The Church of England failed to protect children from sexual abuse, and created a culture where abusers “could hide”, a report has concluded.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse’s report says the Church’s failure to respond consistently to abuse victims added to their trauma.
It added that alleged perpetrators were often given more support than victims.
The Church said it felt “shame” over the failings detailed in the “shocking” report.
The report, which is the latest in a series of publications from the IICSA, said 390 clergy members and other church leaders were convicted of abuse between the 1940s and 2018.
The Church defended alleged perpetrators instead of protecting children and young people from sexual predators, the report added.
Something for which we must properly repent and continue to challenge structures of authority that protect the perpetrators not the victims. A work in progress, but still much to be done>>Church of England failures 'allowed child sexual abusers to hide' https://t.co/0qVgjO0Ikj
— Gregory Platten (@GregoryPlatten) October 6, 2020