Questions & Suggestion by Team Inspire at Home Office to Justice Goddard

Meeting at the Home Office, Marsham Street, London with Justice Lowell Goddard et al
10^th February 2015 at 4.00pm
Questions/Suggestions:
1.What is Justice Goddard’s background/experience in her own words of such an inquiry
2.Are there any conflicts of interest?
3.What does Justice Goddard know about the British institutional systems
4.This CSA Inquiry will inevitably cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
5.Hopefully Jersey too – as has been called for many times
6.Is Justice Godard aware that children have been trafficked all over the UK including Northern Ireland and Jersey and worldwide
7.Justice Goddard needs to consider in this inquiry FGM, Honor Marriage, Honor abuse,
Trafficking including the grooming, coercion and control processes; all cultures must be included
8.These all have differing systems – what does she know about these systems
9.How will Justice Goddard ensure she is informed as quickly as possible regarding all the UK systems, including the following:

• Schools – Boarding & day/Private & maintained/Faith & Church Schools –  all schools
• including their Senior Leadership Teams
• Mosques & cultural departments of all descriptions throughout the UK including leaders
• Taxi services throughout the UK
• UK Department for Education
• Local Authorities nationwide
• Local Councils
• Ofsted
• Safeguarding Boards both adults and children
• Social Services both adult and children and including the Courts, Cafcass
• Children’s Centres
• Police/PCC’s/Crime Commissioners throughout the UK
• NHS/Hospitals/Doctors/GP’s
• Care Homes & their management
• Parliament, MP's and its members – current and historic; dead or alive
• Large national charities/NGO’s including NSPCC and Barnardo’s
• The church in all its denominations and church children’s homes – current/historic
• Children’s homes nationally including Church homes/hostels/women & baby homes
• Prison Service
• Military
• Masons
• Familial abuse must be considered, as this is where it starts
• Paedophile organisations including PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange), OSC (Online Sex Community), Elm Guest House, Dolphin Square, Kincora et al

10.Is she aware of the amount, and the depth, of cover ups dating back to at least 1940 in the establishment, charities, government departments and private organisations
11.Is she aware there is no safe place for whistle blowers in the UK
12.How will she ensure whistle blowers are looked after and made safe
13.What does Justice Goddard know about the establishments in the UK?
14.Is she aware many registered sex offenders continue to have access to a computer and the internet whilst on bail and on release from prison
15.What, and how much, knowledge does Justice Goddard have regarding safeguarding & child protection policies and procedures in the UK
16.Is Justice Goddard aware that it is not Mandatory Reporting by law (with criminal consequences) if an individual chooses not to report a safeguarding and/or child protection disclosure to the relevant authorities in the UK
17.There have to be regional meetings for as many Survivors to come forward nationally as possible and in small towns NOT just large cities and not just a few as we see now
18.Victims and survivors/whistle blowers need to be able to come forward safely
19.Disability and Special Needs must be catered for adequately and safely
20.Safeguarding/counselling/psychotherapy needs to be adequately funded and put into place nationally and not just with the large charities; small ones need support too
21.Counselling etc must be open ended, no time limit & funds available
22.Nominations must be made from the public domain for the panel as for the Chair
23.Transparent up to date information must be regularly placed on the new CSA Inquiry website for survivors to feel informed and the NEW website must NOT resemble the Government in any way
24.Transparent information/updates need to regularly be put out in the media and social media/TV/News/Newspapers
25.Funding applications for all those who wish to apply must be made simple and paid quickly to help sustainability
Child abuse is, and has been, endemic in the UK and there have been serious cover-up’s which are still going on today in all areas of organisations and the establishment linked to children and adults being abused and reporting/disclosing on all levels and of all descriptions. This Inquiry has to bring an end to this and change systems and procedures in order to make our children safe.
We hope we did not miss too much, if anything, but if we did, hopefully others organisations and individuals covered it in their own questions during the meeting.
This document was given to Justice Goddard to take away from the meeting.
Elaine Hook, Team Inspire
Published on blog 12.02.15 for transparency
Justice Goddard and her support team answered all questions put to her in the opinion of Team Inspire satisfactorily at the time of the meeting.

@inspire4UMeUs

Meeting with Justice Goddard

Yesterday, 10th February 2015, Elaine Hook and Jenny Tomlin, Founders and Directors of Buckinghamshire charity, Inspire You Me & Us CIC attended a meeting at the Home Office, London to meet with Justice Goddard, new chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

With over twenty representative groups in attendance and several individuals, the meeting room was buzzing with energy, suggestions and information sharing. Every attendee was given the opportunity to share their individual and organizational reasons for supporting this inquiry and what each one of those attending wished for victims, survivors and the results of the inquiry as a whole.

It was an extremely positive meeting with all voices heard and listened to. All opinions were respected and noted by Justice Goddard and her Home Office team of administrative supporters as well as all those representatives groups and individuals in attendance. The general consensus was that all in attendance agreed that this inquiry must get started, hear survivors, believe, eventually obtain evidence, justice and convictions where appropriate. Disclosures must be handed to the relevant authorities.

Justice Goddard was gracious and humble and assured all attendees of her long lasting and enduring commitment to the job in hand. Justice Goddard and her whole support team thanked all those in attendance (together with those not present) for their hard work, stead fastness, determination and commitment to getting to where we are today.

This whole process has been, and will continue, to be a huge learning curve for everyone concerned; patience is called for as the CSAinquiry Chair and Team now get going.

All in all extremely positive for all concerned.

Lets ensure its onward and upward from now on.

Best wishes

Elaine Hook
Team Inspire
@inspire4UMeUs
11.02.15

Statement by Ben Emmerson QC, Counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Statement: New Chair for Inquiry

Posted on 4th February 2015

Statement by Ben Emmerson QC, Counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse:

 

“The Home Secretary is extremely fortunate to have secured the services of Justice Lowell Goddard, one of the most respected and experienced judges in the Commonwealth, to act as Chair of the new statutory inquiry that was announced in the House of Commons this afternoon. Justice Goddard has all the key qualities necessary to lead the Inquiry’s work – absolute independence from the executive, a proven track record of holding state and non-state institutions to account, and the forensic skills necessary to digest and analyse vast quantities of evidence. She is a judge with a longstanding commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, both in New Zealand and within the United Nations system. She has the courage, independence and vision required to run a major national investigation into the failure to protect vulnerable children against sexual abuse, which has reportedly taken place on an almost industrial scale in institutional settings in the United Kingdom over many years.

 

I have personally reviewed the selection and due diligence processes used by the Home Office in the appointment of Justice Goddard. These processes were carried out in unprecedented depth and detail, and meet the highest possible standards of pre-appointment scrutiny. As part of the selection process, the Home Secretary has consulted – personally and through her officials – with victims and survivors, and she has listened carefully to their concerns and priorities in framing these new arrangements.

As a result of this review, the original panel appointed last September has been dissolved and a new panel will in due course be selected by the Home Secretary in consultation with Justice Goddard, following an objective appointment process conducted in accordance with transparent criteria. Despite a number of difficulties, the original panel managed to do some important groundwork in the short time that it was in place. This work will help to inform the decisions that Justice Goddard will now have to make in framing the inquiry’s methodology.

But it is important to stress that this is a completely fresh start. The inquiry that the Home Secretary has announced today will be a statutory inquiry established under the 2005 Inquiries Act. Unlike the previous panel inquiry it will have powers to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence by institutions and individuals. Justice Goddard and her legal advisers will be able to review open and classified sources. This new inquiry will therefore have all the powers it needs to penetrate deeply into the institutions that have failed children in the past, and to identify those institutions that are reportedly continuing to fail children today. And it will do so under the leadership of an exceptionally experienced judge.

 

This new inquiry will begin its work on a fully professional footing from the outset. Every effort will of course be made to keep the public sufficiently informed about the progress of the inquiry, with as much transparency as possible. However, some of the inquiry’s work will necessarily be conducted under conditions of confidentiality which are essential for the effective investigation of such serious and sensitive allegations.

I am pleased to say that the independent Secretariat, which has been working hard to lay the groundwork for this inquiry, will continue to serve as the Secretariat for the new statutory inquiry. The members of this dedicated team have been recruited from across government departments and beyond. They are committed to the success of this new inquiry and will be answerable to Justice Goddard and the new panel, and to no one else. They are, and will remain, fully independent of Government.

 

I am also pleased to confirm that I have accepted an invitation from the Home Secretary to act as counsel to the Goddard Inquiry. In this capacity I have already had the opportunity to speak to Justice Goddard personally and to begin discussions with her about the challenges ahead. She will be arriving in the United Kingdom next week for a meeting with Home Affairs Select Committee.

 

I would like to acknowledge the clear commitment that the Home Secretary has shown throughout this process to the success of this new inquiry. In order to ensure that the arrangements she has now put in place are robust and sustainable she has taken a very close personal interest in the process and has met regularly with a range of stakeholders to canvass their views for herself.

 

All those involved in this process are committed to confronting the scourge of child sexual abuse in this country, shining a light into the murkier corners of some of our most powerful national institutions.”

 

Kindest regards

 

Issued by Usha Choli

Head, Engagement and Stakeholder Relations

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

 

Published with permission of the Secretariat by Team Inspire

04.02.15

Hear the Voice of the "Inner Child" by Mike Peirce

A while ago I wrote about the concerns I had regarding the growing signs of disparity among many of us connected with the government inquiry into child abuse. I write as a survivor, well experienced in the hell that is complex post-traumatic stress disorder, who took the desperate road of using drugs to stifle my pain, ultimately leading to addiction and……… you know the rest.

My hope when writing was that as any rightful and fully expected initial feelings of frustration, anger, abhorrence of CSA and all what it brings were aired and out in the open, we would then get to the stage where dialogue would help move us to where we belong: at the forefront of positive change. I hoped for understanding, the putting aside of personal and organisational agendas and, perhaps forlornly and too optimistically, to work alongside officialdom to get the job done.

I fully respect how difficult it is to even contemplate working with government representatives. I fully understand, with trust right out of the window, how we feel, how we hurt, how there is no room for forgiveness.  As I write this I am reminded of my own ‘inner child’ the little chap who was faced with abuse and all its consequences, who developed duodenal ulcers before he was seventeen years of age, who underwent surgery: the surgeons efforts to cut out the pain I held within a futile attempt; there was no chance surgery would work. Of course there was a reoccurrence: I know how to do hurt.

Today I write to plead with all factions to hear the voice of that little chap who I have referred to above because there are so many more little chaps and little girls – perhaps you are aware of your own ‘inner child’ – who need and deserve to be heard. There are so many who are hurting at intransigence that could effectively block progress. As survivors we have the capability, and are in a better position than ever to ensure there will be long-lasting, positive change and during all this, perhaps even justice. 

But this will not happen unless we make it happen. This will not happen unless we are prepared to acknowledge and ‘own’ the fact that our individual actions could thwart the hopes and dreams of others. I question my own and others right to do this

Survivor to survivor I am asking if we can all go on and on until we cannot go any further and then go twice as far. Please, let’s ensure we do not allow the inquiry to fail because we are prepared to put ourselves first at an unacceptable cost to others who are hurting; perhaps even more than us. This need not and surely must not happen.

Best wishes

Mike Peirce
January 2015

Published by Team Inspire with the permission of Dr Mike Peirce
29.01.15

Psycho-educational Support Group for Adult survivors of any Form of Child Abuse or Neglect

Do you have a history of childhood abuse?

Would you like to help yourself to understand and manage your life better?

We will be running a twelve-week psycho-educational support group in Brill, Buckinghamshire starting 25 March, 6.30-9.00pm.

This group is FREE for participants and funded by NAPAC who are committed to helping you create a brighter future for yourself, even if your start to life was less than bright.

It is open to anyone over the age of 18 in the Buckinghamshire/ Oxfordshire area.

Admission to the group will be via a friendly interview and confidentiality is taken very seriously.

For further information, in confidence contact:

valerie@napac.org.uk

 

07527 144 157

 

www.napac.org.uk

 

NAPAC is the National Association for People Abused in Childhood

Published with permission of NAPAC by Team Inspire
27.01.15

Beverly’s Story

My mother died when I was only 11 months old; her death was never explained to me by anyone, not my father or the care system I was placed in. I grew up not knowing who I was; I was only informed of my birthday 27^th December 1959 at nearly 12 years old when I was put into the care system.

I began my journey to find out about my history following recovery of the most unbelievable and horrifying memory recall. I had collapsed through sheer exhaustion and lack of sleep, as the shock of recovering my memory threw my whole body and mind into turmoil. I began to experience flashbacks and relived my trauma so vividly that I was in shock twenty four hours a day and night; it was relentless eventually leading to my collapse.

Horrifyingly, one of the catalysts for my recall was discovering that my family had been targeted by child abusers living in the area in 1997/98 in York (we have moved since). I was consequently terrorised for reporting and desperately trying to find out what had been done to one of my loved ones. Eventually the NSPCC listened and an independent investigation was carried out. I was informed it was organised abuse and it seems this shock was the main catalyst for my recall. Though in hindsight, I can now recognise my memories were always trying to push through.

On recall I immediately realised why I had been vulnerable all my life and my unexplained difficulties now made sense.  Finding out about organised child abuse for the first time in my life and what one of my children was revealing to me in fragments almost destroyed my health completely. To this day I do not know if the perpetrators have been caught and stopped from harming others. I did everything I could and whilst doing the right thing I was clearly aware I was being threatened with my life. Later when I recalled the crimes committed against me as a child the terrorisation increased. My life was hell; too much to detail to go into right now. But I did report three times to the police all the information I could and two barristers looked at my case and one taped a statement.

One barrister said mine was one of the severest cases he had ever come across. And whilst in hospital a nurse said after reading my file that if I was told what happen to me as a child I would have nightmares for the rest of my life. I have remembered so much horror including being buried for a number of days and nights in a grave and hung from a tree. I was saved by someone and taken in an ambulance to hospital. I suffered a head injury at this time, as the person who got me down dropped me. I was only 8 years old when this happened. I was in a coma (it seems) and also seems my brain was operated on so I would not remember, later it seems I was placed with nuns in some sort of rehab institution these memories are still blurry.

I have for 14 years been requesting my medical records to date they are kept from me. I had been taken to a church yard, St Mary’s, Sheffield, and tortured raped by two men whilst others wearing gowns watched.

Daily life at my stepmothers was a constant fight to survive, physically and mentally; beatings and complete neglect were the norm. Being made to endure sleep deprivation, beatings until I was unconscious, locked in cellar, raped by my stepmother friends, made to stay out in cold wandering alone as a child; there is so much more detail here to tell here. I now know why one GP called it torture; another likened my life to the Nazi camps. There were strange events, like being made to go downstairs in only a vest before school, to be beaten with a cane. Again there is so much more detail to share here. Eventually my own half siblings were made to harm me and I was subjected to terror daily and used sexually. My recovered memories are horrific. I also bear physical wounds inflicted on me.

All 11 years of my medical notes are kept from me, although social services have records from at least 1963 showing the nursery I was in and the date I was sent to Sheffield. There are also reports saying how profoundly damaged I was when I went into care at 11 years. The rest is kept hidden. When I first inquired I was informed by Social Services only certain people can have access a solicitor. They advised that my notes are "too sensitive".

A new NSPCC officer came to visit me, alone. Prior to this visit my siblings had warned me not to speak to this person and that this person would harm me. In fact this new officer seemed to know I was being harmed and following this intervention I was placed in care. Whilst in care when my past traumatic experiences began to unfold I was taken to a psychiatrist and diagnosed with depression. I was medicated to calm me and help me sleep. This was apparently how I was managed; this method was continued throughout my life. When I visited my GP due to panic attacks and symptoms I could not comprehend, it was always medication, medication, medication.

Now that I understand, and having gone through, and am still going through my recovery without medication, I am aware my mind it healing naturally. It is slow, so painful and heart breaking. My losses are huge; my own father, now gone, was kept from me. I can never have what would have been a genuine relationship my father who was a gentle, unobtrusive Latvian man suffering much himself. Years and years have been spent in survival when I should have been growing and developing; I now am studying, trying to catch up.

Whilst living at my stepmothers there were numerous attempts to murder me. I was so horrified and ill when I finally recalled this information; I did not want to believe humans could do these things. On my recall of these memories the same past tactics were tried, i.e. you are crazy, you imagined it and the men in white coats will lock you up. There has been repeated and numerous attempts to discredit me. The stress and shock of this information could completely send a person over the edge but I have kept going and still survive knowing always I am doing what I know to be right.

In a nutshell I was tortured from a very tiny baby/toddler in a cot until 11 years old when the intervention of an NSPCC officer Mr. Jenkins came to visit me and soon after that visit I was put in a children's home. Previously a NSPCC officer had been visiting the house I resided in for around 7 years and a step sister of mine had indicated to me he was dodgy. My father had remarried following the death of my mother and baby brother and oddly, my father did not live with us, but visited. On the occasions he called in, I was repeatedly warned by my step mother not to speak to him; my step mother hid from my father the abuse she was subjecting me to.

Today, 27^th December 2014, is my birthday and I wanted to give myself a birthday present which was to allow myself to write these words and not feel ashamed of being a defenceless child who survived the most inhuman treatment.

I am uncertain of how much to say regarding what happened more recently in 1997 as that information is about a different person, who is now old enough to speak for themselves. I have informed the relevant persons to try to get this dealt with as we know child abuse is still going on today but is now being looked at, especially historical cases like mine.

I hope this outpouring makes sense to you and I thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Beverly

Written by Beverly on 27th December 2014 (her birthday) & published 27.01.15 with permission by Team Inspire.

27.01.15

 

STATEMENT FROM HOME OFFICE TODAY 26.01.15

As discussed, in a telephone conversation today, Team Inspire with the Home Office officials.

Following statement sent by email to Team Inspire from HO:

Please note that the HO are having one in a series of ongoing meetings with representatives of survivors this week.

There will be a further meeting between the Home Secretary and survivors before an announcement.

That date for the announcement is to be confirmed, but it is likely to be the week of 2 February 2015.

To endeavor to allay gossip and here-say the above statement, as discussed on the telephone with the Home Office this morning at 12.00 noon, is published.

Published with permission of the Home Office by Team Inspire
26.01.15