The Truth Project is a core part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (‘the Inquiry’) alongside Public Hearings and Research. It was set up to hear and learn from the experiences of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England and Wales. It offers victims and survivors an opportunity to share experiences of child sexual abuse. With the consent of participants, the Inquiry uses Truth Project information in a variety of ways, including for ongoing research and data analysis carried out by the Inquiry’s Research Team. By doing so, Truth Project participants make an important contribution to the work of the Inquiry.

This report details the research findings in relation to the experiences of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in healthcare contexts that were shared with the Truth Project. The term ‘healthcare contexts’ in this report describes child sexual abuse that occurred in healthcare organisations and institutions or was perpetrated by healthcare professionals. This includes hospitals, psychiatric institutions, clinics and general practitioner (GP) practices. Healthcare professionals comprise doctors (including psychiatrists and GPs), nurses and other staff members in healthcare organisations.

This report presents the Inquiry’s research findings about the experiences of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in healthcare contexts and the response of institutions to such abuse. It describes the experiences of Truth Project participants sexually abused in healthcare contexts between the 1960s and 2000s, with the most recent cases in our sample beginning in the early to mid 2000s.

The full report can be located by clicking the image below: