18-7-2017
Sexually abused children as young as 12 are being denied compensation by a government agency on the grounds that they gave consent, according to a coalition of charities.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) has refused payments to almost 700 child victims even if their attackers have been jailed, freedom of information requests have revealed.
Five charities – Barnardo’s, Victim Support, Liberty, Rape Crisis and the National Working Group (NWG) – have written to the justice secretary, David Lidington, demanding he reviews CICA guidelines.
It is illegal to have sexual activity with anyone under 16 but CICA does not automatically make payments to all victims. In some cases, the charities allege, individuals have been told they consented to the abuse.
The coalition is calling for the rules to be changed so that “no child groomed and manipulated into sexual abuse is denied compensation because they complied with their abuse through fear, lack of understanding, or being brainwashed into believing their abuser loved them and developing feelings for them”.
In one example, a gang of older men were jailed for 30 years after being convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Her case was taken up by Victim Support; she was denied compensation by CICA on the grounds that “she had not been the victim of non-consensual sexual acts”.
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