• About
    • Privacy Policy
  • GSW
  • Guide To Making A Subject Access Request
  • In Dad’s Shoes
    • An Overview
    • Invitation
    • Media
    • Photos
    • Press Release
    • Soft Launch
    • Speeches
    • Summary
  • Media Coverage
  • Parliamentary Debates
  • Voice of the Child Podcasts

Researching Reform

Researching Reform

Daily Archives: December 19, 2018

Home Office Schools: ‘State Sanctioned Child Abuse That Was Universally Known’

19 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by Natasha in child abuse inquiry

≈ 6 Comments

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has come under fire this week for failing to offer a formal apology to survivors of child abuse who went to Home Office run schools.

According to website The London Economic, David Enright, a solicitor representing 22 survivors of abuse has written to the Home Secretary on several occasions asking for an apology for the abuse experienced by children at residential schools. The schools were set up to take in children who had committed minor misdemeanours, truancy, those who had found themselves in the care system, or children who were from poor backgrounds. Enright also asked the Home Office to attend hearings being held by the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse.

No apology has been issued and the Home Office has confirmed that it won’t be attending sections of the inquiry’s work, telling Enright that as a representative of the Ministry of Justice was present, a Home Office representative was not necessary. The Home Office then sent a lawyer to the inquiry to read out a statement written by Sir Philip Rutnam, permanent secretary at the Home Office. Rutnam’s letter acknowledged that vulnerable people had been let down and that the government department was taking the IICSA’s investigations seriously.

Survivors were not impressed by the effort, calling the letter and the sentiments contained within it, hollow and too little too late.

David Enright and survivors of child abuse at several residential schools say the Home Office is to blame for the culture of abuse and the ongoing physical and emotional harm that took place in these schools, including forced labour and sexual assaults. Testimony from one teacher who taught at a residential school offered damning evidence which appeared to implicate the Home Office:

Now, this was not an aberration. It was a nationwide Home Office policy…The Home Office published reports about corporal punishment in approved schools … they analysed with charts and graphs how useful lashing was to stop boys from running away…Nobody asked why the boys were running away … This was state-approved and sanctioned child abuse and it was universally known of.

Further testimonies from survivors describe how paeophiles were able to use a state-sanctioned fear of violence to get away with sexually abusing children at Stanhope Castle in Co Durham, Forde Park in Devon, St Aidan’s in Cheshire and St Vincent’s in Merseyside.

Enright wants the Home Office to admit responsibility for the abuse and to apologise to survivors and victims who endured physical and emotional violence in the schools.

Share this:

  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 8,452 other subscribers

Contact Researching Reform

Huff Post Contributer

For Litigants in Person

Child Welfare Debates

December 2018
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Nov   Jan »

Children In The Vine : Stories From The Family Justice System

Categories

  • Adoption
  • All Party Parliamentary Group on Family Law and The Court of Protection
  • Articles
  • Big Data
  • Bills
  • Case Study
  • child abuse
  • child abuse inquiry
  • child welfare
  • Children
  • Children In The Vine
  • Circumcision
  • Civil Partnerships
  • Consultation
  • Conversations With…
  • Corporal Punishment
  • CSA
  • CSE
  • Data Pack
  • Domestic Violence
  • Encyclopaedia on Family and The Law
  • event
  • Family Law
  • Family Law Cases
  • FGM
  • FOI
  • forced adoption
  • Foster Care
  • Fudge of the Week
  • Fultemian Project
  • Huffington Post
  • Human Rights
  • IGM
  • Inquiry
  • Interesting Things
  • Interview
  • Judge of the Week
  • Judges
  • judicial bias
  • Law to lust for
  • legal aid
  • LexisNexis Family Law
  • LIP Service
  • LIPs
  • Marriage
  • McKenzie Friends
  • MGM
  • News
  • Notes
  • petition
  • Picture of the Month
  • Podcast
  • Question It
  • Random Review
  • Real Live Interviews
  • Research
  • Researching Reform
  • social services
  • social work
  • Spotlight
  • Stats
  • Terrorism
  • The Buzz
  • The Times
  • Troubled Families Programme
  • Twitter Conversations
  • Update
  • Voice of the Child
  • Voice of the Child Podcast
  • Westminster Debate
  • Who's Who Cabinet Ministers
  • Your Story

Recommended

  • Blawg Review
  • BlogCatalog
  • DaddyNatal
  • DadsHouse
  • Divorce Survivor
  • Enough Abuse UK
  • Family Law Week
  • Family Lore
  • Flawbord
  • GeekLawyer's Blog
  • Head of Legal
  • Just for Kids Law
  • Kensington Mums
  • Law Diva
  • Legal Aid Barristers
  • Lib Dem Lords
  • Lords of The Blog
  • Overlawyered
  • PAIN
  • Paul Bernal's Blog
  • Public Law Guide
  • Pupillage Blog
  • Real Lawyers Have Blogs
  • Story of Mum
  • Sue Atkins, BBC Parenting Coach
  • The Barrister Blog
  • The Magistrate's Blog
  • The Not So Big Society
  • Tracey McMahon
  • UK Freedom of Information Blog
  • WardBlawg

Archives

  • Follow Following
    • Researching Reform
    • Join 813 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Researching Reform
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: