IICSA report finds victim blaming, abuse of power and mistrust of authority to be commonplaceChildren involved in religious organisations, including Sunday schools and madrasas, are vulnerable to sexual abuse in cultures where victim blaming, abuse of …
Clare Wenger obituary
Gerontologist who studied how support systems for older people in rural areas adapt as aspects of society changeThe gerontologist Clare Wenger, who has died aged 84, conducted the Bangor Longitudinal Study of Ageing, the first of its kind in the UK, wh…
Vulnerable children at risk as England faces shortfall of 25,000 foster families
No support, a broken system and increasing poverty are hampering the recruitment of carers, charities warnEngland faces a 25,000 shortfall in foster families over the next five years, amid complaints of a lack of support for existing carers and a broke…
Attempt to force release of Johnson’s messages on Covid in care homes fails
High court rules that government does not have to disclose potentially explosive WhatsApp textsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe government has successfully resisted disclosure of potentially explosive WhatsApp messages be…
The Guardian view on children’s care in crisis: the high price of neglect | Editorial
After years of cuts, the pandemic has left social services and the young people they support brutally exposed About the only good thing that can be said about the worsening crisis in children’s social care is that it is being talked about. The extremel…
‘Systematic failings’ in England’s care system as boy restrained in hospital
High court hears incident meant other seriously ill children had to be moved to nearby hospitalsThe “shameful” case of a violent 12-year-old boy who was detained in hospital by 15 police officers illustrates the “systemic failings” in England’s care sy…
Predatory financial tactics are putting the very survival of the UK care system at risk | Christine Corlet Walker
The competitive, for-profit model means investor returns have become more important than quality care and worker payThe crisis in social care in the UK does not have just one cause, nor one simple solution. Chronic underfunding, an ageing population, t…
A childhood desire to wear women’s pants has returned. Is it perverted? | Ask Annalisa
Don’t be ashamed. Shame is for the other people in your life who failed you, says Annalisa BarbieriAs a child, I stole a pair of my mother’s high-waisted, pink and white nylon knickers and wore them under my short trousers to school. I was six years ol…
Angela Rayner: ‘We don’t want to be an opposition, we want to be a government’
Labour’s deputy leader opens up about being a carer, byelections, and achieving a ‘cultural shift’ in the workplaceLabour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has said her own experience as a care worker helped to convince her more flexible working could be…
When moral pieties get in the way of doing the right thing, children suffer | Sonia Sodha
The 1980s child abuse scandal reminds us that now, as then, being ‘on the side of the angels’ has to be backed with actionA council’s most important job is not emptying the bins or filling in potholes, the stuff most people see day to day. It has by fa…