Police must protect the public not just catch the bad guy

Mace | Issue 1 | Comment, Magazine

From the Archive

Rotherham's MP, Sarah Champion, chair of an important parliamentary group on adult survivors of child sexual abuse, wants to see some change at the MoJ

Why did you become interested in justice?

On a personal level, because of discovering the organised level of child abuse that was in my constituency of Rotherham. When that got into the public domain, people felt they couldn’t go to the social services or the police: they kept coming to me. And I didn’t know who to trust any more.

How do you go about making a difference?

In the chamber, I try to use real stories and people can’t turn away from that. In Rotherham, for example, they closed down the magistrates’ court and the government said, “Well there’s a nice court in Sheffield.” But I meet people who can’t afford the £3.50 bus from Rotherham to Sheffield. That’s where it becomes real.

Tell us about your APPG. Is that a place where party politics falls away?

Yes, this wasn’t about Sarah Champion the Labour politician. We interviewed 400 survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It’s about saying, “This person has had a terrible time and these are the steps we can take that are very practical to make a difference.”

So what are those steps?

Actually, we’ve looked at simple guidance directional change. So, for example, with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. One thing I got to change is the wording in the letters they send out. When you’re a survivor of abuse and your perpetrator’s been put in jail and the letter comes back saying, “We don’t believe you” – that’s …

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