JUSTICE FIGHT
New bill lifts three-year time limit on child abuse victims
New legislation that will allow child abuse victims to get justice later in life has been hailed as a victory for late survivor and leading East Kilbride campaigner Frank Docherty.
The Limitation Childhood Abuse Scotland Bill has been passed in the Scottish Parliament.
It removes the three-year time limit in which victims of childhood abuse can bring a civil action against their abuser – something Frank fought so hard for.
The Murray grandad founded the In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) charity with fellow survivor Jim Buckley after their own abuse hell at the hands of nuns in Catholic orphanages.
Jim says Frank would have been “absolutely delighted” with the new bill and Frank’s widow Janet said it will give historic survivors closure and recognition.
East Kilbride MSP Linda Fabiani paid tribute to Frank in the Scottish Parliament and welcomed the move as a “big step forward”.
An East Kilbride justice campaigner who survived abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church as a child has welcomed new legislation that enables victims to pursue justice later in life.
The Limitation Childhood Abuse Scotland Bill removes the three-year time limit in which victims of childhood abuse can bring a civil action against their abuser.
The move comes two months on from the death of Murray grandad Frank Docherty, founder and honorary president of child abuse charity In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) who, after his own abuse hell, fought for two decades to seek justice for child abuse victims.
Frank’s widow Janet told the News historic survivors will now get the closure and recognition they deserve.
“Frank would have been over the moon,” she said.
“Like him, abuse survivors have been shunted from pillar to post for years but it’s all coming to the fore now.
“Frank started fighting many years ago to get justice for these kids so I’m so pleased that something he had wanted for so long is now happening.
“All he wanted was for people to be heard and recognised. He gave a good fight and I’m so proud of him.”
Incas vice-chair Jim Buckley this week hailed the passage of the bill as a “step in the right direction”.
The 72-year-old from Westwood said: “This is a great achievement – Frank would have been absolutely delighted.
“This has been a long time coming but it is another step towards getting the justice that Frank had fought so hard for.”
From the age of nine, Frank was physically and mentally abused by nuns at Lanark’s Catholic-run orphange Smyllum Park.
But now, thanks to his tireless campaigning, the institution is one of many being investigated by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Jim, also a survivor of children’s home abuse, built the charity with Frank from its inception in 1999.
And the pair were the first in Scotland to give testimony on the cruel regimes they were forced to endure throughout their childhoods.
Jim has vowed to continue the justice fight in Frank’s honour for Incas’ 400 members.
He added: “This is good news but we are still fighting for financial redress for historical abuse survivors through the public inquiry so they can get some sort of payment for what they went through as children.”
East Kilbride MSP Linda Fabiani also welcomed the bill in the Scottish Parliament.
She said: “This bill is a big step forward in ensuring that survivors of childhood abuse are able to access justice later in life.
“Many have been campaigning for this for many years and I was particularly touched when the minister, in her speech in parliament paid tribute to East Kilbride’s Frank Docherty, who fought long and hard for the voices of survivors to be heard.
“While bringing a civil action may not be the right solution for all survivors of child abuse, it is vital that survivors have the choice to come forward as and when they feel ready to do so.
“Those who have suffered abuse as a child may delay disclosing the trauma for a whole host of reasons, including a difficulty processing what has happened to them, feelings of shame, suppressed memories or indeed pressure from the abuser. And it’s important that they have the choice to take the time to come forward.
“While it remains the case that the courts will weigh up the available evidence in each individual case, these changes to the law will give survivors the all-important choice about what actions they can legally take to seek justice.”
This is good news but we are still fighting for financial redress for historical abuse survivors... Jim Buckley