Secrets and Silence

The child sexual abuse scandal in the English county of Cleveland in the 1980s was a defining moment but not the scandal we were led to believe it was.

Acclaimed journalist Beatrix Campbell has uncovered government documents that show how medical evidence of childhood rape identified by pioneering paediatricians was deemed credible but ‘dangerous’ – it was more important to save money than save children.

This book reveals how this secret has framed policy making and public opinion and the consequences it has had for children, professionals, justice and the state.

The deaths of ‘national treasures’ Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Cyril Smith led to a torrent of evidence of childhood suffering, the discovery of widespread sexual exploitation and institutional abuse across the world – all in plain sight.

The Cleveland children have remained in the shadows. Now, for the first time, a Cleveland child delves into her records and shares her story.

'How much do we really know about the Cleveland Child Abuse Scandal?' for Social Work News 
Setting the story straight on Cleveland in CSA Centre
The Observer view: Ignore the stigma and tackle the toxic cycle of child sexual abuse in The Guardian

If you are affected by the issues addressed in this book, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@NSPCC.org.uk.

“A searing indictment of the way public policy was pursued, and the cost to children’s lives and professionals’ futures, that shows us how to change child protection for the future.” Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, House of Lords

“A coruscating critique of a society’s response to child sexual abuse which sees prime ministers, princes and popes protecting the establishment and turning their backs on violated children, prioritising their purse strings and the powerful above those deemed not worthy of as much as a backward glance." Karen Ingala Smith, nia, The Femicide Census

"A significant milestone in national and global narratives on child sexual abuse … offers much-needed insight following the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse ... a game changer." Natasha Phillips, child rights journalist

“With forensic clarity, Beatrix Campbell reveals the staggering extent of failures to protect children from sexual abuse. This book marks a turning point in child protection history.” Michael Salter, University of New South Wales

"Beatrix Campbell shines a spotlight on the sacrifice of honourable paediatricians, social workers and the sexually abused children they correctly identified, on the altar of systemic denial and subsequent cover up." Arnon Bentovim, The Child and Family Practice

"A shocking indictment of state neglect and complicity in child sexual abuse. Essential reading for anyone who cares about truth, accountability and justice.” Harriet Wistrich, lawyer and Director of the Centre for Women's Justice

"A must-read for any contemporary professional. It carefully highlights a much-needed conversation around child sexual exploitation." Zlakha Ahmed, Apna Haq

"Beatrix Campbell is one of those rare writers in whom a passion for justice is matched to a brilliantly forensic intelligence. In this gripping illumination of the long shadow of the Cleveland child abuse case, she shows the disastrous consequences of a pernicious myth." Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times

"Beatrix Campbell has been an outstanding critical voice on this subject over many years. Her challenge to the conventional narrative deserves to be widely read." Richard Scorer, Head of Abuse Law, Slater and Gordon

"This book will make you gasp and possibly even cry as the story is unfolded of how and why generations of children have been let down by governments and institutions that found the reality of the harms done to them too hard to bear. It will make you reassess everything you thought you knew about Cleveland and child sexual abuse." Liz Kelly, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University

“A painstaking – and painful – journey through successive governments' disregard for the protection of children. Beatrix Campbell traces this continuing scandal back to its roots in the myths about the Cleveland child sex abuse crisis and the Thatcher administration’s deliberate concealment of the truth. If you care about children’s safety and welfare, please read this book.” Tim Tate, author, investigative journalist, film-maker

""Expose(s) the devastating reality of what happened as a result of the Cleveland Inquiry and the events that surrounded it." The Observer

Prologue

Introduction

1. A journey through the archives

2. The inquiry

3. Two reports

4. Whatever happened to …?

5. A new enlightenment

6. Parallel lives

7. Backlash

8. Damned and vindicated

9. Tremendous conservatism

10. Off the hook

11. A new sexual abuse crisis

12. National inquiries, national identities

13. What is to be done?

Epilogue

Timeline