UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Sandra Laville and Owen Bowcott
Thursday 9 July 2015
Thousands of victims of child sexual abuse are being invited to testify across the country in a truth project set up as part of the biggest public inquiry into criminality and corruption by public and private institutions in England and Wales.
Justice Lowell Goddard, the New Zealand judge appointed to run the long-awaited independent inquiry into child abuse within state and non-state institutions, vowed that no individual or institution however powerful would be able to obstruct her investigations.
The monarchy, government, politicians, church leaders, schools, hospitals and the media would all be examined, she said. Insurance companies which deny victims the truth to prevent compensation payouts, and internet providers who fail to tackle online abuse, will also be investigated.
While the inquiry – which has a budget of £17.9m from the Home Office for the coming year – would not be able to convict people or punish them, Goddard said it would not shrink from naming individuals who have abused children and the institutions which allowed it to happen.
“The naming of people that have been responsible for the sexual abuse of children or institutions that have been at fault in failing to protect children from abuse, is a core aspect of the inquiry’s function,” she said.
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