Plaid MP Raises Language Dimension for Abuse Enquiry Victims

This published by the Celtic League:

Plaid MP Raises Language Dimension fir Abuse Enquiry Victims

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Plaid Cymru MP, Hywel Williams, MP highlighted a glaring oversight in relation to those children who have been abused in Wales an issue which has been the subject of previous enquiry and now seems set to be the focus of a new historical abuse enquiry.

Referring to the Waterhouse Report ‘Lost in Care’ published in 2000 he said:

“There is not a single reference to the language of the children who suffered abuse or to any arrangement to ensure that they were interviewed or then supported in Welsh. To Waterhouse and his colleagues, the Welsh language simply did not exist. For me, the report failed to listen. I wrote to complain. I did not receive a reply.”

He has ensured that the issue will not be similarly disregarded by raising the issue with Home Secretary Theresa May and he intends to pursue the issue both with her and the Welsh Language Commissioner.

A report on his efforts to address this anomaly here:

http://www.partyofwales.org/the-slate/2014/11/07/from-westminster-hywel-...

The issue of historical child abuse with a time span back to the 1950s now envelops the entirety of these Islands. It occurred in children’s homes, hostels and health service institutions in Ireland (North and South), Scotland, Wales, England and the Channel Isles. Both publicly run institutions and those run by faith groups are implicated. The latest suggestions are that it also reached into the highest levels of the British government with a cover-up alleged

Strangely the Isle of Man appears to have been an ‘oasis of exemplary child care’ during those dark years.

In 2008 after the Jersey scandal unfolded we wrote to the then Chief Minister suggesting that it was often difficult for those who suffered abuse to come forward particularly when one lived in a small Island community. We suggested the government should be proactive on the issue. However the suggestion was rebutted.

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information

05/12/14

(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)
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