UNITED KINGDOM
Independent
Editorial
The torrent of revelations in recent years about child sexual abuse – by celebrities, by institutions, by grooming gangs – has shocked the British public. As each new outrage presented itself, it became apparent that for decades children in this country were preyed upon by a range of repugnant individuals. Even worse, the discovery of systemic grooming of children by gangs from Rochdale to Oxford and Rotherham to Derby made it plain that young people were still being failed by those whose responsibility it was to keep them safe.
The establishment of a wide-ranging inquiry into the complex and unsettling issues raised by these and other cases was supposed to provide some answers, to be a means by which new evidence of abuse could be assessed and perhaps help victims get some justice – insofar as that can ever be possible. As things stand, however, the inquiry has been nothing short of a shambles.
Even before it was officially opened, two chairwomen had been and gone, with Lady Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf both quitting after questions were raised about possible conflicts of interest. Then-Home Secretary Theresa May, who had appointed both women, announced that the inquiry would be placed on a statutory footing and led by the highly respected New Zealander Dame Lowell Goddard, whose long experience as a judge and lack of direct connection to the British establishment raised hopes that it would be third time lucky.
As she opened the inquiry in July last year, Dame Lowell made clear that its broad remit would necessitate a lengthy period for the assessment of evidence. She anticipated that a report might be achievable in five years’ time. But little more than 12 months on and Dame Lowell herself departed the scene, citing her career and family life, amid criticism of the amount of time she had spent on holiday or working outside the UK. She had become Britain’s highest paid civil servant when she was appointed chair of the inquiry, yet left it rudderless once again.
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