UK "Should Follow Ireland by Making It Mandatory to Report Child Abuse"

By Henry McDonald
The Guardian
November 9, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/09/uk-ireland-report-child-abuse

A report into the mishandling of child abuse complaints against priests in Dublin – one of a series of damaging reports on child protection in Ireland.

The UK should follow the Republic of Ireland by preparing to make the reporting of alleged child abuse mandatory in law, according to the Dublin-based Children's Rights Alliance.

Ireland is holding a referendum on Saturday that aims to enshrine the rights of children in the country's constitution.

Since the 1990s Ireland has undergone a painful catharsis regarding widespread child sexual and physical abuse in what were once revered institutions of church and state. The republic has published 14 high-powered and damaging reports into the abuse and exploitation of children in church-run orphanages, industrial schools and parishes.

Tanya Ward, the chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, whose offices are just a few hundred yards away from the gates of the Irish parliament, said the UK could learn a lot from the Irish experience of dealing with a legacy of systematic child abuse.

Referring to the 14 separate reports into Irish child abuse scandals, Ward said: "If there is a common theme running through these reports … it is that institutions put their own interests before those of children. Certainly the situation we had to deal with in Ireland in terms of the institutional abuse that went on places like the industrial schools and orphanages is uncannily similar to what is currently emerging [in the UK]."

She said the 1937 Irish constitution had to be amended because it placed more emphasis on the privacy and authority of the family than on the rights of children. In some cases, Ward said, this led to social workers and others in authority in Ireland being put off investigating child abuse within families.

Ward cited forthcoming legislation on the back of the constitutional amendment, should it pass on Saturday, dealing with reporting of child abuse as a lesson for UK.

"If the people vote yes on Saturday children's rights will be enshrined in the constitution and that will be an important milestone for us because following it there will be legislation which will make it mandatory to report any complaint from any child about abuse. For people working with children they will now be obliged in law to report any concerns those children express to them. If they receive a credible report that a child or young person has been abused they must now under law pass that on to the gardai and other relevant authorities. This type of law would make a difference in the UK too," Ward added.