How young victims were let down by the system

The law must protect and apply to all members of society equally. Children placed in residential institutions were branded as criminals as a result of the court committal process, while the majority of perpetrators of abuse have not been held to account by that same criminal justice system. Few perpetrators were convicted and no charges have been laid against those in positions of authority in the Church who concealed crimes.

Recognition of children’s human rights must be strengthened. Amnesty said the abuses in the reports could be categorised as torture, under human rights law. They also demonstrated children’s rights to private and family life, the right to a fair trial and the right to be free from slavery and forced labour had been contravened, as was their right to education and to physical and mental health.

Public attitudes matter. Individual attitudes matter. Fear, an unwillingness and an inability to question agents of the Church, and disbelief of the testimony of victims until recently indicate wider societal attitudes had a significant role to play in allowing abuse to continue.

The state must operate on behalf of the people, not interest groups. The state had a deferential relationship with the Catholic Church. The complaints of parents, children and lay workers about abuses in residential institutions were dismissed by officials, while the reputation of religious orders was defended by politicians. Political actions must have at their core the best interests of the wider population.