1f7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It can take years for survivors to come forward with their experience of child sexual abuse.</span>
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<p>While addressing the issue of grooming gangs is important, portraying the “stamping out” of such gangs as the solution to child sexual abuse in the UK obscures what abuse looks like, where it is perpetrated and by who. </p>
<p>The data shows that child sexual abuse happens not just in northern cities in the back of taxi cabs, but in family homes of <a href="https://www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/it_s_not_on_the_radar_report_0.pdf">all ethnic groups</a>, of all classes and income brackets and to boys and girls from babies to adolescents.</p>
<h2>The silence of child sexual abuse</h2>
<p>It’s tough to read about these cases and statistics. But failing to learn about them risks exacerbating the silence and shame that has long shrouded child sexual abuse. </p>
<p>Misleading or limited portrayals of child sexual abuse, particularly by political leaders, threatens to silence survivors further. The Labour party has also contributed to the politicisation of this issue by attacking the government’s record on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed">sentencing of perpetrators</a>.</p>
<p>Difficulty disclosing continues into adult life. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838017697312">recent review</a> of existing research found that, around the world, health and social care services are failing to improve the circumstances that give people the confidence and trust to disclose.</p>
<p>Receiving a disclosure of child sexual abuse can be shocking and unexpected. One reason is widespread ignorance. As a listener it can be hard to believe that such a thing has happened unless you appreciate some basic facts about how often, where and by whom abuse is perpetrated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danny Taggart worked with IICSA from 2019-2022.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susanna Alyce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nearly half of all abuse occurs within the home.Susanna Alyce, PhD Candidate, School of Health and Social Care, University of EssexDanny Taggart, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1931452022-11-29T12:00:52Z2022-11-29T12:00:52ZChild sexual abuse review: how research can help to tackle growing online abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492535/original/file-20221031-14-pp4l6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Each time abuse material is shared, the victim is revictimised.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/digital-lifestyle-blog-writer-business-person-407179981">Chinnapong | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the seven years since the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iicsa-report-of-the-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse">Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse</a> launched in 2015, it has held more than 300 days of public hearings, processed over 2 million pages of evidence, heard from over 700 witnesses, and engaged with over 7,000 victims and survivors. </p>
<p>One of the most pressing issues the inquiry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/20/what-is-the-child-sexual-abuse-inquiry-and-why-did-it-take-seven-years">has raised</a> is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-law-would-require-big-tech-to-do-more-to-combat-child-sexual-abuse-but-a-key-question-remains-how-183512">online-facilitated child sexual abuse</a>. The use of hidden services to distribute online child sexual abuse material globally increased <a href="https://www.iwf.org.uk">by 155%</a> between 2019 and 2020. </p>
<p>In 2021 alone, <a href="https://inhope.org/EN">Inhope</a> – an organisation that supports 50 hotlines in 46 countries around the world to remove child sexual abuse material from the internet – handled almost 1 million URLs featuring suspected child sexual abuse and exploitation. And the scope and scale of online child sexual abuse show no sign of abating. Of the images and videos reviewed by the Inhope hotlines in 2021, 82% had not seen before. </p>
<h2>A growing threat</h2>
<p>In the wake of the scandals involving <a href="https://theconversation.com/jimmy-savile-how-the-netflix-documentary-fails-to-address-the-role-institutions-play-in-abuse-181383">Jimmy Savile</a>, Rolf Harris and other celebrities, the inquiry was commissioned by the UK government in 2015, to scrutinise the extent to which state and non-state institutions had failed to protect children.</p>
<p>On October 20 2022, this inquiry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/20/child-sexual-abuse-inquiry-final-report-20-actions-for-change">published</a> its <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/final-report">final report</a>. Underlining that child protection should be made a national priority, its report puts forward 20 recommendations, designed to make England and Wales places where children can grow up safely and thrive. These both take in lessons from the past and seek to address evolving challenges, of which online sexual abuse is the most urgent.</p>
<p>Research with survivors <a href="https://www.protectchildren.ca/en/resources-research/survivors-survey-results/">shows</a> that when documentation of their abuse is shared online, it affects them differently than the abuse they originally suffered. The images are permanent and the sharing never ends. Online distribution of this kind of material thus results in children being re-victimised each time it is viewed. </p>
<p>The sheer scale of offending in this sphere, and the opportunities afforded to offenders to hide their activities with end-to-end encryption, means that the deck is heavily stacked against a law-enforcement response alone. The inquiry has asserted as much. </p>
<p>The report thus focuses attention on the responsibility of platform providers. It recommends that it become mandatory for all search service and user-to-user service providers <a href="https://theconversation.com/apple-can-scan-your-photos-for-child-abuse-and-still-protect-your-privacy-if-the-company-keeps-its-promises-165785">to screen any material</a> at the point where it is uploaded. The hope is that this will prevent any child-abuse material from ever getting into the public domain. </p>
<p>This recommendation, of course, only addresses the supply side of the equation. What is also needed is an approach that actively reduces the demand for child sexual abuse material. </p>
<p>Research has a key role to play here. By looking for patterns and insight into the behaviour of people who intend to abuse children, as the collaboration between the <a href="https://childrescuecoalition.org">Child Rescue Coalition</a> non-profit and the <a href="https://aru.ac.uk/policing-institute">Policing Institute for the Eastern Region</a> is doing, academics can help with the development of tools to support law-enforcement investigations. </p>
<p>Research can also help to design interventions for people who share and consume this abuse material. The <a href="https://www.suojellaanlapsia.fi/en/post/csam-users-in-the-dark-web-protecting-children-through-prevention">Redirection survey (2021)</a> by the Helsinki-based non-profit, Suojellaan Lapsia (meaning “Protect Children”), canvased the views of over 8,000 people on the dark web who accessed abuse images. This survey found that only 13% had sought help but that 50% wanted to stop and 62% had tried to stop but failed. These findings have helped with the development of a self-help programme for people who search for, view, and distribute child sexual abuse material. </p>
<p>A 2021 threat assessment by the We Protect Global Alliance organisation <a href="https://www.weprotect.org/global-threat-assessment-21/">stated</a> that online child sexual abuse represents “one of the most urgent and defining issues of our generation”. Finding ways to tackle the devastating harm caused by this type of abuse, at the root, is crucial. For a sustainable, long-term prevention strategy to make any kind of headway, preventing harm in the first place needs to be prioritised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Lundrigan receives funding from The Dawes Trust</span></em></p>Online child sexual abuse has been described as one of the most urgent and defining issues we face. Tackling it at the root is imperative.Samantha Lundrigan, Professor of Investigative Psychology and Public Protection, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1933562022-11-02T17:22:37Z2022-11-02T17:22:37ZChild sexual abuse review: listening to children and young people is crucial<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-child-abuse-inquiry-retain-the-integrity-it-needs-to-survive-69175">independent inquiry into child sexual abuse</a> (IICSA), set up in the wake of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jimmy-savile-how-the-netflix-documentary-fails-to-address-the-role-institutions-play-in-abuse-181383">Jimmy Savile</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/rolf-harris-guilty-but-what-has-operation-yewtree-really-taught-us-about-sexual-abuse-28282">Rolf Harris</a> scandals, has published its <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/inquiry/final-report">final report</a>. Commissioned by then home secretary Theresa May in 2014, the inquiry has spent seven years examining how state and private institutions failed to protect the children in their care from sexual abuse. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation">The investigations</a> that fed into the final report spanned a wide range of organisations. These included child protection services at local authority level, religious institutions, hostels and residential schools. </p>
<p>Among its 20 <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/inquiry/final-report/ii-inquirys-conclusions-and-recommendations-change/part-k-summary-inquirys-recommendations/k6-justice-system-response-child-sexual-abuse">recommendations</a>, the report calls for the government to establish a child protection authority for England and Wales and a cabinet minister for children. It also highlights the need for specific support, compensation and redress, emphasising that no statute of limitation be placed on people, who have experienced child sexual abuse, coming forward.</p>
<p>A salient contribution to these recommendations came from the <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/victims-and-survivors/truth-project">Truth Project</a> aspect of the inquiry, which drew on the accounts of over 6,000 victims and survivors of sexual abuse. What comes across most urgently is the imperative that the voices of those that have been abused be heard. </p>
<h2>Why reporting should be mandatory</h2>
<p>Across the investigations it carried out, the inquiry found that children and young people were not listened to. A key recommendation it makes is that reporting of child sexual abuse be made mandatory: that people in a position of power with children should have a legal obligation to report abuse if it has been disclosed or witnessed, or if indicators are present. </p>
<p>These are not new concepts. In 1997, the <a href="https://www-bmj-com.bham-ezproxy.idm.oclc.org/content/314/7081/622">Childhood Matters inquiry</a> into child abuse recommended the creation of the role of minister of state with specific responsibility for children. It highlighted the need for improved regulation of staff who work with children. Crucially, it put great emphasis on the notion of children having rights and a voice. </p>
<p>A subsequent <a href="https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2013/no-one-noticed-no-one-heard">study of disclosures of childhood abuse</a> carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), in 2013, found that over 80% of the children who took part had tried to tell someone about the abuse they had experienced and that 90% of these children had had negative responses. Opportunities for intervention were missed, action was not taken, children were not believed and no support was given.</p>
<p>These findings predate the IICSA report by nearly a decade. Understanding why the problem has endured and why there is such systematic failure at so many complex levels is fundamental. </p>
<h2>Professionals should be trained to hear what victims are saying</h2>
<p>Disclosure is a complex issue. <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.bham-ezproxy.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1177/1524838015584368#bibr61-1524838015584368">Research shows</a> that quite often children <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16289689/">do not directly say</a> what they have experienced. Professionals have to be trained <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22203619/">to understand</a> the nuances at play in what they do disclose. </p>
<p>Disbelieving children is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/088626092007004008">not a new phenomenon</a>. Studies <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8306113/">have</a> frequently <a href="https://www.somer.co.il/articles/2001.variab.discl.am%20j%20orthopsy.pdf">demonstrated</a> that this is a crucial flaw in child protection systems.</p>
<p>Even when a disclosure is made, however, or when it is evident that abuse is taking place, many professionals in positions of power regarding children are not aware of the reporting procedures in place. They don’t know which mechanisms to use to report that information. </p>
<p>There is also a culture of silence around reporting, particularly when it involves effectively <a href="https://catalogue.sunderland.ac.uk/items/439292">whistleblowing</a> on colleagues. The inquiry’s investigations found there had often been a reluctance to report abuse, because protecting the organisation and individuals was seen as paramount. The report found that this was then coupled with organisational culture and how child sexual abuse can be normalised within this, which leads to any challenge to this being perceived as extreme. </p>
<p>Again this is not new information. It was highlighted by the NSPCC <a href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22390067M/Institutional_abuse_of_children_-_from_research_to_policy">in a 1991 report</a> into the institutional abuse of children. Clearly, more needs to be done to support those who want to speak up in the form of education and protective mechanisms for reporting.</p>
<h2>Why taboos need to be challenged</h2>
<p>Shifting organisational culture is notoriously difficult. This is the fundamental problem that underpins the issues of disclosure and subsequent reporting.</p>
<p>Coupled with these issues are those of how children are perceived within <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Importance_of_Being_Innocent.html?id=6mvccAUnbokC&redir_esc=y">society</a> and the power structures in which childhood is embedded. Children, while being seen as the innocent representations of <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4TKAKrRT0pAPI6PNk8Tkvn?si=5cagSypyTk-zSNYaVrFN3A&nd=1">society</a>, are also viewed as inferior. Adults are deemed to know <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00200.x">best</a>. </p>
<p>Yet listening to the child’s voice is vitally important. The report duly recommends the government should commission regular programmes to increase public awareness around child sexual abuse and ensure people know what to do if abuse is suspected. </p>
<p>The inquiry also advises that myths and stereotypes around child sexual abuse be <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/31216/view/report-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse-october-2022_0.pdf">challenged</a>. The lack of reporting and listening to children when it comes to sexual abuse is linked to the taboos that surround talking about this topic within wider society: the mutual exclusivity of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzu6vWi5HQc">children and sex</a>.</p>
<p>The United Nations convention on the rights of the child nonetheless <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/">defines</a> a child as someone under the age of 18. This provides a clear legal framework within which to identify power structures and what constitutes abuse. The perception of what defines a child within wider society nonetheless remains complex, especially when considering adolescence. However, if we do not address these issues, child sexual abuse will persist, undetected and unreported.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie King-Hill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The seven-year review into how state and private institutions in the UK failed to protect children has highlighted the central importance of making sure young people and children are listened to.Sophie King-Hill, Senior Fellow at the Health Services Management Centre, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/706282017-01-16T12:27:57Z2017-01-16T12:27:57ZPolice forces need to better understand why perpetrators sexually abuse children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152653/original/image-20170113-11166-wjjayl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What goes through the mind of abusers?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent revelations about disgraced professional football coach Barry Bennell, who has now been charged <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38150244">with eight new offences</a>, show how adults with a perceived level of power and influence can exploit their position to sexually abuse and silence children. Child sexual abuse is an appalling crime that destroys the lives of everyone involved. It is a crime that has its origins in the thought processes of the perpetrators, and understanding this is the key to understanding and preventing child sexual abuse.</p>
<p>In March 2015, the government declared child sexual abuse a national threat and unveiled a series <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-unveils-tough-new-measures-to-tackle-child-sexual-exploitation">of new measures</a> to combat the risk it poses to the well-being of children and society in general. The same year, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was set up to investigate negligent and incompetent practice within public bodies. But at the start of 2017 the early optimism surrounding the inquiry has gone: it is on its fourth chair and <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20161125/281698319348555">mired in controversy</a> having lost the support of many of the victims’ groups it originally expected to work with. </p>
<p>In 2014, in response to a significant rise in the number of cases being reported, the police established <a href="http://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/operation-hydrant-group-to-assess-scale-of-historic-child-abuse-cases-involving-institutions-and-prominent-people">Operation Hydrant</a>. This was not to investigate specific crimes but to collate and advise investigations nationally. Fast forward nearly two years and the rapid rise in the number of investigations is in danger of overwhelming even the best prepared force. Meanwhile, the police service throughout the country has been heavily <a href="http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/inquiries-four-child-sex-abuse-12226518">criticised</a> for its handling of “non-recent” and new investigations. </p>
<h2>Investigations of variable quality</h2>
<p>Following stringent <a href="http://www.apccs.police.uk/press_release/reshaping-policing-for-the-public-apcc-statement/">budget cuts</a> all forces are short of money and experienced staff. To cope with the rise in child sexual abuse investigations, they have adopted a strategy of simply moving officers from other policing duties. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t work with child sexual abuse cases. Most reported cases tend to involve victims that know and are acquainted with their abusers. This relationship means that they often don’t see themselves as victims of abuse, which has an impact upon how they present to and interaction with the police. </p>
<p>Perpetrators of child sexual abuse often exploit this relationship and manipulate their victims to prevent arrest and frustrate any investigation. This complexity requires the investigative skills and knowledge of specialist and experienced staff and currently there is not enough to deal with the demand. </p>
<p>To compound this, several forces have begun to move away from having specialists towards more <a href="https://www.mca.org.uk/library/documents/Winner_-_PI_Pub_-_KPMG_with_Bedfordshire_Police.pdf">generalist</a> roles that can deal with a wider range of crime. This allows forces to do more with less staff and ultimately save money. Yet child sexual abuse remains largely misunderstood by non-specialist staff and by senior figures in the police. This impacts upon the police’s ability to investigate allegations and design effective preventative measures. </p>
<h2>Inside the mind of the perpetrator</h2>
<p>Many of the <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/conceptualising-prevention-child-sexual-abuse/a5-theories-how-and-why-child-sexual-abuse-occurs">accepted theories</a> regarding the behaviour of child sexual abusers have been known for well over two decades, yet they are rarely used in the training of frontline child protection professionals and so aren’t embedded in their practice. </p>
<p>A common myth, for example, is that the behaviour of child sexual perpetrators is solely motivated by their need for sexual gratification. In fact, there is a substantial body of work that points to perpetrators having <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bd97/ab4ae5924bbeaa6404be28f920206a947a23.pdf">multifaceted motivations</a>. It is not just about a need for sex and they are often seeking to fulfil other intrinsic needs such as a need for autonomy, power and control.</p>
<p>Perpetrators develop unique psychological vulnerabilities from the significant events that occur during their lives, which shape them as human beings albeit deeply flawed ones. These vulnerabilities allow the development of a unique view of children and the world and can often explain key aspects of the offending behaviour. For example, the content and context of sexual activity early in childhood can lead some perpetrators to constantly strive to recreate these events in later life. </p>
<p>These events can also lead to the development of deviant sexual thoughts about children which perpetrators combine with masturbation. When this behaviour is constantly repeated, it strengthens the bond between their thoughts and the pleasure experienced during orgasm. So the behaviour becomes ingrained and this <a href="https://www.verywell.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863">conditioning process</a> is how the perpetrators maintain their deviant arousal. </p>
<p>Once a person has conditioned themselves in this way over a period of time they can suffer from extreme anxiety, even though they may never actually commit an offence in law. To cope they try to make it right in their own mind by <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6841/75c88ff3cd6043da281917b061953fa3791e.pdf">distorting their</a> thinking. If they then go on to abuse, they may tell themselves that if a child does not disclose the abuse this is because the child secretly enjoyed the experience. This is how perpetrators make things right in their own mind and this allows them to continue in the same vein. </p>
<h2>Keeping children safe</h2>
<p>We must balance our need to attribute blame to the institutions we see as having failed to protect children in the past with a greater understanding of the perpetrators themselves. Such understanding can help dispel myths, challenge accepted thinking and influence future child protection policy. </p>
<p>The result of using such <a href="http://www.excellenceinpolicing.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/3-2_Evidence-Based-Policing.pdf">evidence in the practice of policing</a> will protect more children. Improving our understanding of why perpetrators abuse children offers us a window into the mind of the perpetrator. It’s time to open that window wide and invite anyone that has the best interest of children at heart to look in.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Hill is a consultant criminologist at KLIK Protective Services.
</span></em></p>It’s time to stop blaming the system and focus on why and how children are sexually abused.Graham Hill, Visiting research fellow, School of Law, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/691752016-11-28T15:15:11Z2016-11-28T15:15:11ZCan the child abuse inquiry retain the integrity it needs to survive?<p>When the then home secretary Theresa May commissioned the enormously ambitious <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/">Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse</a> in July 2014, victims and survivors of abuse had reason to hope that justice would be served. For decades, the sexual abuse of children in England and Wales was ignored or hidden and, some would argue, perpetuated by institutions meant to protect them. To many survivors, the inquiry is a chance to make good at last.</p>
<p>Investigating decades of alleged child sexual abuse, taking in a number of large institutions and potentially thousands of victims is an enormous task. Nobody can have thought it would be be easy – but the road so far seems rockier than anyone anticipated.</p>
<p>The inquiry is now under the stewardship of its fourth chair, Professor Alexis Jay. Over the years it has been dogged by resignations, acrimony and reports of misconduct by senior figures. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/14/mps-question-alexis-jay-child-abuse-inquiry-lowell-goddard-racism-claims">Allegations of racism</a> were reportedly levelled against its former chair, Dame Lowell Goddard, who is now <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dame-lowell-goddard-attacked-for-disgraceful-decision-not-to-appear-before-commons-committee-a7404541.html">refusing to testify to the committee</a> about her resignation. There are also reports of an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/28/child-abuse-inquiry-hit-by-sexual-assault-claim">allegation of sexual assault</a> against Ben Emmerson QC, who also resigned from the inquiry’s team. Both Goddard and Emmerson categorically deny the allegations against them. </p>
<p>Now it faces a new crisis: one of the major survivor groups involved, the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA) has withdrawn its participation in what it termed a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/18/child-abuse-survivors-group-withdraws-from-contrived-uk-inquiry?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">contrived investigation</a>”. </p>
<p>The inquiry is just over two years old and yet it’s barely out of the harbour. Doubts about its seaworthiness are already entrenched. The stakes are high: if we are to ensure justice and to better protect children, failure is not an option. But an inquiry that cannot fail is by definition under enormous pressure to answer repeated and very public questions about its viability. </p>
<p>After SOSA withdrew, the Home Affairs Select Committee published a <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/636/63603.htm#_idTextAnchor004">report</a> criticising the inquiry for failing to investigate the allegations against senior staff, and lamenting its staff’s inability to confidently raise concerns. But the report also reveals just how unclear it is how the committee is meant to hold an independent inquiry to account. </p>
<p>The inquiry is funded by the Home Office, but the committee’s public scrutiny is integral to keeping the inquiry robust and credible. To further complicate the issue, parliament is itself <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations/allegations-of-abuse-by-people-of-public-prominence-associated-with-westminster">subject to the inquiry’s investigations</a>.</p>
<p>Jay <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/news/inquiry-response-home-affairs-select-committee-report-work-independent-inquiry-child-sexual">responded</a> to the report by apologising for any anxiety created by the transition period following her appointment. But the concerns appear to go beyond “transition”, and confidence in the chair is now more important than ever.</p>
<p>Since Jay was appointed, the issue of the internal independence of the chair has become more publicly visible. Reports of internal “discomfort” experienced by the <a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/the-work-of-the-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse/written/42412.html">assertion of independence</a> by the third chairperson, Dame Lowell Goddard, from her panel members.</p>
<p>This issue was explored to some extent when Jay and two panel members, <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/ivor-frank">Ivor Frank</a> and <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/drusilla-sharpling-cbe">Drusilla Sharpling</a>, <a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/the-work-of-the-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse/oral/41368.html">presented to the committee</a> in October 2016. </p>
<h2>A new tack</h2>
<p>That session made clear Jay sees the relationship between the chair and panel very differently than Goddard, under whom the panel had to employ a facilitator to communicate between them. Jay’s appearance alongside Frank and Sharpling was clearly far more collegiate. She also intends to take a more <a href="https://theconversation.com/bowing-to-public-pressure-the-child-abuse-inquiry-66354">inspectorate-style approach</a> approach, as opposed to Goddard’s judicial vision. </p>
<p>In its report, the committee suggests that the two approaches should be blended; perhaps Jay will take its advice on board as she tries to right the ship. More pressingly, though, the inquiry urgently has to address the concerns raised by SOSA and the misgivings of survivors more generally, which are causing serious tensions between those leading the inquiry and the people they are meant to help. </p>
<p>There are scores of victims, survivors and their families whose wellbeing depends on the inquiry, and the means by which they can hold the inquiry to account or scrutinise its processes also remain unclear. To make matters worse, too much attention has shifted to those delivering the inquiry rather than the people they’re meant to help. </p>
<p>That was all too clear when Jay, Frank and Sharpling last gave evidence to the committee. In a discussion of how long they expected their work to take, Frank admitted that some of the inquiry’s 13 separate investigations could take several years and joked that panel members “look forward to a time when we will have a life beyond this inquiry”. As he and the committee members laughed, an audience member <a href="https://goo.gl/BgOyY6">called out</a> “so do we”. The same heckler later interrupted the hearing again and was removed from the room by a security officer.</p>
<p>This sort of fleeting exchange might seem inconsequential, but it’s a telling incident. To those who have desperately campaigned for justice, any sign of affable familiarity between the inquiry team and parliamentarians is deeply unpalatable.</p>
<h2>Failure to thrive</h2>
<p>It was a month or so after this hearing that SOSA withdrew; Lambeth MP Chuka Ummuna, who represents the area where SOSA alleges serious abuse took place, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/18/child-abuse-survivors-group-withdraws-from-contrived-uk-inquiry?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">called on Jay to resign</a>. In response, Sharpling <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38022074">publicly defended</a> Jay, and asserted that the inquiry could still demand evidence from SOSA. Later, Jay announced she would continue to “fight for the inquiry”, asserting that people <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/abuse-inquiry-chief-targets-dark-institutional-failings-zrctw9b8s">want to see it fail</a> so as to keep abuse from being brought to light. </p>
<p>Both May and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, <a href="http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/national/article/Amber-Rudd-still-has-confidence-in-abuse-probe-despite-another-resignation-2ac632cf-df70-4cc8-a8b6-6a2b5934818e-ds">continue to support</a> Jay’s leadership and, while the inquiry is technically independent, they are nonetheless being held accountable for its success or failure.</p>
<p>The thought of it being suspended pending further deliberations will make many survivors deeply anxious – but that demands serious critical evaluation. Survivors fear that individuals, groups and organisations who have perpetuated sexual abuse or neglected to protect children from it will work hard to avoid investigation. That means the inquiry’s team has to be as trustworthy and robust as possible. </p>
<p>Jay needs to take the initiative. If people with power are really working to sink the inquiry, she must make the basis for that suggestion clear. She must also account for the concerns that drove SOSA to withdraw. Simply stating that the inquiry will stay the course while major survivor groups jump ship is not enough – and it’s a disservice to people who’ve dedicated decades of their lives to pursuing justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donna Peach has received funding to undertake research in relation to child sexual abuse and exploitation from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Mosaic II and the police innovation funded Base project. </span></em></p>Alexis Jay seems to realise failure is not an option – but she needs to bail out what looks like a sinking ship.Donna Peach, Lecturer in Social Work, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/456742015-08-05T16:38:41Z2015-08-05T16:38:41ZQ&A: Edward Heath, former British PM, and inquiries into child abuse claims<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90766/original/image-20150804-12023-i7mtr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C158%2C1590%2C1314&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former prime minister, Edward Heath.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Edward_Heath_Allan_Warren_crop.jpg">Allan Warren via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>It has been confirmed that British police are examining claims of child sexual abuse against a former prime minister, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/04/edward-heath-met-have-been-investigating-claims-for-several-months">Edward Heath</a>. The investigation is part of a range of inquiries into historical claims against a number of high-profile figures.</em></p>
<p><em>David Pilgrim of Liverpool University explains the background.</em></p>
<h2>What is Operation Hydrant?</h2>
<p>Operation Hydrant is an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/20/1400-suspects-operation-hydrant-politician-and-celebrity-child-sex-abuse-inquiry">umbrella police operation</a> set up in 2014 to pull together a bewildering array of investigations into historical child abuse across the UK. It is dealing with the cases of 1,433 alleged offenders, 216 of whom are dead and 76 of whom are politicians.</p>
<p>Among the operations that Hydrant collates are a number specifically investigating high-profile people. <a href="http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Operation-Fairbank--Non-Recent-Allegations-of-Child-Abuse/1400030826641/1400030826641">Operation Fairbank</a> was set up by London’s Metropolitan Police Force several years ago as a scoping exercise to test the evidence for a larger formal inquiry about “VIP paedophiles” at Westminster. <a href="http://content.met.police.uk/News/Two-men-arrested-as-part-of-Operation-Fernbridge/1400014947847/1257246745756">Operation Fernbridge</a> was then launched in February 2013 to extend the rationale of Fairbank, and specifically to look at a Grafton Close care home.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28194271">Operation Cayacos</a> was directed to one line of inquiry about a paedophile network centred on Peter Righton, a social worker involved with the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26352378">Paedophile Information Exchange</a> who advised the government on the reform of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28793654">children’s homes</a> . That inquiry also implicated politicians. </p>
<p>More recently, <a href="http://content.met.police.uk/News/Operation-Midland/1400027775342/1257246741786">Operation Midland</a> was set up to probe allegations of three murders of children and other illegal activity in connection with initial intelligence gathered by Operation Fairbank. Some of the alleged events purportedly took place at the Dolphin Square complex in Pimlico, home to many MPs and other politicians.</p>
<p>Operation Ahabasca examined the evidence of wrong-doing in the 1980s at the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21068494">Elm Guest House</a> in Barnes in south-west London, which was raided by police in the early 1980s for serving a brothel. There has been a flurry of press leaks concerning parties held there with under-age victims, pointing fingers at unnamed politicians from Sinn Fein, the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the security services, and the media. The Elm Guest House is now a private residence and the owners have no connection to the historic allegations.</p>
<p>Others have been named: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-24074818">Sir Cyril Smith</a> MP, Sir <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/sir-nicholas-fairbairn-in-child-abuse-scandal-link-1-3474912">Nicholas Fairbairn</a> MP, the Soviet spy <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/special-report-police-revisit-the-grim-mystery-of-elm-guest-house-8420435.html">Sir Anthony Blunt</a> and the former British diplomat <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/westminster-paedophile-ring-investigation-mi6-spy-sir-peter-hayman-named-in-dossier-10014295.html">Sir Peter Hayman</a>. Former Conservative Party Chairman, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11323817/Westminster-paedophile-ring-I-allowed-my-son-to-go-with-him.-You-trusted-people-more-in-those-days.html">Sir Peter Morrison</a>, was also apparently a visitor, years before he became Margaret Thatcher’s parliamentary private secretary.</p>
<p><a href="http://content.met.police.uk/News/Operation-Yewtree-Update/1400012396517/1257246745756">Operation Yewtree</a> is also being taken on board by Hydrant to follow up the extensive claims made about Jimmy Savile and the past responsibility of the police, the BBC and the NHS to his serial sexual offending against children and young people.</p>
<h2>Why is the Independent Police Complaints Commission involved?</h2>
<p>In March 2015, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was asked by the Metropolitan Police to examine serious allegations not only about politicians, but also a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/metropolitan-police-investigated-over-child-sex-abuse-coverup-claims-involving-mps-and-officers-10110800.html">police cover-up</a>, during a period between the 1970s and 2005.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/ipcc-investigate-allegations-historic-corruption-relating-child-sexual-abuse-metropolitan">specific allegations</a> to be examined included the claim that there had been “failures to properly investigate child sex abuse offences in south London and further information about criminal allegations against a politician being dropped”.</p>
<p>Others refer to sex parties involving minors being investigated that were dropped because the police reports were “too near prominent people”, and police covering up evidence about politicians. In this context of police forces being sensitive about past failures, the Wiltshire force was obliged to report the matter to the IPCC for its consideration.</p>
<p>This is part of a wider push to investigate historical abuse, <a href="https://theconversation.com/child-abuse-inquiry-gets-new-chair-and-more-powers-but-is-it-enough-37176">which is being led by the Goddard inquiry</a>.</p>
<h2>Why have allegations taken so long to surface?</h2>
<p>First, it has been claimed that there was political interference to drop investigations. The cases of Cyril Smith in Rochdale and London highlight this point, as does the <a href="http://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/child-abuse-amnesty-condemns-exclusion-kincora-scandal-uk-inquiry">alleged involvement of the security services</a>.</p>
<p>It has been alleged that, during the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/thatcher-was-warned-of-tory-child-sex-party-claims-9631657.html">was warned by her bodyguard</a> about the lifestyle of her parliamentary private secretary Peter Morrison. Thatcher put Savile forwards three times for a knighthood, despite doubts about his general suitability being expressed by senior advisors (with no indication that they knew of any allegations of abuse). She knew of the allegations emerging about Cyril Smith and Kincora and the security services but did nothing. And of course Leon Brittan, her home secretary, has been accused of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11363027/How-Leon-Brittans-final-years-were-tarnished-by-lost-paedophile-dossier.html">presiding over the loss of evidence</a> in Whitehall and is the subject of allegations of child sex abuse. </p>
<p>Second, it has been suggested that police were intimidated in the light of the above political secrecy by those with the power to threaten them with the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/17/met-police-cyril-smith-child-sex-abuse-official-secrets-act">Official Secrets Act</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, the media was fearful of libel charges and at times even received <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/22/media-gagged-westminster-child-abuse-ring">D-notices</a> – gagging orders which prevented them from reporting allegations that were never followed up by the police. The Goddard Inquiry has taken the step of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/immunity-guaranteed-for-whistleblowers-in-child-sex-abuse-inquiry">guaranteeing immunity</a> for anyone who signed the Official Secrets Act and now wishes to testify.</p>
<h2>What are the prospects for justice for victims?</h2>
<p>Predictions in all human affairs are never easy. Based on the past 30 years, with the history of suppressed evidence just noted, the cynicism of victims is easy to understand. Inquiries take time and if they go on too long, legitimate questions of justice might be kicked into the long grass. </p>
<p>We may end up with a few scalps of dead criminals, whose libertarian defenders will note were never brought to trial and so lost their presumption of innocence. Whatever happens, we do know that child sexual abuse is massively underestimated. Part of this is because paedophiles have to be adept at hiding their proclivities – and the rich and powerful ones have extra resources to evade justice. </p>
<p>Part of this is about children not being believed. That is compounded when those victims survive, grow up, and then their claims are still never heard in court. These factors then limit our confidence in there being full justice for victims.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Pilgrim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The former PM is by far the biggest name to get caught up in the paedophile inquiry.David Pilgrim, Professor of Health and Social Policy, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.