The Ilkley Journal

The Ilkley Journal

Fiona Goddard: My fight for a proper national grooming gangs inquiry

In her own words, the CSE survivor turned campaigner on the historic and ongoing failures that have frustrated her fight to get answers ...

Fiona Goddard's avatar
Fiona Goddard
Nov 08, 2025
∙ Paid
Image credit: PA Images/Laura North

As a survivor of grooming gangs and now an advocate working to expose what went wrong, I’m constantly asked: why do we need a specific inquiry into grooming gangs? Here’s my response.

I was the first to resign from the government’s grooming gang inquiry survivors’ liaison panel in October. Since then, several other members have resigned and both of the shortlisted chairs have also withdrawn. Some survivors and campaigners are now questioning whether the process can be trusted at all.

But we cannot let this inquiry fail. And I want to explain why getting it right matters so much.

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Fiona Goddard's avatar
A guest post by
Fiona Goddard
I am a cse survivor, campaigner and advocate from bradford hopeing to make meaningful change for future generations.
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