Our Values and Beliefs
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Values
- F.A.C.T. abhors child abuse. We accept sadly that children are abused, including sometimes by their carers and by their teachers, but believe that the extent to which this happens is exaggerated.
- F.A.C.T. is clear that all forms of child abuse are wrong, and that the police and investigative agencies have a difficult job to do.
- F.A.C.T. accepts that all complaints of abuse must be thoroughly investigated.
- F.A.C.T. encourages the immediate reporting of abuse. We believe that anyone who has been abused has responsibility both to themselves and to wider society to report this immediately it happens.
- F.A.C.T. will not allow anyone into its membership unless they warrant that they have not abused a child (or vulnerable adult) and sign a declaration that any allegations of abuse that have been made against them are false.
- F.A.C.T. strongly believes in the indivisibility of justice - for those who are abused as children (and their families) and for those who are falsely accused of abuse.
- F.A.C.T. believes that properly protecting children and taking seriously the possibility of false allegations of abuse are not mutually exclusive concepts - both are important and both impact on each other.
Beliefs
F.A.C.T. believes false allegations of child abuse:-
- blight families and ruin children's lives
- demoralise staff and limit recruitment
- waste valuable police time
- waste valuable professionals time
- undermine the integrity of police and the investigative process
- cost millions of pounds per year
- bring the justice system into disrepute
- undermine the development of essential trust between adults and children
- fail to protect children
- make it much more likely that the guilty remain free