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The Royal College of Psychiatrists: Addressing the impact of non-recent child sexual abuse on the mental health of adults


⚠️ Trigger warning: This post discusses non-recent child sexual abuse, survivor trauma, retraumatisation and institutional responses to abuse.



I’m sharing this important piece from House of Survivors because it reiterates something safeguarding institutions still too often fail to grasp: abuse does not expire because it is labelled “historic”.


The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ position statement recognises the potentially lifelong impact of non-recent child sexual abuse. House of Survivors goes further, highlighting the secondary trauma that can be caused by defensive, adversarial institutional responses.


Safeguarding cannot claim to be trauma-informed while its own processes re-traumatise the people it is supposed to protect.




(and below)



House of Survivors Statement


A Monumental Shift: This represents a monumental shift. HoS views this statement as a clear repudiation of the cynical medical and legal playbook that Ecclesiastical Insurance (EIO), BLM, and other agents of the Archbishops’ Council used against survivors for years.


Dismantling & Shaming the EIO / BLM Playbook: For years, EIO (effectively ‘owned’ by the Church) and BLM used “hired-gun” desktop reports to slash settlements while survivors were in acute crises. HoS hopes this authoritative national consensus from the RCPsych formally invalidates any idea that lifelong CPTSD can be whittled down to arbitrary percentages in a ‘horse trade’ or blamed on a child’s adoption or background.


Recognising Survivor Advocacy: The clinical shift we see represented in this Statement has not happened by accident. It has been accompanied by years of relentless campaigning: our own HoS Ecclesiastical Shame archive, IICSA testimonies, investigative journalism by intrepid reporters like Jen Frost and Donna Birrell, and tireless campaigning by Andrew Graystone, Richard Scorer, and others to expose the weaponisation of forensic psychiatry. House of Survivors has been instrumental in bringing these practices into the daylight.


Demanding a Formal Apology: Now that the UK’s highest psychiatric body has established the clinical reality of lifelong trauma, we demand a public, formal, unreserved apology from EIO, BLM, the Archbishops’ Council, and the Church of England leadership for the secondary trauma inflicted via adversarial litigation. In the experience of many survivors, this secondary trauma has not only compounded the damage but has often been experienced as worse than the original abuse. We hold the Archbishops’ Council directly responsible for years of systemic collusion with insurers and lawyers to re-harm survivors.


Impact on CofE Redress Caps:

If the medical consensus now confirms that NRCSA causes catastrophic, lifelong nervous system and developmental damage, how can the Church justify rigid compensation caps or deductions that fail to reflect full life devastation? We believe this Statement will challenge scheme limitations and ensure assessors evaluate claims against modern psychiatric standards rather than outdated insurer tactics.


Clinical consensus must connect directly to redress. Redress assessment cannot rely on outdated, defensive paradigms—it must reflect the true, unvarnished cost of lifelong impact.







Safeguarding & Signposting Survivors


This announcement may trigger many who have been damaged by the system, we give a clear content warning and offer direct links to trusted support (NAPAC, Safe Spaces, Samaritans, MACSAS).


  • Safe Spaces: Dedicated, independent support service for victims and survivors of Church-related abuse.

  • NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood): Supporting adult survivors of all forms of childhood abuse.


  • MACSAS (Ministerial and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors): Direct peer-led support and community for church abuse survivors.

  • The Samaritans: 24/7 immediate emotional crisis support.

  • NHS Mental Health Services (Urgent):

    • Call: 111 (Option 2 for Mental Health Crisis in England).


House of Survivors is an independent, survivor-led resource created by two survivors of Church of England-based abuse. It provides information, challenge and lived-experience insight that institutions desperately need to hear.


If you value independent survivor voices in safeguarding, please consider buying House of Survivors a coffee. ☕️



☕️☕️☕️


~Guarding the Flock

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