A LETTER to the Archbishop of York from survivors of church-based abuse has been criticised by a former member of the disbanded Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB), Dame Jasvinder Sanghera.
The letter, sent last week, refers to Archbishop Cottrell as a “diabolical monster” and says that he can’t be trusted to repair church safeguarding. Dame Jasvinder said that she was “disheartened” by the letter, and described its language as “disgusting”.
The ISB was disbanded in 2023 after the sacking of Dame Jasvinder and one other board member, Steve Reeves (News, 23 June 2023). Several survivors who had been awaiting a review of their cases were left in limbo on the time.
Known collectively because the “ISB 11”, those survivors continued to fulfill Dame Jasvinder and Mr Reeves, who advocated that their reviews be progressed (News, 21 June 2024). Since last yr, at the very least one review has come near completion.
Some selected to have interaction with the Church of England’s provision of an “interim commissioner of independent reviews”, Kevin Crompton, and its offer of advocacy services. Others complained that Mr Crompton and the advocacy services weren’t independent enough.
Disagreements amongst survivors over how much to have interaction with the Church are, the Church Times understands, a part of the explanation for the split. Among the points of dissension was whether to try to fulfill the Archbishop of York.
The split became public when a bunch of survivors wrote to Archbishop Cottrell on Thursday of last week. The letter was issued within the name of the “ISB Survivors Group”. A spokesperson for the group said that it comprised a majority of the unique members.
The letter describes Archbishop Cottrell as a “diabolical monster bent on causing us further harm”, and suggests that many survivors see him as “a person worse than Bishop Peter Ball or John Smyth”.
They write that further engagement with the Church could “potentially expose us to experiencing substantially worse further trauma that might cause us (already victims of sexual and spiritual abuse out of your organization) irreparable and in some cases even mortal harm”.
The letter concludes with a request that Archbishop Cottrell “appoint a TRULY Independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to maneuver things forward URGENTLY”.
A spokesperson for the group said that its members were not engaging with Dame Jasvinder and Mr Reeves, but thanked them for his or her past support. It is known that the 2 former board members of the ISB didn’t know concerning the letter sent to Archbishop Cottrell.
In a post on X/Twitter on Sunday, Dame Jasvinder said: “It is shocking and a disappointing letter and doesn’t represent the ISB 11. We will proceed to support survivors to make sure their reviews are progressed. Also, to make sure they’re appropriately supported. We don’t must negate individuals to attain this goal.”
The Church Times understands that five members of the unique ISB 11 are still engaging with Dame Jasvinder and Mr Reeves, and the potential for meeting Archbishop Cottrell.
At least one member of the unique group will not be participating with either of the 2 factions. A representative of the ISB Survivors Group said that nine of the unique members were involved in the brand new group.
One of the unique members of the ISB 11, and a vice-chair of the independent National Safeguarding Panel, Jane Chevous, wrote on social media on Sunday that she was “shocked” by the letter. “I understand the strength of individuals’s feelings and the extent of trauma. However things won’t change without mature dialogue. I’m also sad that survivors are unable to advocate collectively,” she said.
Ms Chevous told the Church Times: “It’s clear that the Church needs to have interaction in conflict resolution with the remaining ISB group, and it hasn’t found a strategy to try this.”
