The Church of England has apologised to an abuse survivor after an independent review found she had been “further traumatised” by the way she was treated by the church.
The review, which was commissioned from the safeguarding charity thirtyone:eight, examined the CofE’s handling of the case of a survivor, Jane Chevous who was referred to as TT before she waived her anonymity.
It focused on the response of three dioceses (Southwark, Oxford and Leeds) to her allegations of rape, sexual abuse and spiritual abuse by two clergy youth officers, together with the Church’s subsequent management of those disclosures and a National Safeguarding Team (NST) investigation undertaken between 2019 and 2022. The allegations were first reported in 2001 but relate to events which occurred from 1979 and 1992.
The CofE’s lead safeguarding bishop, Rt Rev Robert Springett, along with the National Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje said in a statement: “We are deeply sorry for the abuse she reported, and for the profound impact it has had on her life. We are also sorry that her experience of Church safeguarding left her feeling unsupported and further traumatised.”
Chevous had disclosed that she was a victim of interfamilial child sexual abuse (CSA) and teenage sexual exploitation. She reported that she became involved in the church during her teenage years against this background and had regarded it as her safe place. She became involved in the national youth work of the Church at the age of 18 and met Rev A and Rev B, two ordained male youth officers/advisers. Chevous alleges that from 1979 and during the next 13 years she experienced abuse at the hands of both these clergy, which she stated included rape, sexual, and spiritual and psychological abuse.
She first reported the allegations about Rev A to Southwark diocese in 2001, but no appropriate action was taken. She said the treatment she received from senior clergy caused further trauma resulting in severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was only in the late 1990’s that Chevous first began to understand that her childhood and teenage experiences were abuse and she felt encouraged to disclose her abuse again. She contacted the NST in October 2019 after listening to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). By this time three dioceses would need to be involved due to clergy movement, and also her complaint involved two bishops whose responses had been re-traumatising to her. This resulted in an investigation by the NST which she said had caused her further harm.
The review found that the treatment she received by senior clergy in the diocese was “deeply shocking and fell far short of the standards expected of senior clergy. It concluded that while it was a “personal tragedy”, perhaps “an even greater tragedy is that she sought safety in the Church of England, felt safe there for a while, but then had that sense of safety taken from her, which to date has not been restored within the Church of England.
“It is an indictment upon the church that an abuse survivor can disclose a deeply distressing account of abuse and long-term harm and walk away still carrying the sense of shame, sensing they have not been fully believed, and feeling devastated that those who have harmed them have not been held to account to acknowledge and apologise for the harm caused”.
Key recommendations from the review include embedding survivor-centred and trauma-informed practice throughout safeguarding processes, strengthening record keeping, recognising spiritual abuse within safeguarding frameworks, establishing clearer routes to apology, accountability and redress, and implementing independent safeguarding scrutiny and oversight.
Bishop Robert and Alexander Kubeyinje said the review “raises important issues about how the Church of England responds to survivors, and about trauma-informed practice, communication and accountability.
“As the National Safeguarding Team's independent audit (by INEQE) shows, the NST has undergone significant transformation in recent years and is now a professional national function focused on improving safeguarding practice across the Church of England. Key safeguarding standards inform all our work. We are aware that our approach now is different to when the NST started, but we are committed to learning from this review as we continue to improve safeguarding across the Church of England”.