Wales Online 15/8/17: Mary Baxter-Thornton (VSCP). IICSA ToRs must have changed - 'anyone who has been abused' ?

Aug 15, 2017, 05:23 PM

ToRs say: [1] To consider the extent to which State and non-State institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation; to consider the extent to which those failings have since been addressed; to identify further action needed to address any failings identified; to consider the steps which it is necessary for State and non-State institutions to take in order to protect children from such abuse in future; and to publish a report with recommendations. . Ms Baxter Thornton said '........anyone has been abused as a child....' This will have come from an IICSA briefing note and it suggests the inquiry is understandably concerned at the lack of abusees attending the Truth Project who fall within the ambit of the Terms of Reference. If so, it is for IICSA to address the constituencies specified in the ToRs rather than chase numbers to shore up this initiative. IICSA's change of strategy has been obvious for the last three months. The shift away from ToRs will 'bend' data and ultimately contribute to the inquiry's credibility being further undermined.