Safeguarding

In November 2016, the game was rocked by mass disclosures of the non-recent sexual abuse of children in football. Voice by voice, a wall of silence was broken.

Survivors had spoken out in the decades beforehand – both publicly and privately – about the horrific abuse they suffered as young people. Wrongly, their voices often went unheard and ignored in the public eye. They showed courage and conviction to come forward, and they were let down by those who were supposed to protect them.

But in 2016, when Andy Woodward made his disclosure in a national newspaper and then on national television, people finally listened to the truth.

Hundreds of other survivors came forward to add their voices and experiences. The official police statistics were stark. Within a month, 350 survivors had contacted the authorities. As of August 7th 2020, 692 survivors had reported thousands of incidents, naming 240 suspects and 300+ clubs.

10 years on from the public mass disclosures, Voices of Truth acknowledges how the non-recent sexual abuse of children in football went ignored for too long. It pays tribute to all survivors, whether they came forward, whether they waived their anonymity or not, and whether they’ve spoken to anyone about their abuse or not.

Every survivor, alongside those working in safeguarding roles across the game, has played their part in the pursuit of truth, justice and significant safeguarding progress in football.

The FA’s Head of Safeguarding, Sue Ravenlaw, has written more about this 10-year acknowledgement. The Q&A can be read here.