The historic sexual abuse of children in care homes across the UK has been a national scandal.
Thanks to the bravery of survivors, and the hard work of campaigners, the public have learnt how from the 1950s to the 1990s, children were abused in care at shocking scale. They were subject to vile sexual and physical abuse. In many instances, victims also faced racism, and extreme psychological abuse.
Local authorities systemically failed to protect children from abusers, who roamed free around homes. Campaigners estimate that in Lambeth alone, for example, up to 120 paedophiles were employed in children’s homes across the borough.
In March 2020, the Office for National Statistics estimated that 3.1 million adults in England and Wales had experienced sexual abuse before the age of 16.
Bringing a claim
Imran Khan and Partners act for people who suffered abuse in care homes and foster families across the country.
We bring claims on behalf of survivors, against local authorities, religious organisations or other public bodies, under the following causes of action:
Negligence
Survivors can bring claims against local authorities in negligence for the abuse they suffered while in care.
Firstly, survivors must prove that the local authority owed them a duty of care. This is relatively straightforward, so long as it can be proved that the Council in question placed them into a home or foster family. Social care records provide valuable evidence to survivors to establish this duty.
Once this duty has been established, the survivor must simply establish that the local authority breached that duty of care. Where a survivor is able to provide details of the abuse they suffered, and in particular is able to identify, as best as possible, staff members who abused them, then the local authority will have breached their duty by employing those abusers and failing to keep the survivor safe from them.
While a claim in negligence is strengthened by more a more precise and detailed account of the abuse undertaken, this can be hard for survivors, who have spent years trying to bury memories of abuse. We encourage survivors to come forward even where their abuse took place many years ago, and remains very difficult for them to talk about.
The survivor must finally prove that they suffered loss and harm as a result of the abuse. The test to establish this is to ask whether, “but for” the abuse, the survivor would have suffered loss and harm. Naturally, survivors will have suffered greatly as a result of this abuse, but medical records and expert psychiatric opinion can help to evidence the extent of the loss and harm suffered.
Vicarious Liability
Survivors can also bring claims against local authorities in the law of vicarious liability.
The types of abuse suffered by survivors will often be actionable “torts”, such as assault or battery. As employers, local authorities can be liable for those torts committed by their employees.
To bring a claim in vicarious liability, survivors must show both that the conduct of their abuser was “sufficiently closely connected” to their employment, and that it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty on the employer, the local authority.
Survivors can meet this test with relative ease. If the staff members who abused them were employed by the local authority to work at the home, then they were there to protect them. They likely had control over where the children went and had access to them at night. If staff members used their power to abuse children, this will be found to be sufficiently closely connected to their employment.
If it can be proved that the abuse was sufficiently closely connected to the perpetrator’s employment, it will be very difficult for local authorities to argue that it is unfair, unjust or unreasonable to impose a duty on them.
Human Rights Act
Local authorities are public bodies, and as such, it is unlawful for them to act in ways which are incompatible with rights established by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
Claims can be brought by survivors under the Human Rights Act 1998 when local authorities act unlawfully. Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. It can be used in cases where a child has been sexually abused, and the local authority has failed to protect them.
It should be noted that the limitation period to bring a claim under the Human Rights Act claims is one year less one day. Most survivors will be out of time Read more in our article on limitation for how we deal with the issue of limitation when acting for survivors.
How we can help
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, please contact us for confidential advice. We are here to help you take the next steps and will hold your hand throughout the process. To get in contact, call us on 020 7404 3004, or email us at info@ikpsolicitors.com.
We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can assist wherever you are based and have offices in central London.
