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PRESS RELEASE: HIGH COURT GRANTS HISTORIC PERMISSION FOR @TMOFCharity The Maggie Oliver Foundation TO CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT ON FAILURE TO ACT ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION
This morning the High Court granted permission for charity, The Maggie Oliver Foundation, to challenge the Government on its failure to implement the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The judgement is a moment of profound significance for survivors of child sexual abuse and for every child in this country whose safety depends on the Government honouring its commitments to reform.
The Court found that following promises from consecutive governments, over the last almost four years, to learn lessons from IICSA to drive improvement in the policy and legislation protecting children, there is a legitimate expectation for them to deliver the inquiry’s twenty recommendations. The judge specifically highlighted the continued permission of use of pain inducing restraint techniques on children, a practice described as amounting to torture by IICSA, as an area where the Government has not justified its failure to act.
The case will now proceed to a full substantive hearing.
Maggie Oliver (former Detective and founder of the Maggie Oliver Foundation) will say:
“Today is a historic day, not just for the Foundation, but for every survivor who has testified, waited and hoped. And it is for every child now and in the future, and for everyone who believes the state’s primary duty is to protect its citizens, especially the most vulnerable. When governments make promises to act and then walk away, children pay the price. Today the court has said, those promises matter.”
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