'Report after report but no action taken' to defend legal rights of child sexual abuse victims, says campaigner Sammy Woodhouse

Rotherham child sexual abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse has hit out at ministers' failure to act on establishing more legal rights for victims.
Sammy WoodhouseSammy Woodhouse
Sammy Woodhouse

Vocal campaigner Ms Woodhouse says "report after report" has been filed over the years in response to calls for more legal rights for people who have been raped or victim to child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Despite this, she said she felt let down that her campaign for Sammy's Law - a Bill which would allow people to be pardoned for crimes they committed under the exploitation of child sex offenders - was still to be implemented.

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It comes as a debate is to be held in Parliament later today (Wednesday) on issues raised by Ms Woodhouse, including Sammy's Law, more legal support and advice for mothers of children conceived through rape and the legal recognition of those children also being victims of rape.

"What is frustrating is that [the Government and local authorities] do report after report telling us what we already know, but they're not doing anything about it," Ms Woodhouse told The Yorkshire Post.

"I'm hoping that today's debate will see MPs stand up and say, 'we're sick of hearing about this'. Families, police and MPs have all backed this and still nothing has been done."

Sammy's Law proposes more accessible options for people to request being pardoned of crimes they are coerced into committing under the exploitation of grooming and sexual abuse. It would mean that CSE victims who were caught possessing drugs, shoplifting or getting into fights at a time they were being groomed could seek ways to clear their names.

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Ms Woodhouse is also calling for funding to train professionals who can advise mothers of children conceived through rape how and when to talk to their child about what happened, as well as a change to family court proceedings so that those mothers do not have to face their rapist in court.

Arshid Hussain, was jailed for 35 years in 2016 for crimes against nine girls, including Ms Woodhouse. In November 2018, she revealed that, unbeknownst to her, Hussain had been offered the right to request access to his child.

She said: "I have met with ministers, MPs, Prime Ministers now and there is nobody in that chamber who can say they don't know about these campaigns. And if they don't know about it, it's because they're not doing their job properly.

"I am hoping the Government will listen and implement the funding and train the professionals to support victims of rape. The more they prolong it, the more it is costing them. This is not rocket science."

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MPs Jess Phillips and Sarah Champion are expected to speak in the House of Commons in a debate of CSE later today.

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