BRADFORD faith leaders have given their reaction to a national inquiry which suggests that there have been “shocking failings” in the way that religious organisations have handled reports of child sex abuse.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said that some religious groups in England and Wales were guilty of victim-blaming, and did not always report abuse, out of a desire to protect their reputations.

The report, which was published earlier this month, comes after victims of abuse spoke at a series of public hearings held last year.

It concerns a range of different faith groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Methodists, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and non-conformist Christian denominations.

In response, faith leaders in Bradford have said they “condemn” any form of abuse, and also condemn any attempt to hide it or to not deal with it in an appropriate manner.

They added that every religious organisation needs to have safeguarding policies in place and follow them, and that such polices must also be regularly reviewed by the relevant authorities.

“We hope that anyone who has been subjected to sexual abuse can come forward – things like this must be taken very seriously”, said Imtiaz Mussa, the designated safeguarding lead at Masjid Quba in Manningham.

“Every child matters, no matter what colour or creed, and madrassas and other religious and supplementary schools – of every faith – need to take allegations of child sex abuse seriously and make sure that our children are safe.

“The report is quite shocking. We condemn any form of abuse, and perpetrators need to be held to account.

“If we are talking about the morals of religion, these things shouldn’t be happening in the first place – but they are, and that’s why here, at Masjid Quba, we have designated staff members and other professionals who adhere to the proper procedures and take things seriously.

“All of our staff are DBS checked and must also attend safeguarding courses before we employ them.

“We tell children that if you see any form of abuse, then you must report it. If that happens, then it will go thought the system straight away.

“Every madrassa we work with has a designated safeguarding lead in some form. At Masjid Quba, we also work alongside a cluster of local primary schools – if there has been any form of allegation in these schools, we will talk to the headteacher or the safeguarding lead in attempt to get to the bottom of it, and to make sure that the child is safe and that things have been addressed in a proper way.”

Reverend Nathan Javed, of GBM Churches, added that religious organisations should not try to “cover up or whitewash” any allegations of sexual abuse.

“Any form of abuse is unacceptable. The findings of this report are shocking, and I condemn the behaviour of these organisations”, he said.  

“Churches are meant to treat children in a positive way. Children are vulnerable, and we have to make sure that we safeguard them properly.

“We sympathise with anyone who has had to experience abuse.

“There should be committees set up to deal with allegations like these. There must be teamwork, and the whole church should take on the concerns themselves, if something like this happens.

“I think a lot of apologies need to be made, in light of this report, and we need to ensure that we respect each other and take each other seriously.”

Ravinder Dharni, the vice-chair of Bradford Hindu Council, also said: “I think anybody would be upset after hearing about this report.

“It brings a bad name to faith groups, and people will, understandably, lose trust in faith institutions.

“Bradford Hindu Council has 20-plus organisations under its belt, and we make sure they all follow the appropriate guidelines and have codes of conduct and policies in place – not just for sexual abuse, but for all aspects of abusive behaviour, such as bullying or gender discrimination, too.

“Going forward, people need to make sure that every faith institution has polices in place, and they need to make sure that they follow them – it’s no use just having them stored away in a file and not acting on them.

“They have to make sure that everyone they employ is DBS checked, in order to minimise any risk.

“I also think that maybe local councils should check more – they should come in and check the paperwork in places of worship, check what policies they have in place and check if they have an up-to-date child protection officer.

“Dr Javed Bashir and Strengthening Faith Institutions offer a really good service, which ensures that every institution is protected.”

Dr Javed Bashir, who is a safeguarding lead with Strengthening Faith Institutions (SFI), explained how the organisation operates.

“SFI works to create stronger, healthier, integrated and accessible places of worship in Bradford and across the UK”, he said.

“SFI supports faith centres to ensure that their premises are safe, and works with each faith institution individually to develop a comprehensive safeguarding solution, including systemic training, DBS checks, bespoke safeguarding policies and consultation.

“Once an organisation has joined the SFI network, SFI regional consultants work with the trustees and senior team to create a bespoke health-check and action plan. 

“The health-check is a comprehensive organisational audit, which assesses the overall strengths and weaknesses of the faith centre’s policies, procedures, governance structures, business model and capacity to handle various risks.

“We believe that that the main way to keep children safe is by training people within faith organisations on how to prevent abuse via robust hiring procedures, volunteer management and updated DBS checks, plus commitment to following safeguarding protocols, to recognise possible abuse via trained designated safeguarding leads and to report abuse to appropriate bodies.”