The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse [IICSA], chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, published its final report in October 2022 in which it recommended the introduction of legislation that places certain individuals – ‘mandated reporters’ – under a statutory duty to report child sexual abuse [CSA] (i.e. any act that would be an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the alleged victim is a child under the age of 18) to either local authority children’s social care or the police where they receive a disclosure of CSA from a child or perpetrator, or witness a child being sexually abused, or observe recognised indicators of CSA.
‘Mandated reporters’ are designated as any person working in regulated activity in relation to children (under the Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, as amended), any person working in a position of trust (as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as amended), and police officers. It should be a criminal offence for mandated reporters to fail to report CSA where they are in receipt of a disclosure of CSA from a child or perpetrator or witness a child being sexually abused.
On 7 January 2025, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed that the government will make it mandatory to report CSA and an offence, with professional and criminal sanctions, to fail to report or cover up CSA, and that the measures would be included in the Crime and Policing Bill that will be put before Parliament this spring. Whether the measures proposed by the government will conform to the IICSA recommendations remains to be seen.
Professionals affected by these plans may harbour concerns about the potential for being criminalised in what are often nuanced and sensitive situations. The IICSA recommendation seeks to recognise the complexity of the issue by distinguishing between those ‘mandated reporters’ who have witnessed or received a disclosure of CSA and those who have recognised indicators of CSA in the absence of witnessing or receiving a disclosure; the former would be liable to criminal sanctions for a failure to report but the latter would not, with the justification being that ‘Such a failure would amount to a deliberate decision not to pass on information about child sexual abuse to those authorities empowered to protect children from harm and to prevent future abuse by investigating and prosecuting it when it occurs. For those who work with children or are in a position of trust to fail to facilitate that is inexcusable, and the sanction for such an omission should be commensurate.’
As was observed in the September 2023 report commissioned by the NSPCC in response to the proposed mandatory reporting duty in England and Wales, ‘it is not the responsibility of children and young people to come forward if they are being abused – it is for the adults around them, including the adults in the institutions or organisations working with them, to identify child sexual abuse and take action to protect, stop and prevent further abuse.’ This is a fundamental aspect of state protection for victims and mandatory reporting is a powerful weapon against CSA. The greater challenge for the drafters will be to make sure that the purpose of the recommendation is met: to ensure that the legislation works for the people it is intended to protect, to facilitate the prompt and efficient reporting of CSA and to remove subjective filters of self-interest, fear, seriousness or credibility, and to replace the current provisions, which are confusing, unfocussed and ineffective, with a law that clearly defines the level of ‘knowledge’ a person is required to have and the ‘abuse’ that triggers a report.
