Ealing Woman Wins 50 Year Battle For Abuse Compensation

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Claim over sexual assault by half-brother had been blocked by 'same roof rule'

Picture: Bas Masseus from Pexels

It took almost 50 years, but an Ealing woman who was sexually abused at home as a child by her older half-brother has finally received compensation.

The abuse by the woman’s 18-year-old brother occurred between the ages of seven and nine, and until recently a law called the ‘same roof rule’ prevented the victim making a claim.

The ‘same roof rule’ blocked victims of violent crime from receiving compensation if the attacker was a family member they were living with before 1979.

After the rule was abolished in June 2019, the 58-year-old woman, who cannot be identified because she was the victim of child sexual assault, was awarded £16,500 through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

A statement from the law firm representing the woman said she had found the courage to tell her mother what was happening when she was nine, only to be called a “liar” and told never to repeat her allegations.

Hudgell Solicitors said the abuse had then stopped, but it had left lifelong damage.

The solicitors relayed the following statements from the victim: “My half-brother, who was my mum’s son from a previous relationship, was aged 18 when I was only seven and my parents would go out on a weekend and leave us alone at home.

“That’s when he’d come into my room and he’d make me do things such as touching him.

“It also happened on a night time when I had gone to bed. My parents would be downstairs and he’d come into my room.

“When I was nine I finally found the courage to say what was happening as I knew it was wrong and I feared being left alone with him.

“I looked to my mother for help and support but she just grabbed me by the shoulders and said I was a liar.

“I was told not to say anything again and she said I’d never see my own brother and sister again if I repeated what I had said.

“I feel looking back now that I lost my childhood and my mother due to what happened and how she handled it. As a nine-year-old girl I had nowhere to go and there was nothing I could have done.”

The victim reportedly remained silent about the abuse, which occurred between 1968 and 1970, until another female relation said the same man had abused her as a child.

In quotes released through her solicitors, the victim said: “That was a really shocking moment for me as, until that point, I’d not thought about the other young girls in our family at the time.”

“I’d buried it away for so many years but when this happened, as an adult, I knew I had to see it through the right legal process and through the police and the courts.

The criminal process resulted in the woman’s elder half-brother receiving a six-and-a-half year prison sentence last September.

Hudgell Solicitors said earlier this year their mother died, having never forgiven her daughter for the allegations.

The victim is reported to have said: “My mother didn’t forgive me and I have struggled to forgive her. I’ll always be disappointed in her. I was a little girl who went to her desperate for her to save me, but she didn’t.

“Compensation can’t change what happened to me or give me my childhood back, but it can bring some closure to it all which I feel it has done.”

Following the conclusion of the court case in September 2018, the woman was advised by police to pursue compensation through CICA.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed CICA figures showed 4,000 applications were previously refused under the Same Roof Rule since 1964.

It expects 70% of those cases to now result in damages payments being awarded should people reapply.

Speaking on the day the ‘same roof rule’ was repealed, on June 13, 2019 , Victims Minister Edward Argar said: “The ‘same-roof’ rule was unfair and we recognise the impact this had on victims whose applications were refused simply because they lived with their attacker.

“Whilst no amount of compensation can make up for the immense suffering caused by such appalling crimes, by abolishing the rule we are widening access to much needed support anjd continue to review the entire scheme so it better supports victims.

“Improving support for victims is at the very heart of this government’s work, and through our Victims Strategy we are determined to improve their experience at every stage of the justice system.

The MoJ were not able to speak on specific cases, and declined to comment on the victim’s compensation.

Tracy Chapman, of Hudgell Solicitors, handled the claim to the CICA on the woman’s behalf.

She said: “Had this lady come to us two or three years ago we would [have] sadly had to advise her that under the law there was no route to compensation due to the law around living with abusers.

“It is expected that thousands of people abused at home as children have been denied compensation they are deserving of prior to the law was changed in July, so we have been urging people previously denied to contact us.”

The victim said she intended to spend the money on a holiday with her husband.

Ged Cann - Local Democracy Reporter

 

August 2, 2019