21. Victims and survivors frequently described how they felt marginalised and sidelined while seeking acknowledgement or accountability. June said that she felt “dismissed” after reporting child sexual abuse to the police.^[1] RC-A61 said that he felt “completely irrelevant” to criminal proceedings.^[2]

22. Some victims and survivors felt sidelined by the communications they received from institutions. Alexandria described never being updated on the progress of the police investigation into her allegations of child sexual abuse. This triggered traumatic memories.^[3] NO-A49 first requested his social care records in 2015, when he was just 20 years old. He described his frustration at the delays and denials he encountered: “after two and a half years of waiting for records, you lose faith”.^[4]

23. Other victims and survivors felt that the interests of the person who sexually abused them were prioritised. Pauly felt that the police put a lot of effort into accommodating the man who sexually abused him, but did not give the same consideration to him.^[5] Many Forum members shared the view that perpetrators often had the “upper hand” in criminal justice processes.^[6]

24. Some victims and survivors felt marginalised due to discriminatory attitudes or treatment. One Truth Project participant thought he was viewed as “unworthy” or “unreliable” because he was a child in care.^[7] Many victims and survivors who disclosed sexual abuse as children said that they felt excluded from subsequent processes due to their age. RS-A7 felt that the Crown Prosecution Service should have engaged with him as a child: “I had my own mind and my own thoughts”.^[8] Aeson is Deaf. Although a sign language interpreter was provided when he gave evidence during criminal proceedings, this was not provided for the remainder of the trial. As a result, he was not able to hear the rest of the proceedings, including the verdict: “having no interpreter to impart this information made me very emotional”.^[9]