header-logo header-logo

Time for change

16 March 2018 / Kim Harrison
Issue: 7785 / Categories: Features , Criminal
printer mail-detail
nlj_7785_harrison

Kim Harrison discusses consent & the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in relation to child sexual exploitation

  • Sufferers of child sexual exploitation now being recognised as genuine victims

  • Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority still behind the times and subject of much criticism.

  • Revised guidance issued on 31 October 2017 was welcomed, but the risk of victims being unfairly denied compensation remains.

Society’s perception of victims of child sexual exploitation (CSE) has greatly changed over the past decade. Victims of this crime are no longer routinely labelled ‘child prostitutes’ making a ‘lifestyle choice’ – instead police, CPS, social services and other agencies are recognising these children as genuine victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. Much progress has also been made in prosecuting perpetrators and successful civil claims have also been brought on behalf of CSE survivors against local authorities and other agencies who failed them.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), however, has been slow to catch up. The CICA is a government funded body which pays compensation to victims of ‘crimes of violence’

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll