In London, report uncovers countless sexual assaults on children in care

In the United Kingdom, a report has just revealed the extent of the ordeal experienced by underage children placed in social services in south London. Sexual assault, racism, violence… The results are overwhelming.

Torn from sometimes violent, abusive or simply non-existent families, placed children arrive in social services already weakened. On paper, the supervisors who work there are responsible for taking care of them. them and help provide them with a better future. In fact, the reality is sometimes quite different. A report published Tuesday, July 27 has just highlighted the ordeal suffered by children in the social services of Lambeth, in south London. The first findings take effect in the 1960s and point to rape, sexual assault, racism, violence and a culture of silence.

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The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Assault (IISCA), set up in 2015, is behind fifteen reports, one of which exposed BBC presenter Jimmy Saville. According to John O’Brien, secretary of the IICSA, the latest on the horrors practiced in London social services is the worst of the fifteen reports produced so far. The body investigated in particular the Catholic and Anglican churches, as well as the British Parliament.

A collective failure

In this 228-page text, it is clearly demonstrated that Lambeth social services have put “vulnerable children in the path of adults known or suspected of being perpetrators of child sexual violence”, who had succeeded. to integrate social services. The example of a man employed in a reception center in the 1970s is cited there. At the time, the latter had concealed having been convicted of sexual assault on a child and was nevertheless able to remain in his post when his past was discovered. He was convicted in 1999 of 34 counts of sexual assault on minors, including two boys taken into the care of Lambeth social services in 1980 and 1983.

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Also according to the report, the local council of Lambeth has heard of complaints from 705 former residents of three reception centers for rape and sexual assault, but points out that the real number is certainly much higher.

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In the face of reports from numerous children, the findings rule on how employees treated them “as if they were worthless” while showing “total disregard” for them. At the community level, it is accused of having devoted itself more to attacking the government of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s than to dealing with social services. The London police, meanwhile, had no choice but to do their mea culpa. “It is clear that on various occasions we have missed opportunities to identify attackers and investigate further”, said Commander Alex Murray, “we are sorry for the times we have let down the children in Lambeth”. Hopefully all these elements allow the countless victims to find some peace.

Barbara ejenguele

A journalism student, Barbara is currently doing a work-study master’s degree and writes on parenthood for the Aufeminin Maman, Parole de Mamans and Avis de Mamans websites. She is also …