Lawyers are urging the Government to “do right by” survivors of child sexual abuse – and make long overdue changes to the law.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) wants the Government to extend a scheme so more survivors of child abuse, including victims of online grooming, can apply to receive compensation.
APIL is working with Rotherham MP Sarah Champion who has tabled an amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill, which is due to be debated in Parliament on Monday 27 October.
The amendment calls for eligibility for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS), run by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to be extended so more child abuse survivors are helped.
“We urge MPs to take this opportunity and accept this much-needed amendment to widen eligibility for redress, which was recommended by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA),” said APIL’s immediate past president Kim Harrison, who is a specialist child abuse lawyer.
“It’s time to do right by abuse survivors as they are victims of some of the most appalling crimes that damage and destroy lives. They must have a route to redress as they attempt to move on.”
The Government announced in April that it would not move forward with IICSA’s recommendation. Ms Champion’s amendment would reverse that decision.
Ms Champion said: “For too long, survivors of child sexual abuse have been denied compensation on the basis of bizarre technicalities. Many hoped this would end after the IICSA made a clear recommendation to put a stop to this.
“But survivors were dealt a bitter blow when the Government dropped Recommendation 18 earlier this year. Children who have been sexually abused should not have to face unjust barriers when trying to access compensation - they've been through enough. That’s why I am campaigning for the reform of CICA.”
The amendment also calls for the time period in which victims must make an application for compensation to be extended to seven years from the date the offence was reported to police, or from the victim’s 18th birthday if the offence was reported while they were a child.
Survivors with unspent criminal convictions would also no longer be automatically excluded from the scheme where offences are linked to the circumstances of their abuse as a child.
Ms Harrison, who represented many victims at the national abuse inquiry, added: “It’s unjust to automatically exclude survivors with a criminal record from compensation. Many children may be groomed by their abusers into committing crime. It’s only fair that, in certain circumstances, some criminal offences should not be a bar to receiving compensation from the scheme.”