Transcript: I'm Malcolm Underhill a solicitor who specialises in acting for survivors of childhood sexual abuse . Much has been done in the last two years to support survivors… victims of childhood sexual abuse, but in my view, we're...
Sexual and Physical Abuse Claims
On 4 th July 2018, a former football coach for Newcastle United, George Ormond, was found guilty by Newcastle Crown Court of carrying out 36 individual acts of sexual abuse against 18 boys between 1973 and 1997 and sentenced to 20-years in jail. ...
The BBC recently covered a deeply disturbing story regarding peer-on-peer sexual abuse by school age children. According to the NSPCC, cases like this involving not only secondary aged children, but also primary schoolers, happen, “thousands...
A former football coach for a number of professional clubs is on trial, accused of being “a serial abuser of young teenage boys’. Bob Higgins, 65, is being prosecuted for 50 counts of indecent assault at Salisbury Crown Court –...
For many, it may come as a shock that up-skirting, the act of secretly photographing under a skirt, is not illegal in England and Wales. It seems inconceivable that such a gross disregard for the personal privacy of another person is not an...
As a society, we put a great deal of trust, faith, and responsibility in the hands of charitable institutions to advocate, protect, care, and support those who are vulnerable or disabled. But that trust has been significantly eroded over the past...
Authorities in Rochdale failed in their response to evidence of child abuse, at the council-run Knowl View Residential School , a new report has found. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report into historic abuse at the...
(Transcript of a discussion between abuse lawyer, Malcolm Underhill , and Uxbridge based psychotherapist Keeley Taverner . Keeley : I'm Keeley Taverner , I'm a psychotherapist based in the heart of Uxbridge. I help...
(Transcript of a discussion between abuse lawyer, Malcolm Underhill , and Uxbridge based psychotherapist Keeley Taverner . Keeley: So, building trust is a massive factor when I'm working with victims of sexual abuse and often...
Chichester is a beautiful and historic cathedral city located in the South-West, between the lively seaside town of Brighton, and the naval city of Portsmouth to the west. For many that have visited Chichester, and Sussex more widely, they will be...
It has been reported that more than 100 people have spoken to the Guardian newspaper about allegations of child abuse in the Jehovah Witness church. Many fear that given the size of the organisation, there may be hundreds or even thousands more victims...
The Metropolitan Police Service has abandoned its policy of automatically believing victims of sexual abuse, according to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick. Speaking to The Times , Ms Dick said that she had “rethought” the...
Idyllic Shropshire is hardly a county one would imagine a sex abuse scandal would occur in. But unfortunately, in the past ten days, there have been a disturbing amount of reports coming from Telford about a child sexual abuse ring which could...
The true scale of sexual abuse in UK boarding schools has been exposed in a new ITV documentary that has revealed hundreds of people are accused of abusing children in some of the UK’s leading private schools. The documentary, part of ITV’s ...
The Oxfam sex abuse scandal has taken a new turn following reports that teenage volunteers in the charity’s UK shops have been abused. The charity's former head of safeguarding, Helen Evans, revealed that staff working in Oxfam’s charity...
Barry Bennell, a former football coach who worked at top-level English clubs, including Manchester City and Leeds United, has been found guilty of multiple sex offences against boys he coached in the 1980s. The 64-year-old, who now goes by the name Richard...
Islington Council has appointed a top Queen’s Counsel to investigate former Mayor Sandy Marks’ links to historic child abuse that took place in local children’s homes and the council from the 1970s through to the 1990s. Sarah Morgan QC...
Sexual harassment and bullying are “ingrained into the theatre culture” according to a new study carried out by The Stage . A poll of theatre professionals and students shows 43% have experiencing bullying and 31% have been sexually harassed...
A recent article in The Times by its chief travel writer, Stephen Bleach, has brought to the fore the terrible abuse suffered by past students at St Benedict’s in Ealing, West London [1] . At the end of November, Andrew Soper (or Father...
The 2 nd August 2017 saw a case of alleged sexual abuse against children reported in the media. East London doctor, Manish Shah, a GP practicing in Romford , was charged with 118 sexual offences [1] . Dr Shah was charged with 65 counts of...
54,898 sexual offences against children recorded by the police in the UK in 2015/16 1 . In the NSPCC report “How safe are our children? The most comprehensive overview of child protection in the UK 2017” a few key findings immerged: All UK...
This paper serves as a window to the observations I have made while providing support to adult victims of child abuse over a number of years in my capacity as a psychotherapist. From the view of the therapist’s chair, the legacy of child abuse...
The community of Horsham, West Sussex is in shock after it was announced yesterday that four former teachers at Christ’s Hospital School have been charged with historic sexual abuse of pupils. The incidents took place between 1980 and 1996. Gary...
The BBC has recently reported on child abuse claims made against a Shropshire GP who died 17 years ago. [1] Hospitals, GP surgeries and medical centres are places upon which we all rely, often at times of weakness or vulnerability, when seeking...
At the beginning of April, journalist Alex Renton wrote a detailed article in the Sunday Times about the abuse he suffered at Ashdown House, the Sussex boarding school where he was placed by his parents at the age of eight [1] . He talks of being full of...
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recently released guidance to be considered by all practitioners working with children and young people under the age of 18, including social workers, healthcare professionals and lead...
It’s not OK. The law is crystal clear on this issue. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 , any sexual relationship between someone who is in a position of trust, such as a teacher and a person to whom that trust extends, is criminal [1] . ...
Former teacher, Scout leader and father of an adopted child, Mark Frost, formally known as Andrew Tracey has been jailed for life after pleading guilty to 45 counts sexual abuse against children [1] . In one of the worst cases of sexual abuse ever to...
Nine in ten children who are abused will develop a mental illness by the time they are 18[1]. And a staggering 70-80% of female victims report that as a result of their experiences, they have engaged in (or are still engaged in) substance...
For people who have suffered sexual abuse, especially as a child , it may take years before they have the courage to tell the police about their ordeal. And in the time that passes, their abuser may have died. The classic example of this is in...
The football sexual abuse scandal is getting worse by the day. Referrals from calls to a dedicated football abuse hotline , supported and funded by the Football Association, more than tripled the number made in the first three days of the Jimmy...
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children (NSPCC) has warned parents that the internet can be a playground for paedophiles. The warning comes after it was revealed that counselling sessions for young people worried about...
There is no greater betrayal to a child than an abusive parent. The one person who is supposed to love and protect you, not only fails to perform this fundamental parental task, but is the deliberate cause of harm. According to the National Society...
On 4 th August 2016, the Independent Inquiry Into Child Abuse ( IIICA ) , set up by then Home Secretary, Theresa May has lost its third head in two years. Former New Zealand High Court Judge, Dame Lowell Goddard QC resigned curtly and abruptly,...
If you are in immediate danger, please call 999. Child abuse linked to exorcism and witchcraft accusations is on the rise in Britain. According to figures obtained by the BBC, The Metropolitan Police said there were 60 crimes linked to faith in London...
Put yourself in the mind of a paedophile. To commit acts that provide your main source of sexual gratification, your need two things; access to a lot of children and an environment which provides you with the time and opportunity to select the weakest...
“Sometimes when I’m alone with my baby, I think about killing him. He reminds me of the man who raped me.” [1] It is one of the biggest scandals the United Nations (UN) has faced in decades. Women and children from conflict zones...
Jimmy Saville, Rochdale, Operation Pallial. These names and many more have become familiar to all of us who read the papers, but for the survivors of abuse which took place in children’s care homes, hearing these names can bring back horrific,...
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Last year Edna Slann died a miserable, painful death shortly after entering Grantley Court nursing home in Cheam, south-west London, which has now been closed by orders of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) health watchdog. Mrs Slann had led a full and...
The aftermath of sexual abuse occurring at some of Britain’s leading boarding schools has drastically affected the lives of some former students. In 2014, award-winning journalist, Alex Renton, wrote an explosive article in the Guardian...
The Metropolitan Police has warned that an increasing number of child abuse cases involving accusations of witchcraft and exorcism are being reported to police. A specialist unit in London recorded 46 alleged crimes linked to faith last year- more...