Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2025

Hundreds of children in care homes faced decades of abuse

Hundreds of children in care homes faced decades of abuse

A damning public inquiry sheds light on the "culture of cover-up" that has exposed over 700 children in London care homes to decades of abuse.

Hundreds of children in the care of a London authority faced “hard to comprehend” levels of abuse and neglect over several decades, a British public inquiry revealed on Tuesday.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said that between the 1960s and the 1990s, local authority staff in the south London borough of Lambeth treated children in their care as if they were “worthless.”

705 former residents had made allegations of sexual assault, rape and other forms of abuse at three Lambeth children’s homes, the report said, and a number of children reported abuse at the time it occurred. But in four decades, only one staff member was disciplined.


Investigators found that staff members in the south London borough put vulnerable children in the path of sex offenders, who infiltrated children’s homes and foster care settings with “devastating, life-long consequences for their victims.”

“Over several decades, children in residential and foster care suffered levels of cruelty and sexual abuse that are hard to comprehend,” the head of the inquiry, Alexis Jay, said.

“For many years, bullying, intimidation, racism, nepotism and sexism thrived within the council, and all against a backdrop of corruption and financial mismanagement,” she added.

Children who complained about mistreatment were disbelieved and dismissed, according to the inquiry.

The report said many Lambeth Council employees showed “a callous disregard for the vulnerable children they were paid to look after.”

"It was as if staff intended to create a harsh and punitive environment for children who had the misfortune to be in public care, through no fault of their own," the report said.

Investigators collected distressing testimonies from former residents. One of them described "hearing other children screaming at night and he himself routinely experienced violence and sexual assault, including being photographed whilst being raped."

"LA-A147 was in the care of Lambeth Council in the 1990s and 2000s, from the age of three. Over ten years, she was placed in nine children’s homes and with four sets of foster carers. She described being raped by a foster carer’s teenage son at the age of nine, and was also frequently sexually abused by older men she met whilst in care. By the age of 13, she had developed a drug addiction and was “selling herself” to fund it."

-The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse-


'Racism'


The inquiry found that “racism was evident in the hostile and abusive treatment” received by Black children in the council’s care.

"There were many black children in Lambeth Council’s care. In Shirley Oaks in 1980, 57 per cent of children in its care were black. During 1990 and 1991, 85 per cent of children who lived at South Vale were black," the report noted.

The report urged police to consider whether there were grounds for a criminal investigation into the death of one boy, who killed himself in a care home in 1977 after alleging abuse by a senior staff member.

Lambeth’s current leader, Claire Holland, said the council was “deeply sorry” for the “shocking” abuse.


'Get those names out'


Husna-Banoo Talukdar, who said she was repeatedly abused while in Lambeth care homes between 1976 and 1979, said she would keep campaigning until the perpetrators’ names were made public.

“The inquiry missed that opportunity to get those names out there, to get it known who did what -- the abusers, the council, the police who covered it up,” said Talukdar, who waived her right to anonymity.

The multi-year inquiry was organised following the 2011 death of children’s entertainer Jimmy Savile, after which dozens of people came forward to say he had abused them.

The inquiry is investigating child-protection failings in multiple settings, including church-run schools, young offenders' institutions and the internet, and is due to deliver its overall findings next year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
×