Former clergy, senior legal figures and safeguarding professionals have told Premier Christian News that, despite the Church of England’s repeated claims to have learned from past safeguarding failures, many survivors who come forward continue to be re-traumatised by the way their cases are handled.
In one case, a former child protection lawyer described the treatment of a man who raised a complaint about the Diocese of London’s handling of his abuse allegations as “the worst example of post-abuse victimisation of a CDM complainant we have ever seen”.
The man, referred to by Premier as Survivor N, told us exclusively that the response and lack of investigation from the Diocese of London and Archbishop of Canterbury-elect Dame Sarah Mullally left him in such a severe mental health crisis that he attempted to take his own life twice.
A former employee of the Diocese of London, who also asked to remain anonymous and whom we are calling Victoria, told Premier she too was driven to an attempt on her life after raising concerns about what she described as a “toxic” culture and the mishandling of safeguarding allegations by the Church’s senior leadership.
She said she was subsequently left isolated and excluded.