How do proposals on mandatory reporting of abuse affect me?

Content warning: this post contains information about responding to reports of harm and abuse which some readers may find triggering. Please take care when reading.

One year on from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) the government has launched a consultation on proposals to deliver one of the Inquiry’s key recommendations: Mandatory reporting. But what does this mandatory reporting duty mean in practice for churches, who would it relate to, and what are some of the challenges to its implementation?

The government consultation which runs until the end of November follows an earlier call for evidence by the Home Office which concluded on 14 August. It comes as a response to the seven-year long inquiry which gathered evidence from many victims and survivors of child sexual abuse who reported a common experience of making disclosures or presenting information to a responsible adult about their abuse, only for that adult to then take no further action. In many cases this left the child at risk of further harm, denied them justice, and missed vital opportunities to prevent the perpetrator from going on to harm other victims.