Abuse Survivors Blog

This week, a representative of Emmott Snell Solicitors attended the annual APIL conference . 

The theme of the 2018 conference was ‘Securing justice for a modern society’, aimed at preparing personal injury practitioners for the year ahead. APIL is a non-profit making organisation that has been campaigning and fighting for the rights of injured people for over 25 years.

It is common knowledge that the English legal system is not overly sympathetic to adults seeking justice for childhood sexual abuse in the civil courts. The law in England and Wales is such that time to bring a civil compensation claim expires on the 21^st birthday of anyone who was sexually abused as a child.

Yet another example of institutional abuse is highlighted in the settlement agreement reached by 2 victims of non-recent sexual abuse by a teacher.

On Friday 16 March 2018, representatives of Emmott Snell Solicitors had the pleasure of attending the annual Bedford Law Society Dinner.

The dinner was held in the Howard Room of the Bedford Corn Exchange located on St Paul’s Square in the Castle area of Bedford.

The Corn Exchange is a well-known, historic venue which hosts hundreds of events each year. 

The Church of England is currently suffering the discomfort of a public spotlight of IICSA – the largest public inquiry ever undertaken in the UK.  The C of E is not alone in its scrutiny, the Roman Catholic Church having already been the subject of IICSA, together with several other institutions including local authority children’s homes.

What is it and why is it done?

Female Genital Mutilation (‘FGM’) is a cultural practice which involves the total or partial removal of the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons, normally with the aim of inhibiting a female’s sexual feelings. It is also known as female circumcision or ‘cutting’ and is common in parts of Africa but also takes place in the Middle East and Asia. It is usually carried out on girls before they reach puberty but is known to be done on girls as young as 4 years old. The procedure is extremely painful and can cause long term health problems such as:

In 2015 Miss 'X' contacted Emmott Snell Solicitors and told us that she wanted to pursue a personal injury claim against the social services department of the local authority, arising from sexual assaults, neglect and physical abuse suffered by her shortly after her birth until she was 11 years old.

The concept of sending one’s child away to a school where they also live is thought to be something quintessentially British. 

One of these steps involves a meeting with a suitably qualified doctor. This ‘medico-legal expert’ then prepares a report on the multifactorial effects that the abuse has had on you.

In view of the upcoming public hearings of Child Abuse in the Anglican Church before the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the recently settled case of abuse victim, ‘ARJ’, a civil compensation claim in respect of abuse of a child by a vicar in a London Diocese is topical.