Professor Gordon Lynch’s research has been published by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry’s in the latest report, Child abuse and Scottish children sent overseas through child migration schemes. This 750-page document was co-authored by Professors Gordon Lynch, Stephen Constantine (Lancaster University) and Majory Harper (University of Aberdeen).
The report examines the policy context for UK child migration programmes as well as serious organisational failures that harmed children or exposed them to abuse. Whilst focusing in detail on the experiences of Scottish children, the report examines failures by the Government and major churches and charities which affected the lives of child migrants from all across the United Kingdom. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry notes that the document looks at the ‘the policy and practice contexts that informed UK child migration schemes between the 1880s and 1960s; the experiences of Scottish children migrated to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); and considers the extent to which those responsible for safeguarding the health and wellbeing of children in care, failed in their duty to protect these children both whilst they were in care in Scotland and once they had been migrated.’
During 2016/17, Professor Gordon Lynch was also an expert witness for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s investigation into the abuse of British child migrants, with Professor Stephen Constantine. Evidence presented by Professors Lynch and Constantine to the Inquiry underpinned its recommendation that the UK Government urgently establish a redress scheme for all surviving British child migrants. The UK Government agreed to implement this recommendation in December 2018.
Speaking on the publication of this report, Professor Lynch said, ‘We’re delighted that this report has been made available as a public resource by the Inquiry. It is one of the most comprehensive documents available on the history of UK child migration programmes and contains detailed archival analysis which documents major failures on the part of a number of organisations. Archival material used for the report that is held by some voluntary organisations has not been easily available to researchers before. Publication of this report is an important step of bringing this material into the public domain for the first time.’