Abuse inquiry to examine protection policies at religious schools and camps

An investigation into child sexual abuse will examine the protection policies of religious schools and summer camps in England and Wales.

The inquiry into child protection in religious organisations and settings will focus on the rules and procedures of non-conformist Christian denominations and Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Safeguarding steps around youth work as well as selecting and training religious leaders in different faiths with significant followings will form a central part of hearings next year, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) heard on Tuesday.

It is separate from the investigations into both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England which “provides only a partial picture” of child sexual exploitation by the religious, said Fiona Scolding QC, lead counsel to the inquiry.

She added: “We recognise that the vast majority of individuals in those organisations have the promotion of good, of morality, of civic responsibility and of selflessness as central features of their doctrines and creeds.

“But we also know that some individuals do use religious organisations and settings to perpetrate child sexual abuse.”

Some 20 individuals and groups have so far been granted core participant status, including: the Home Office, Charity Commission, Ofsted, the Pagan Federation, United Reform Church, The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the United Synagogue.

Two weeks of hearings are scheduled to begin from March 16 2020.

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