Rotherham abuse victim: national CSE inquiry is "shambles"
A victim of child sex abuse in Rotherham, whose abusers were convicted on Monday, says the problems with the national inquiry are putting off survivors like her coming forward to help.
Emma Jackson, not her real name, was abused by a group of men in the town. 8 were found guilty of a total of 19 charges earlier in the week.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is investigating institutional failures in tackling the issue across the UK.
But with 3 chairs resigning over the past two years, amongst allegations of cover ups and misconduct, Emma says confidence in the inquiry from victims like her is at an all-time low:
"Everybody needs closure and that is going to be a form of closure for a lot of people and the more nit-picking there is and the more issues there are, it prolongs that. It makes people worried about speaking about what's happened to them. It makes them think: is it really worth it?
"I think in some ways it makes it a bit of a shambles - people think, what are they doing? It doesn't give you confidence when there's one thing after another after another that doesn't look very good. Why would you want to get involved in that and the issues surrounding in that if you don't feel confident that that's going to stop?"
Alexis Jay, the woman whose report uncovered the extent of Rotherham's abuse scandal, is the new chair of the enquiry after the previous inquiry quit earlier in the year.
She explained some of the difficulties it's faced when answering MPs' questions yesterday - and has insisted the scope of the inquiry won't be scaled down.
Emma says it's important it gets back on track:
"Not only do victims and survivors want answers - and they come first and foremost - about what happened and what went wrong and how did it so go wrong but also I think the general public do. They want to know that their kids are safe, that future generations are going to be safe.
"I think it should continue because it is important. I think Alexis Jay has a good track record. I think she can be trusted and I think she will deliver. So I think it's just about continuing but stopping all the constant nit-picking of it and the bad things - put a bit of positive out there as well so it gives a bit of confidence."