Children abused in care. What is going on with the system?
Children abused in care are being treated (now they areadults) as if their childhood meant nothing. I have just seen yet another example of a direct insult to survivors of abuse.
I have found our civil legal system is in need of a complete revamp on how it evaluates the awards made for abuse.
Is £15000 for a child abused sufficient an award based on the horrific crimes experienced by victims of child abusers whom were carers and worked in the social services field? I do not think so. It is disgraceful and yet another slap in the face for the survivors of such abuse.
Victims of abuse in the care system do not get just and fair awards when they are compensated and all it does is gives abuse in the care system a cheaper option to simply pay such minimal amounts. Do those who make these awards understand the full suffering that person has gone through by a system that was meant to protect them and didn’t? The government are directly responsible for the way children in their care are treated because they are acting as stand in parents of those children and therfor has a duty of care. Their duty is to provide a stable, warm and safe environment for the child to grow and develop but instead the system is riddled with child abusers. The word care does not mean, rape, touch sexually, groom, beat, torment. torture and mentally abuse a child. But thats what has happened to children in the care system. The compensation does not reflect the abuse a child was put through and the problems it creates when the child becomes an adult.
Is thatwhy the once CICB changed it’s rules several times when child abuse cases from the care system started to flood in and hardly any survivors got compensated during that time. When the rules were changed were they changed in such a way that the government compensation scheme could get off with minimal payouts to those abused inauthority care ? Likely.I have not known the system change anything unless they can change it so that it still works to their advantage and not the victims.We only have to look at the statute limitations act to see how it works in favour of the abusers and government but not the victims and survivors of abuse.
How on earth can the awards be justfied at the disgusting amount of £15000 which is an insult and must be changed.
Please read this following article as seen on
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,2028560,00.html
£2m payout in children’s homes abuse claim
Press Association
Wednesday March 7, 2007
SocietyGuardian.co.uk
Alleged victims of sexual and physical abuse at children’s homes across Manchester have been awarded more than £2m in compensation, their lawyer revealed today.
A total of £2,260,000 was awarded to the group of 168 individuals, averaging out at approximately £15,000 per person. The compensation was awarded for the abuse itself, the lifelong effects and to help pay for therapy.
Police investigated 66 children’s homes in Greater Manchester between 1997 and 2002, leading to several prosecutions. The investigation, codenamed Operation Cleopatra, looked into allegations of child abuse dating back to 1958.
Manchester city council social services department ran most of the homes investigated. The city council was ordered to pay the compensation at a hearing at Manchester High Court last Thursday.
The main homes involved were Rosehill in Northenden, Broome House in Didsbury, and Mobberley boys’ school in Mobberley, Knutsford. There were initially only 15 people in the group action, but as media interest grew that soon rose to 168, 98 of whom had attended Rosehill.
Peter Garsden, managing partner of Abney Garsden McDonald, the solicitors acting on behalf of the group, said: “We are very proud to have given the survivors of abuse an opportunity to come forward and tell their story, even though the compensation the courts are awarding is pitiful when compared with abuse, which produces lifelong damage. We were hoping for a larger award.”
The victims group was wound up after the final court hearing last week, but the court may allow new claims to be made if more victims come forward, the solicitors said.
Pauline Newman, director of children’s services at Manchester city council, said: “The compensation claims relate to historical abuse that took place in Manchester children’s homes mostly in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We very much regret the abuse that occurred and the impact this has had on the individuals concerned.
“There are now far more effective systems and checks in place to prevent this kind of abuse - including stringent inspection and regulation. We also work very closely with other agencies involved with young people in the city to prevent abuse of any kind in all settings.”
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