The Independent Inquiry in Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is a statutory inquiry for England and Wales, established in 2015 under the Inquiries Act 2005.
The IICSA remit has been wide-ranging, but as a statutory inquiry has sought to identify what must be done differently and making recommendations for improvements in how institutions must protect children.
Through investigations and public hearings IICSA have examined what went wrong and why across a wide range of institutions. These include religious institutions; the Catholic Church and a case study of the English Benedictine Congregation includes Ampleforth and Downside. The evidence gathered by IICSA through 15 investigations help inform their findings and recommendations to help prevent these failures happening in future. The link to these reports can be found here.
IICSA also established the Truth Project in order to give victims and survivors the opportunity to share their experiences and put forward suggestions for change. Their experiences have provided a vital contribution to the Inquiry, helping to build a clearer picture of the extent of child sexual abuse and better understanding of its long term impact on victims and survivors.
IICSA released its Final Report on 20th October 2022. Click below to read our statement.