#ActOnIICSA

Act on IICSA is a campaign group working to raise awareness of the recommendations outlined by the Independent Inquiry into Childhood Sexual Abuse (IICSA) to help better protect children from sexual abuse.

The group is comprised of members of the IICSA Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel (VSCP), and representatives from The Survivors Trust and their member agencies. 

Background

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse for England and Wales published its final report in October 2022 following a 7-year statutory inquiry. The inquiry’s final report outlined the main findings about the extent to which state and non-state institutions failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. 

The report called the nature and scale of abuse in England and Wales "horrific and deeply disturbing" and explained that institutions too often "prioritised their personal and institutional reputations above the welfare of those they were duty bound to protect”. It concluded that "child protection must be given a much greater priority in public life".

The IICSA final report detailed a package of 20 recommendations needed to reform child protection. These recommendations were based on the culmination of 2.5 million pages of evidence and thousands of hours of evidence sessions, collectively involving more than 7,300 victims and survivors.  

Where are we now? 

On 10th January 2024, the Home Secretary provided a written statement to update the House of Commons (read the statement here) on the implementation of recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in its final report published in October 2022. The Home Secretary told the house that the government was taking “concerted action” on “several of the Inquiry’s recommendations”.  

Most notably, the government has committed to introducing a mandatory reporting duty, under the Criminal Justice Bill, for people engaging with children to report incidents of child sexual abuse. Other updates include: 

• a commitment to work across government to deliver the redress scheme announced in May 2023 following extensive engagement by the Home Office with experts in the field (recommendation 19).

• a commitment to publish a single response “as soon as possible” to its consultations on time limits to Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme applications, on CICS as a whole and on unspent convictions liability ( recommendation 19).

Act on IICSA welcomes the progress made so far. We look forward to engaging with the government moving forward to ensure the inquiry's recommendations are implemented as an entire package to reform child protection in England and Wales. We must ensure a commitment to the recommendations of IICSA to create the lasting and transformational change which is needed to protect children from sexual abuse.