‘Supporting Victims of Unfounded Allegations of Abuse’ is a nonprofit Company (known as FACT) and is UK wide. It is a membership based, voluntary organisation run by an elected national governing committee accountable to its directors and members.
FACT has a lot of experience of supporting people throughout the U.K. who work (or have worked) in positions of responsibility and trust who conscientiously maintain they have been falsely accused of abuse or misconduct of children or vulnerable people.
It is clear to us that many whose work regularly brings them into contact with children, or vulnerable or dependent adults, do not realise just how:
- vulnerable they are to being falsely accused of abuse or misconduct
- closed safeguarding bodies are to any possibility that the allegations made might be untrue
- inadequate the justice system is in establishing truth
The current membership includes men and women who work (or have worked) in:
- children’s homes or residential schools
- mainstream education
- special education (residential or day provision)
- colleges, further and higher education establishments
- social care and/or social work
- day care units (playgroups, childminders, and nurseries
- foster carers
- the voluntary sector (youth and community work including uniformed organisations and sports clubs)
- health care provision
- faith groups and religious communities
- the police and prison services
- the armed forces
FACT is only able to support people who are paid to work or undertake voluntary work in positions of trust and responsibility. It is not able to help anyone who has been accused of abuse by a friend, family member or stranger. Neither will it provide support to anyone who has downloaded child pornography on to any computer they own or have responsibility for.
The group is therefore well-placed to comment on the vulnerability of men and women whose occupation brings, or brought them, into regular contact with children and vulnerable or dependent adults at all levels throughout the UK.
Most of the committee will either have personal or related experience of a false allegation and together with the past twenty years of experience in this field will use this to help others. FACT is responsible for its own fund-raising and receives no financial or other help from Government or local authorities.
See also
Support for the falsely accused
Why it is too easy for innocent people to be wrongly accused of sexual abuse by Dr Ros Burnett