Abuse Reporting "Must Be Mandatory"

MSN News
February 9, 2014

http://news.uk.msn.com/abuse-reporting-must-be-mandatory


More than nine out of 10 people support the introduction of mandatory reporting of abuse in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations, according to a poll.

Staff at schools, care homes and hospitals should have a legal requirement to report sexual and other forms of abuse if they discover them, according to 94% of people surveyed by legal firm Slater & Gordon.

A host of child abuse charities have already called for the law change, alongside former director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer.

Liz Dux, head of abuse at Slater & Gordon, which represents 70 people who say they were victims of Savile, said mandatory reporting could have prevented many crimes being committed.

She said: "Victims are astonished that Government cannot see the vital need for this law to be toughened.

"Many believe that others knew about what was going on and did and said nothing."

She added: "Often people fear the damage that would be done to an institution's reputation if a scandal was made public. But that is not a decision that should be available to anyone.

"By introducing mandatory reporting it would not only protect children from evil predators like Savile but also the institutions themselves. It would remove any ambiguity that exists.

"The time has come for action - another generation must not sweep these outrages under the carpet like the previous ones did."

Ninety two per cent of the 1,500 people surveyed also said they believed the Savile revelations meant more victims of sexual abuse would come forward.

Charities including the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac), The Survivors Trust, Respond, Survivors UK and Innocence in Danger back a law introducing mandatory abuse reporting in schools and similar institutions, where children are cared for in loco parentis.

The new Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, said in November that making the failure to report allegations of child sexual abuse a criminal offence could prove very difficult, particularly if the victim did not want charges to be brought.