WEBINAR

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) One Year On: Victim Care and Mandatory Reporting on the Frontline

Date: Thursday, 30 November 2023

Time: 1pm-3pm (London, UK) with a ten-minute break

Price: Free

Speakers: Clare Kelly, Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at NSPCC and Head of Programmes for the IICSA Changemakers, Gabrielle Shaw, Chief Executive at the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), and Richard Fewkes, Director of the National Police Chiefs Council Hydrant Programme & The Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce, Victoria Green, Chief Executive for the Marie Collins Foundation (MCF)

Last year, on the 22^nd of October, after eight years of dedicated work, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report. It made a series of recommendations to the UK government, three of which formed the centrepiece of the work the Inquiry undertook. These were:

• The introduction of a statutory requirement of mandatory reporting
• The establishment of a national redress scheme for England and Wales
• The creation of a Child Protection Authority (CPA) in England and Wales

Since then, the UK government has responded to the IICSA final report and its recommendations, acknowledging the necessity of some by launching public consultations, while dismissing others. Behind the scenes, a new force has been driving change and campaigning for the IICSA recommendations to be heeded: The IICSA Changemakers - a group of 64 organisations including charities and support services working on the frontline with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

In this webinar, you will hear first from Clare Kelly, Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs at NSPCC and IICSA Changemakers member, on their origins as a coalition. You will then hear from Gabrielle Shaw from NAPAC, and Richard Fewkes from the Hydrant Programme on the new Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce and how they are prioritising victim and survivor care. Finally, you will hear again from Clare Kelly, and from Victoria Green, Chief Executive of the Marie Collins Foundation, on the mandatory reporting legislation and its implications for practice and policy.

The IICSA final report was a watershed moment for the awareness of the national and global crisis of child sexual abuse. Work to ensure the recommendations of the IICSA final report are honoured in policy and practice is all our responsibility, yet some of them, particularly mandatory reporting, are undoubtedly leading to questions around its implications for practice among those working in social care, healthcare, education, mental health and criminal justice.

If you recognise the necessity of the IICSA and its recommendations but have questions around how they might work practically, how the IICSA is already leading to important changes in work with victims and survivors and how you can support these changes; this webinar is for you.

Meet the speakers

Clare Kelly

Clare Kelly holds a dual role; she is the Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs for England and the United Kingdom at the NSPCC as well as Head of Programmes for the IICSA Changemakers.

For her work as the Associate Head of Policy and Public Affairs for England and the United Kingdom at the NSPCC her focus is on Criminal Justice, Violence Against Women and Girls and Domestic Abuse.

For her work as the Programmes lead for the IICSA Changemakers she coordinates and supports the delivery of outcomes agreed by the group  as they respond to the final report of the Independent inquiry into child sexual abuse so they can be effective in their objective of inspiring a national mission to prevent child sexual abuse and the provision of much improved support to victims and survivors.

She comes from a 15-year background in Policing, the Criminal Justice System and running a small charity focused on supporting vulnerable victims and witnesses of crime.

For five years Clare held the role of Chief Executive Officer for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Bedfordshire. Here she led on areas covering contract management, fundraising, governance, strategic planning, event management, communication and public engagement, change management and budgetary control.

As part of her Chief Executive role she also ran the Bedfordshire Victim support centre ‘Signpost’ that supported over 9000 people per year to cope and recover after experiencing crime.

Richard Fewkes

Director, NPCC Hydrant Programme & The Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce  

Richard has been the Director of the National Police Chiefs Council Hydrant Programme (formerly Operation Hydrant) since 2014. The programme was originally established in to coordinate the national response to the rise in reports of non-recent child sexual abuse and to improve policing’s approach to its investigation.

In 2015, the Programme was given responsibility for managing the NPCC relationship with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and to coordinate the gathering and submission of evidence to the Inquiry. More recently Hydrant extended its remit to develop policing’s strategy across all elements of the child protection and abuse investigation portfolio and now leads the recently launched CSE Taskforce.

Richard was previously a police officer, latterly the Head of Major Crime and Public Protection in South Yorkshire. His police career spanned over 30 years, the majority of which saw him in senior leadership roles within CID.

Gabrielle Shaw

CEO, NAPAC

Gabrielle has led the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) as Chief Executive since April 2015. NAPAC is the UK’s leading national charity offering support to adult survivors of any gender and of all types of childhood abuse, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. For full information on the work NAPAC does, please visit https://napac.org.uk/what-NAPAC-does/

Gabrielle is a senior INGO executive with over 16 years’ leadership, policy and strategic decision-making achievements across charity, government and statutory sectors.

Gabrielle’s experience includes heading up the external affairs work of the global charity World Animal Protection to strengthen its campaigning on issues such as disease control and negotiations on SDGs; and leading on international relations and external affairs for CEOP, the agency based within the National Crime Agency focused on combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Victoria Green

Chief Executive for the Marie Collins Foundation (MCF)

Victoria Green is a seasoned professional in the field of child protection with over 30 years of experience as a registered social worker.  She has held a wide range of roles at both operational and strategic level and has been a frontline worker, manager, principal social worker and Safeguarding Children Board development and strategic manager.  Victoria is passionate about advocating for children's rights and protecting those harmed by technology-assisted child sexual abuse (TACSA), a mission that is at the core of everything MCF does. Joining MCF in 2015, she directed the development of Click: Path to Protection, a unique training program for frontline workers addressing technology-assisted child sexual abuse (TACSA).

Appointed CEO in July 2021, Victoria has continued to amplify the voices of those with lived experience influence policy at a governmental level to ensure appropriate responses for TACSA. Despite her leadership role, Victoria remains hands-on, directly supporting children and families, mentoring professionals, and contributing to research projects. She is dedicated to overcoming technological barriers and ensuring MCF's response minimizes harm, emphasizing the unique selling point of protecting victims without causing further distress.