History & Policy

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS Over the past twenty years, a growing number of countries have established national inquiries in relation to historic child abuse, encompassing investigations of abuse in residential institutions and foster-care, as well as abuse in the context of particular types of institution or specific child welfare programmes. Historical researchers have engaged with these inquiries in a range of different roles – as members of inquiry secretariats, consultants, expert witnesses and, in at least one case, as the director of a national inquiry (Prof Pirjo Markkola in Finland). This panel brings together speakers with a range of expertise across these different roles to explore what we can learn from a range of international examples about the relationship between historical research and child abuse enquiries. Amongst the questions to be explored in this session are: How important is histo