Hansard

I thank Johann Lamont for using her Labour members’ business time to bring this important motion for debate to the chamber.

The cross-party group on adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse came into being following one of the first ever petitions to be lodged with the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee, and I pay tribute to the first convener of the CPG, Marilyn Livingstone, and the members and co-conveners of the CPG for all that they have done to support survivors, to raise awareness of childhood sexual abuse and to focus on preventative measures for almost 16 years.

The national strategy for survivors of childhood abuse was the culmination of years of hard work and persistence, primarily on the part of the CPG, together with the successive former health ministers Malcolm Chisholm and Andy Kerr and, later, Nicola Sturgeon. The national strategy was a groundbreaking initiative that represented a pioneering approach in the United Kingdom and further afield that put in place a national plan for preventing abuse from happening in the first place and for increasing support for survivors of childhood abuse. Its aim was to address the situation that the strategy document sets out whereby

“Too many survivors report a ‘revolving door’ experience being moved from service to service without having their needs satisfactorily addressed.”

That explains why the strategy took a trailblazing survivor-led approach.

The achievements of the SurvivorScotland strategy as it celebrates its 10-year anniversary are not inconsiderable. They include the pooling of information online for easy access to resources and research; the highlighting of the needs of both female and male survivors; and the provision of funding services and projects to support survivors and to carry out preventative work.

However, 10 years on, despite the success that the strategy has had during that time, there are now serious concerns regarding its future. For example, survivors of abuse often look for support services in their area, and in particular for services that offer trauma counselling, but there is still a lack of specialist trauma services available. Given the shift of emphasis towards a medical model for determining our understanding of the needs of survivors, that lack of provision is clearly worrying.

In addition to that, the Scottish Government’s proposed changes to the way in which survivors will access support services has caused yet more concern. More specifically, survivors and support services are dismayed that moving to a broker model that further emphasises healthcare rather than a holistic approach that includes social welfare could be a significant risk to survivors’ wellbeing.

At a time when child sexual abuse cases are hitting the headlines across the UK, when the Prime Minister has prioritised childhood sexual abuse as a national threat on a par with serious organised crime and when a Scottish public inquiry into historical child sexual abuse is under way, there has been a worrying silence about the future of the national strategy. The CPG has therefore warned that, with the public inquiry and the focus on institutional abuse, the fact that the vast majority of child sexual abuse takes place within a family setting and in communities has been largely absent from the national conversation.

There are clearly many opportunities for a renewed strategy to further the progress that has been made in the past 10 years in supporting the courageous survivors who make the brave decision to disclose the abuse that they have experienced. Consequently, the uncertainty surrounding the future of the strategy and the changes to the provision of support services needs to be recognised and addressed as a matter of urgency. I hope that the minister can give some much-needed and deserved reassurance on that point.