Today, the Marie Collins Foundation, alongside 29 leading child protection organisations, has sent an open letter to the Ministry of Justice calling for urgent reform of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS). The letter urges Parliament to back Sarah Champion MP’s amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill to ensure survivors of Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse (TACSA) are fairly recognised and supported.
Dear Minister,
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: Recognising Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse as a Violent Crime
We, the undersigned, write to express our strong support for Amendment NC1 to the Victims and Courts Bill, tabled by Sarah Champion MP. This amendment presents a vital opportunity to reform the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) to ensure that all victims of child sexual abuse – including those harmed through technology-assisted means – are recognised and supported.
The Marie Collins Foundation, a leading UK charity supporting victims of Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse (TACSA), has highlighted the urgent need for the CICS to reflect the realities of abuse in the digital age. While the Court of Appeal’s ruling in RN v CICA [2023] EWCA Civ 882 confirmed that non-contact grooming and coercion can, in certain circumstances, constitute a “crime of violence”, the Scheme has not yet been updated to reflect this interpretation consistently. Further, it does not cover all TACSA cases such as those where there is no fear of “immediate physical violence.”
Amendment NC1 would:
- Widen eligibility for compensation to all victims of child sexual abuse, including online facilitated abuse;
- Ensure that applicants with unspent convictions are not automatically excluded where offences are linked to the circumstances of their abuse;
- Extend the time limit for applications to seven years from the date of police reporting or from the victim’s 18th birthday.
This amendment is a direct response to Recommendation 18 of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which the Government has so far declined to implement. It is an important step to ensure that all victims of child sexual abuse are able to access the compensation. It is vital for ensuring that victims of TACSA – who often suffer trauma equal to or greater than that caused by physical abuse – are not left behind.
The current CICS framework creates a two-tier system of justice, where victims of online sexual abuse are treated as less deserving of recognition and support. This is unjust and harmful. Victims of TACSA experience profound psychological distress, identity disruption, and lifelong trauma, particularly when abuse images are circulated online.
We urge the Government to support Amendment NC1 and ensure that the CICS reflects the full spectrum of child sexual abuse in the 21st century. This is a critical opportunity to deliver justice, recognition and healing to some of the most vulnerable children in our society.
Yours sincerely,
Rhiannon-Faye McDonald
Marie Collins Foundation
Co-signatories:
ACT on IICSA campaign group
The Brave Movement
Brave UK
REIGN Collective
The Male Survivors Partnership
Mankind UK
5 Rights Foundation
Thorn
South West Grid for Learning
CEASE UK
The Children’s Society
Childlight Global Child Safety Institute
South West Grid for Learning
Anna Edmundson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, NSPCC
Rose Caldwell, CEO, Plan International UK
Iain Drennan, Executive Director, WeProtect Global Alliance
Deborah Denis, CEO, Lucy Faithfull Foundation
Fay Maxted OBE, CEO, The Survivors Trust
Duncan Craig OBE, CEO, We Are Survivors
Will Gardner, CEO, Childnet International
Vicki Shotbolt, CEO, Parent Zone
Antounette Philippides, Chair of Board of Trustees, StopSO
Kim Harrison, Immediate Past President, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)
David Greenwood, Director and Solicitor, Switalskis Solicitors
Dr Juliane Kloess, Lecturer in Forensic Clinical Psychology, University of Edinburgh
Professor Helen Beckett, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Central Lancashire
Dr Elly Hanson, Clinical Psychologist & expert on online harms
Dr Jeffrey DeMarco, Associate Director for the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies
Safer Young Lives Research Centre, University of Bedfordshire