Child grooming victims will not be refused compensation because they 'consented', new guidelines promise
Campaigners warn that existing rules are still 'not fit for purpose'
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The Government’s compensation authority has released new rules aiming to stop victims of child sexual abuse and grooming being denied support because they supposedly “consented”.
Charities wrote to the Justice Secretary over the scandal, which saw survivors who were as young as 12 rejected by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), even when the perpetrators had been convicted.
The body said its new guidance would ensure victims receive the support they are entitled to, but experts warned that the rules are “not fit for purpose” as they still claim a child can consent to sexual activity with an adult.
Among those initially turned down were 700 child sexual abuse and grooming victims, including Rotherham survivor Sammy Woodhouse.
The campaigner, who waived her anonymity to speak out about the exploitation, was abused from the age of 14 by ringleader Arshid Hussain.
He was jailed for 35 years but CICA initially told Ms Woodhouse it was “not satisfied that your consent was falsely given as a result of being groomed by the offender”.
Ms Woodhouse appealed and was eventually offered the maximum amount of compensation she qualified for, but campaigned alongside charities for the body to change its procedures.
She told The Independent that with other grooming cases ongoing, the guidance paves the way for hundreds of new claimants to be treated properly.
“We’re still asking for other measures but it’s a step in the right direction,” Ms Woodhouse said.
“There’s so much victim-blaming. It’s about time a clear message was sent out saying that a child is never to be blamed. We all need to be on the same side.”
David Greenwood, a solicitor who advised Ms Woodhouse on her appeal, warned that although the new CICA guidance recognises grooming and exploitation, it still allows compensation to be refused on the grounds of consent in other circumstances.
“For instance there is huge pressure put on girls to have sex with boys at school, often without informed consent,” he told The Independent.
“The law draws a line at age 16 and below that line there cannot be consent yet new CICA guidance does not respect this … these guidelines send out a confused message.”
CICA, which deals with compensation claims from people physically or mentally injured as a “blameless victim of violent crime”, said it is working to make sure young sexual abuse survivors get the support they are entitled to “even where sexual activity appears consensual”.
The body said its new “and more comprehensive” guidance has been developed with input from victim groups and charities and will be accompanied by special training for staff, as well as an automatic referral system for complex cases and fast-track sexual assault procedure.
Carole Oatway, the chief executive of CICA, said: “We know that the nature of grooming can make signs of abuse particularly challenging to detect, but we are determined to make sure every victim gets the compensation to which they are entitled.
“That’s why we have listened to experts, including children charities and are grateful for their expertise in helping make sure our guidance is as robust as it can possibly be.
“We have introduced additional safeguards and are improving staff training to ensure we get decisions right first time.”
CICA pays out over £140m a year in compensation to victims of violent crime and launched an internal review on decision-making following the letter to David Lidington in July.
Its new guidelines were announced days after The Independent revealed that hundreds of alleged sexual assault victims had also been refused help because they have a criminal record, even for petty crime.
Among the charities campaigning for the change were Victim Support, Barnardo’s and Liberty.
The heads of the three groups, Mark Castle, Javed Khan and Martha Spurrier, issued a joint statement welcoming the new CICA guidelines.
“We hope that clearer instructions for CICA staff and specialist training will mean survivors will no longer be denied compensation on the grounds that they complied with their abuse,” it said.
“This should make a huge difference to many and give survivors the recognition and compensation they need to be able to put the abuse behind them and start rebuilding their lives.”
But the charities warned that while the guidelines are a step forward, they can “only interpret a broken scheme”.
“It is scandalous there is no legal definition of grooming, compensation is not available for non-physical sexual abuse, and the ‘same roof’ rule still denies compensation to victims abused prior to 1979 by someone they lived with,” the statement added.
“No child can consent to abuse. Until the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme as a whole is amended, a risk of injustice will remain.”
David Lloyd, of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, also warned that the current situation cannot simply be resolved by amending guidance.
He added: “We have been pressing the Government for some time to look at the law which underpins the Compensation Scheme, indeed, we once again raised this issue when we met with the Justice Secretary last week.”
Dame Vera Baird QC, the police crime commissioner for Northumbria, said a number of rules under the scheme are “not fit for purpose”.
“We currently have a situation where an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice’s stated public position is that a child can ‘consent’ to sexual activity with an adult,” she added.
“The law here is clear, there can be no issue of consent for victims who have been groomed where that person is under the age of 16.
“This work, and the necessary changes to the law, now needs to be taken forward as a matter of urgency, to ensure that blameless young victims of sexual abuse are not, and cannot be, denied compensation. We owe it to all victims to make these changes now.”
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is investigating a wide range of abuses from historical cases to ongoing grooming, is also looking at the issue of Government compensation.