Survivors at the centre? Learnings from survivor epistemology operating in a public inquiry into child sexual abuse.

Victims and survivors of Child Sexual Abuse have campaigned for public inquiries as a mechanism to deliver justice for decades. Participatory experiences thus far have varied, reflecting difficulties inquiries have faced in understanding how they can incorporate the emotional and ethical habitus of victims and survivors into their structures and processes. Some recent inquiries have taken significant steps towards cultivating a psychological culture whereby the justice needs of victims and survivors include the incorporation of their domains of knowledge into the inquiry. This thesis reports on Participatory Action Research (PAR) undertaken with members of the Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel (VSCP) of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The project was conducted with the VSCP to document and understand their experiences of working within the inquiry. It identified that survivor epistemology aligned with IICSA, particularly when incorporating emotionality into the design of processes and being a conduit between the Inquiry and external victim and survivor stakeholders. However, survivor epistemology frequently misaligned with the culture, knowledge production, and practices of civil service administration and legal professions. This was compounded by a level of uncertainty surrounding roles, responsibilities, and approaches to working practices. This research provides useful contributions in understanding whether victim and survivor centric aspects of transitional justice mechanisms can be achieved within the legalistic field of public inquiries. Thesis findings suggest that future inquiries would benefit from clearly defining the roles with victim and survivors prior to their appointment, recognising and incorporating the victim and survivor skillset, and anticipating power-agency differences, which may significantly impact the experiences of victims and survivors.