The news recently has been full of reports of abuse and safeguarding failures in the Church of England. On Tuesday 11th February, General Synod, the church’s governing body, will discuss and vote on proposals for the future of church safeguarding. This comes in response to recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), and from the IICSA chair, Professor Jay, who wrote a report recommending independent safeguarding for the church, after the sacking of the Independent Safeguarding Board in 2023.
Our faith and abuse peer support group includes a number of survivors of church-based abuse, and our director Jane Chevous is vice-chair of the church’s National Safeguarding Panel, representing survivors. There has been limited consultation with survivors about the proposals, and no survivors have been invited to speak in the debate. We think it is vital that survivors voices are heard when such an important decision is made. So we sought survivors’ views through an open meeting and survey; others added their views by email and on social media, totalling over 90 responses.
We don’t all agree about everything, but the majority (90%) want fully independent safeguarding, because in our experience (as well as in the cases in the media) the current system isn’t working. When Synod vote on Tuesday, we want them to remember that the current system has failed to prevent abuse and cover up, failed to always hold abusers, and those who fail to safeguard, to account, and failed to always respond well to survivors. All abuse is a misuse of power, a betrayal of trust. Responses to abuse that focus on protection of the church rather than justice, are another misuse of power. There’s no safeguarding without accountability. Survivors are looking for justice, apology, redress and their pain to be learnt from.
This is a watershed moment for the church, and it’s important that survivors’ voices are heard. You can read the full letter HERE.
