IICSA – Swansea

In light of the latest Independent Inquiry into Sexual Abuse report out just now that looked at six regions including Swansea, please see comment from Kim Harrison, head of abuse law and public inquiries at Slater and Gordon, who represented CS-A2 for this report and other victims for the inquiry as a whole:

“Today’s shocking report confirms that whilst the systematic grooming and sexual abuse of children by organised networks is widespread in England and Wales, the agencies charged with protecting our children are still failing to do so.

The report demonstrates that police forces and local authorities are failing to recognise the scale of child sexual exploitation due to inaccurate and often non-existent data.  So despite all the media publicity about child sexual exploitation this abhorrent crime is still being minimised and children left unprotected.  Agencies are denying the problem rather than facing up to it.

Alarmingly, the report reveals that police and social services continue in some areas to persist with victim blaming stereotypes and language. Child victims are still being criminalised. This needs to be addressed urgently.

We welcome the recommendations made today.  The Inquiry however, needs to go much further in its final report.  We need a transformation in attitudes in police and social services, much better multi agency working, a new national strategy to identify and tackle child sexual exploitation, and much more proactive use of the criminal law. The government needs to resource this properly.”