Received: 29 March 2024 Revised: 18 April 2024 Accepted: 19 April 2024

DOI: 10.1002/car.2874

BOOK REVIEW

Child Sexual Abuse Reported by Adult Survivors: Legal Responses

in England and Wales, Ireland and Australia
by Sinead Ring, Kate Gleeson and Kim Stevenson. NewYork, Routledge. 2022. pp350. £120
(hardback); £36.99 (eBook) ISBN: 9781138605350

V. Kalyani 1 | S. Srinivasan 2
1
Department of Social Work, DMI-St. Eugene University, Lusaka, Zambia
Email: kalsmsw@gmail.com
2
Humanities and Social Sciences, Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun, India

The book effectively sets the stage for the discussion of how legal systems in England and Wales, Ireland, and Australia
have addressed the pressing issue of seeking justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It begins by highlighting
the profound significance of this phenomenon in the twenty-first century, framing it as a pivotal social, political, and
legal issue. The reference to the Jimmy Savile case in England and Wales serves as a poignant example of the
widespread revelations and subsequent inquiries triggered by high-profile cases. The establishment of the Independent
Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) underscores the institutional response to these revelations. Moreover, the text
acknowledges that similar revelations have occurred in other jurisdictions, indicating the global scope of this challenge.
This book succinctly outlines the demands of survivors for justice through various legal channels, including criminal
prosecutions, public inquiries, civil damages, and state redress. The geographical focus is on legal responses in England
and Wales, Ireland, and Australia. It effectively presents the central theme and scope of the book while providing
context for the discussion on how these legal systems have navigated the complexities of addressing historical child
sexual abuse.
The three authors, each bringing specialist expertise and experience in the three jurisdictions examined, delve into
the intricate landscape of non-recent child sexual abuse (NRCSA) in Western countries. They meticulously trace the
historical evolution of legal and policy frameworks surrounding child sexual offences in England and Wales, Ireland,
and Australia, placing them within the context of NRCSA as a significant societal phenomenon. The book thoroughly
explores legal responses within both criminal law and the law of violation, offering a comprehensive examination of
the challenges posed by NRCSA to traditional legal systems. One such challenge revolves around the temporal aspect
of many offences, often occurring decades before disclosure. As Sedley LJ highlighted in 2000, the shame, fear and
confusion induced by such abuse often lead to prolonged silence, with allegations surfacing only in adulthood, if at all.
This delay, spanning several decades, necessitates the legal system’s recognition and accommodation of the inevitability
of time lapse while also ensuring fair trials despite potential evidence deterioration.
Part I of the book explores the recent historical context, from the 1850s to 2021, of how Australia, England and
Wales, and Ireland have recognised and responded to non-recent child sexual abuse, both in law and culture. The first
chapter details the shift in societal awareness towards child sexual abuse in these jurisdictions across the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries. The events that instigated these changes are discussed, focusing on some core exposés and
inquiries during this period. Each jurisdiction is given its own chapter for the purpose of contextualization, with similar
headings and topic areas explored in each, allowing minor content variation due to their distinct historical contexts.
Covered topics include criminal law (such as the age of consent, incest and the development of assault and specific child
abuse crimes), abuse prosecution (its history, hindrances and developments) and child protection (the institutional
context, inquiries and statutory development). Themes throughout include the disbelief of children, legal hindrances to
reporting and successfully prosecuting abuse, minimal penalties for offenders, the pioneering efforts of feminists, the
development of knowledge about causes and consequences, changing cultural attitudes towards children and key
moments in history that brought societal change. The author argues that advocacy and media played a significant role
in these changes. For instance, in England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 set a three-year time limit for claiming

© 2024 Association of Child Protection Professionals and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Child Abus Rev. 2024;33:e2874. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/car 1 of 2

https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2874
2 of 2 BOOK REVIEW

damages for personal injury, starting from the claimant’s adulthood. However, this statute did not anticipate the
unique challenges faced by abuse claimants, given the lower societal awareness of NRCSA at the time of its enactment.
Consequently, victims of NRCSA often encountered injustice due to the unsuitability of existing limitation laws.
Part II builds upon the foundation established in Part I by examining more specific legal responses to non-recent
child sexual abuse. The authors uniquely explore several domains, both within the legal system (addressing criminal
law in Chapter 7 and torts in Chapters 8 and 9) and through governmental measures (such as inquiries in Chapter 10
and reparations in Chapter 11). The chapters strike a careful balance by starting with concise yet informative overviews
of the core concepts and contexts being discussed, particularly in Chapters 9 and 11. The authors then present case
studies of the subject matter in each of the jurisdictions previously examined. The initial chapters in Part II walk readers
through statutory and case law, summarizing key judgments and emphasising their impact on shaping legal responses.
The authors detail the strengths and limitations of these developments succinctly and clearly. The governmental actions
regarding reparations and inquiries follow a similar format: explanation (concepts and context), exploration (across
jurisdictions) and evaluation. The book concludes with a short final chapter, encouraging readers to temper any
inclination to declare one jurisdiction superior to another. The authors argue that each jurisdiction is marked by a
fundamental ambivalence towards survivors, illustrating the complex and nuanced nature of the issue. While each
chapter covers broad and complex areas of specialisation, the authors have thoughtfully crafted the content to be clear
and accessible. Even intricate legal concepts and case law are presented in a way that is engaging and easy for readers
to understand. These chapters commendably incorporate recent legal and governmental developments (up to 2021) and
examine their impact on the specific legal contexts, including the broader responses to child sexual abuse and survivors.
The authors integrate commentary throughout the chapters and, consistent with Part I, include such insights in the
conclusions. This approach helps guide the reader through the complexities and emphasises the relevance of each topic
within the broader discussion of child sexual abuse and its legal implications.
The book, penned by authors with profound subject knowledge, presents an invaluable contribution to the
literature. It consolidates legal and policy debates across three jurisdictions in a manner that is both authoritative and
accessible. By addressing these pressing issues comprehensively, the book becomes essential reading for academics and
legal practitioners in the field, bridging gaps in understanding and advocating for necessary reforms.

ORCID
V. Kalyani https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1795-9632
S. Srinivasan https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0179-9849