Welcome to the week.

As another survivors’ group leaves the nation’s Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual abuse (IICSA) amid allegations that it is not fit for purpose and has marginalised the very people it was set up to listen to, the future of the Inquiry has again been thrown into question.

The Survivors of Organised and Institutional Abuse (SOIA) have withdrawn from the child abuse inquiry, claiming that it has been going downhill for some time and has consistently ignored survivors and victims assisting their investigations. The group said this:

“It is with deep regret that Soia announces its withdrawal from the inquiry… We emphasise that each of us will continue to vigorously campaign outside of the IICSA, for the rights of survivors of organised and institutional abuse to justice and healing… We wish to thank all those who have contributed time, effort and their own money to WhiteFlowers and Soia.

However, we believe that, despite our efforts, IICSA remains not fit for purpose…. Indeed it has descended into a very costly academic report writing and literature review exercise with survivors totally marginalised from effective participation in the research process.”

The group had four core participants sitting at the inquiry, who have now left, however they represented a much larger group of hundreds under its own SOIA umbrella.

We have received correspondence from one SOIA member who disagreed with the decision to step down from the Inquiry, indicating that feelings about the IICSA amongst survivors are mixed.

Our question this week then, is this: do you agree that the Inquiry is going backwards, or is its work still important in forming a complete picture of abuse in Britain and beyond?