You may or may not have heard about the #TheyKnew campaign being headed by Maggie Oliver. They are seeking to bring civil actions and/or private prosecutions against individuals and public bodies that were aware of children and young people who were being sexually abused or exploited, but did nothing. Obviously we support action for change and are pleased to see people being held to account.
We have been involved in gathering evidence in the past for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and just reading through the heart breaking accounts of what individuals experienced was harrowing at best. Many of these were seriously abused within churches, and left unprotected by police and social care services who chose not to see or believe the accounts of these young people. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Time and again we have been made aware of how institutions lockdown and go into what can only be described as “damage limitation mode.” We have personal experience of paperwork being “lost” and recollections being somehow forgotten and wiped from meeting minutes. How the organisation opts to protect the perpetrators and not the victim.
How did we get here? How did we reach a place where it is more socially acceptable to protect and cover up for a child abuser than to listen to and support a child who is being abused? Is it because it goes on for such a long time and the problem feels too big, so people choose to ignore it? It is, understandably, uncomfortable, but wow, for that child?
Can we take a minute to think about what it feels like to be that child or young person who is being abused and the organisation is not listening. They feel shame and blame that is somehow being put on their shoulders, shoulders that are far too small, feeling that they have done something wrong and are in some kind of trouble, after all no one wants to know or to help.
This is all if a child has been able to tell anyone in the first place. It is incredibly hard to disclose abuse. Being aware that it is abuse, feeling worried about what can happen, fear and shame are all reasons that young people may not say anything. It is why it is vital that we respond when they are able to say something, and why we must act when we suspect there is a problem. One of the biggest reasons children do not tell is because no one ever asks.
Why has it always been from the perspective of “But why didn’t they tell…?” and not “Why didn’t we ask?!”
The weight of disclosure has always, it seems, been on the innocent party; we need to recognise that the responsibility lies with all of us. In a school EVERYONE is accountable to study, to flag, to report, anything that doesn’t seem or sound right – no matter the job title, EVERYONE joining forces to stand behind that child, that young person.
And isn’t that exactly what Maggie Oliver is saying? We will not stand for this any more; the countless enquiries and investigations (Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Telford……..) and yet no one has ever been held to account?! IICSA probed for seven years; made 20 recommendations; described child sexual abuse as an “epidemic” across England and Wales and yet not one of those advisories has been acted on. WHY?!
The Government seems to be vowing to create change; and yet what do they actually DO?! And what about the voices who have already been ignored or silenced in the decades preceding?
Something has to change and FAST, accountability – surely that is what will make people stand up and ACT – we can all talk, but we need more – we owe it to those children.
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