Scots abuse victims keep up calls for inquiry scope to be widened

By The Press Association12th February 2016News ScotlandChild Abuse, News Scotland, Non-Recent / Historic Abuse, Sexual Abuse

Victims say they will continue to press Education Secretary Angela Constance to increase the scope of an independent inquiry into childhood abuse.

Andi Lavery, who founded the support charity White Flowers Alba, said there had been “no movement whatsoever” from the Scottish Government during a meeting with Ms Constance.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which is being chaired by Susan O’Brien QC, is not fit for purpose, he claimed, saying it would only look at a “small proportion” of abuse cases.

Campaigners at both White Flowers Alba and the In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) group want the remit of the inquiry to be extended to include abuse at religious organisations and children’s groups such as the Boy Scouts.

The Scottish inquiry, which could take four years, will focus on allegations of abuse in formal institutional care settings, such as children’s homes and secure care, care, long-term hospital care and boarding schools.

Mr Lavery, an abuse survivor, accused Ms Constance of “picking a mere small percentage of survivors and the rest isn’t her problem”.

He compared the inquiry in Scotland with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales, which will investigate a wide range of institutions including local authorities, schools, children’s homes, churches and other religious organisations and charities and voluntary organisations.

Mr Lavery said: ” Survivors are saying we want equality before the law and we want treated the way survivors are treated by the English inquiry.

“In England wherever there is wickedness it will be found. England has a population of 60 million, they’re doing the inquiry in five years.

“We’re doing an inquiry which looks at only a small proportion of survivors in four-and-a-half years, yet we’re not offering any benchmarks, any accountability, any redress.

“That is not acceptable and if she (Ms Constance) doesn’t change her mind, if the Government don’t change their mind, I suggest she considers her position.”

George McBride, a member of White Flowers Alba, said: “I’m a survivor, I was abused when I was a little boy at primary school, it messed my head up. And there are thousands like me out there, we don’t fit in the remit.

“They’re not dealing with any local authority schools, they’re not dealing with Catholic schools.”

Alan Draper, parliamentary liaison officer for Incas, said: “We’ve had concerns for some considerable time about the make-up of the inquiry.

“We pressed the Government fairly early on that it should include all institutions who had a duty of care, which would have covered not just residential institutions, the initial purpose of the inquiry, but would have covered agencies with a duty of care, for example religious organisation, the Catholic Church, the Church of Scotland, and the Boy Scouts, etc.”

He said the groups ” didn’t get very far with the Education Secretary in relation to this issue” in the meeting but vowed: “We will continue to press her that this is an issue we wish to be amended.”

Ms Constance said the Scottish Government had ” engaged extensively with survivors and the services which support them”.

She state d: “In setting the remit of the inquiry, we have sought to strike the right balance between widening the scope of the inquiry and the definitions of in-care and abuse from the original calls made.

“Throughout I have been determined to ensure survivors don’t lose hope that it will report back within a reasonable timescale.

“It is also important to recognise that this inquiry, unlike others, is looking at physical, psychological and emotional abuse, as well as sexual abuse, and can use its discretion to go further and consider medical experimentation, spiritual abuse, unacceptable practices and neglect.”