New Safeguards, Old Challenges: Evaluating the UK's Steps to Protect Children
Recent legislative updates in England and Wales have marked significant progress in safeguarding vulnerable populations, particularly children, from sexual abuse. These changes, primarily aimed at closing a longstanding loophole that allowed registered sex offenders to change their names undetected, are a crucial step forward.
The Legislative Changes: A Closer Look
In a move widely applauded by child protection advocates and the public alike, the UK government has implemented stringent measures to prevent registered sex offenders from escaping scrutiny by changing their names.
The move was originally announced by Suella Braverman, then Home Secretary, at the Conservative Party Conference, last October. However, on Thursday last week Safeguarding Minister, Laura Farris, confirmed the amendment will be included in the upcoming Criminal Justic Bill.
MP Sarah Champion, one of the key campaign figures pushing for these changes expressed her relief on X (formerly Twitter):
“My mind is slightly blown - Government have accepted my legal amendments to ban Registered Sex Offenders from changing their name to avoid detection. Huge congrats to all the victims & survivors esp.”
In a formal statement, Rotherham MP Ms Champion said:
“I am hugely relieved the government have accepted my campaign to stop registered sex offenders changing their name to avoid detection. It has been a long fight, but I am enormously proud of the victims and survivors who have used their experiences to show the horror that occurs when abusers exploit the existing loophole, often to secure a ‘clean’ DBS check in a new name.’
“I would like to pay particular tribute to Della Wright and the Safeguarding Alliance, who first alerted me to this issue and have done so much, over so many years, to bring about this change.
“I have spent many nights awake worrying about the risks of the current system. It makes a mockery of all the name based safeguarding schemes like Clare’s Law (the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme) and indeed the DBS scheme (Disclosure and Barring Service), when all you need to do to avoid detection is change your name by deed poll. It been a hard fight to make ministers understand the risks, but it is all worth it to protect others.”
Northern Ireland and Scotland
Criminal justice is a devolved matter in the UK, meaning that changes in England and Wales do not automatically apply in Northern Ireland and Scotland. This discrepancy poses risks, as offenders could exploit regional legislative differences to evade detection.
In Northern Ireland, advocates have called for similar legislative adaptations, highlighting gaps that could potentially allow offenders to remain under the radar. Meanwhile, in Scotland, it was revealed that nearly 400 sex offenders had legally changed their names over an 18-month period. These statistics starkly highlight the urgency for legislative coherence across the UK, ensuring all regions provide equivalent protections against such abuses.
The IICSA's Findings and Government Response
Despite the positive steps forward, the battle against child sexual abuse faces challenges. One of which is the government’s underwhelming response to recommendations from The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
Last week, the government announced an amendment to the upcoming Criminal Justic Bill and while some steps have been taken, critics argue that the government's actions represent a compromise rather than a full adoption of the reforms needed to provide effective safeguarding measures.
The IICSA’s key recommendation in 2022 was to make reporting allegations of child sex abuse (CSA) to be made mandatory, and failing to report allegations could lead to a new criminal offence. The actual amendment stops short of this, with individuals failing to report CSA being liable for regulatory or Disclosure and Barring Service sanctions, but not criminal ones.
Criminal charges can only be brought against individuals who actively try and stop the reporting of CSA allegations.
Many campaigners have accused the government of being “worse than useless” for not implementing the full scale of recommendations. Professor Alexis Jay, Chair of IICSA, showed more restraint by saying the the amendment was a "fudge" and "not a very good one”. Judging from the response, it seems safe to say the government's lack of commitment will be seen as a massive disappointment for all the campaigners advocating for change.
Critics are also disappointed with the number of consultations launched because of the inquiry's findings. Campaigners see this as an unnecessary delay considering the volume of evidence that IICSA produced during their inquiry. According to the BBC, IICSA cost nearly £200 million, took seven years, and heard from tens of thousands of victims and survivors in that time.
The need for a more comprehensive adoption of the IICSA's recommendations remains a critical discussion point among child protection advocates, highlighting the ongoing struggle to safeguard children effectively across all societal sectors
The closure of the name-changing loophole is a commendable step towards a safer society, but it is just one part of a much larger web of child protection legislation. The discrepancies in regional laws and the partial implementation of the IICSA's show that there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure a safer world for everyone.