Winner of the Christine M. Alder Book Prize in 2015 from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Historical abuse of children is a worldwide phenomenon. This book assesses the enablers of abuse and the reasons it took so long for officials to respond. It analyzes redress for institutional abuse in two countries, Canada and Australia, using first-hand accounts of survivors' experiences.

"This work brings together the thoughts on this question advanced by leading scholars, from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, from around the world. These thinkers...provide new perspectives on sanctioned and informal responses to abuse in religious, educational and total institutions, as well as to abuse carried out in non-institutional settings."--

Institutional abuse of children: Legal remedies and redress in Australia examines the recently amended 'common law' framework. These reforms include removal of limitation periods, reversal of the onus of proof, extending vicarious liability to persons akin to employees, requiring institutions to identify a proper defendant when necessary, and permitting some earlier settlements and judgements to be revisited. The unique fixed term National Redress Scheme for historic child sexual abuse in institutional settings is also examined, in the context of the underlying policy to offer an alternate redress pathway which aims to be more flexible, less formal, faster, cheaper, and involving less trauma and conflict for survivors. As the first detailed analysis of the new legal framework relating to compensation and redress for child sexual abuse in Australia, this book makes an original contribution to knowledge and understanding of the law in this complex area, which continues to develop at a rapid pace as additional legislation is enacted across Australia and as the courts begin to construe these new legislative provisions. Features ¿ Analyses the new legal framework governing claims for compensation and redress arising out of sexual abuse of children in institutional settings in Australia ¿ Examines the relationship between the National Redress Scheme and civil claims ¿ Provides a practical understanding of how to work through the intersecting laws and redress systems to best advise clients

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the work of the The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) and its social, psychological, legal and discursive impact.

'I hear people say now, "Oh, this is an historical thing." It's not historical for me. I can reach out my hand and touch it.' Survivor of child abuse at Daingean reformatory In their own words, survivors of institutional abuse outline how they suffered years of mistreatment while incarcerated in industrial schools throughout Ireland. Their experiences reflect what happened to thousands of children who were locked up in institutions run by religious orders. Their stories also illustrate the power of the human spirit and the extraordinary survival instincts of those who endured these schools. Written by Karen Coleman, one of Ireland's finest broadcasters and journalists, this important book highlights the full scale of the physical, emotional and sexual abuse that took place in Irish religious institutions. Haunting Cries brings this tragic tale of systemic abuse up-to-date to include the publication of, and fall-out from, the Ryan Commission Report and the set-up of the Residential Institutions Redress Board.

This book positions inquiries into the historical abuse of children in care within the context of transitional justice. It examines investigation, apology and redress processes across a range of Western nations to trace the growth of the movement, national particularities and the impact of the work on professionals involved.

Child Sexual Abuse Reported by Adult Survivors is a wide-ranging and timely critical history and analysis of legal responses to ‘historical’ or ‘non-recent’ child sexual abuse (NRCSA) in England and Wales, Ireland and Australia, each of which represents an evolving and progressive approach to this important and complex issue. The book examines the emergence of NRCSA as a distinctive social, political and legal phenomenon in each country and explores the legal responses developed to address its unprecedented challenges. Courts and parliaments in each country have reformed existing doctrine and practice and have created new ways of holding state and private actors accountable and new ways of addressing survivors’ injuries. Criminal law, tort law, public inquiries and state reparations have all been to the forefront of these new legal responses, which have transformed law’s engagement with NRCSA survivors and understandings of justice itself. However, despite this undeniable progress, the book identifies ways in which the legal responses developed in each country fail to deliver accountability and recognition to NRCSA survivors and argues that such failures betray the law’s inherent ambivalence to delivering justice for these survivors. Creating new insights into legal responses to this complex contemporary legal, social and political problem, this book will be of great interest to academic lawyers, political scientists and historians, as well as those working on related topics in criminology, sociology, social policy, cultural studies and gender studies.