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Cleveland 20 years on

The question being asked is whether or not things have got better since the scandal of false diagnoses of sexual abuse in 1987 in Cleveland. 121 children were removed from their families because of false claims.

It is important to recognise that this was not good for the children concerned. A "false positive" for child abuse is in itself abusive of the child. It causes emotional trauma and insecurity. Given the limits as to numbers of foster carers available children can even be placed in risky situations.

The question is whether the situation has improved since then. Because of the secrecy it is much harder to monitor the situation overall. However, it seems quite clear on the evidence that I have that generally things have deteriorated.

Comments

Peter Mc said…
A relative taught in Cleveland at the time. The false allegations had another undesirable side effect: there were cases where children were definitely being abused but social services would not act because of the fallout from the Higgs affair.
4:16 pm
John Hemming said…
It demonstrates the problems when decisions are made without proper evidence.

Opinions are not facts.
5:33 pm
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