Government's proposed legal duty to report suspicion of child sexual abuse is a fudge, says inquiry chair

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Alexis Jay, chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse,  has said she is deeply disappointed by the weakness of the government's proposed law making it a legal duty to report suspicions of such abuse.

The Guardian reports:

Alexis Jay said she was “deeply disappointed” by the new legislation.

“The victims are upset and angry and I’m not surprised. It’s a fudge and an opportunity missed,” she told the BBC.

“I am deeply disappointed in it and very much more so for the victims and survivors who had such high expectations that what the inquiry had recommended was going to be implemented,” she said.

“They are upset. They are angry at this and it’s not surprising.”

The long-awaited “duty to report” legislation, set out in an amendment to the criminal justice bill, was described as falling far below recommendations of the seven-year independent inquiry into child sexual abuse and has triggered outrage from campaigners and lawyers.

The new law is needed to put an end to the current situation where teachers in private schools or staff in care homes who have come under suspicion tend to leave the organisation in which they work for jobs elsewhere, aided by glowing references.

But the government's proposed version is seen as too restrictive in its application and too easy to avoid.

The reaction of Alex Renton, a campaigner on child sexual abuse, is reported by BBC News:

Mr Renton welcomed the new offence for deterring or blocking reporting, but said in his experience of many thousands of cases, it was rare that someone tried to block the reporting of child abuse.

It was far more frequent that the person who suspected or was told of abuse did not report it.

He described the amendment as a “kick in the teeth” for victims who have been campaigning for decades.