Fri, 13th Feb 2026
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls for reparations for victims and an end to religious exemptions to mandatory reporting
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has endorsed National Secular Society recommendations to tackle clerical abuse in Spain.
The committee oversees the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 34 of which enshrines a child’s right to protection from sexual abuse.
An estimated 440,000 Spaniards, or 1.1% of the population, have been subjected to sexual abuse by clerics or laypeople in the Catholic church.
In written evidence and oral testimony given before the committee in Geneva in 2024, the NSS called for:
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an end to religious exemptions to reporting abuse;
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the creation of an independent body to enforce reparations payable by the Church;
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and the lifting of statutes of limitations in abuse cases.
Statutes of limitations are legal time limits within which a civil or criminal case must be brought. Victims of abuse take, on average, 33 years to come forward, meaning statutes of limitations often prevent claims being brought.
In newly published concluding observations, the committee has recommended the Spanish Government end “any exemption for clerics from reporting abuse, including sexual abuse, and determine the imprescriptibly of sexual abuse committed by Catholic Church personnel and provide reparations to victims.”
‘Imprescriptible’ refers to legal rights that are not subject to statutes of limitations.
The committee also noted the low level of “prosecution and conviction of sexual abuse committed by Catholic Church personnel”.
Religious lobbying for exemptions to abuse law in the UK
If passed, the UK Government’s Crime and Policing Bill will remove the statute of limitations for personal injury claims relating to child sexual abuse. The NSS has long campaigned for this.
The bill will also introduce a mandatory reporting duty, but the NSS has criticised its failure to include a criminal sanction, and for applying only to known, and not suspected, abuse.
In 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) recommended a criminal sanction for failing to report abuse. It said the reporting duty must apply to suspected abuse, and there must be no religious exemptions. The NSS continues to work with parliamentarians to amend the bill.
Last year, the NSS secured Government assurances that there will be no religious exemptions to the mandatory reporting duty, including for abuse revealed during religious confession.
The bishop of Manchester, who sits ex officio in the Lords, had argued abuse revealed during confession should be exempted.
NSS: ‘Encouraging first step’
National Secular Society human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: “We’re pleased the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has endorsed our recommendations to tackle clerical abuse in Spain.
“This is an encouraging first step. The Spanish Government must now take decisive action to ensure justice for victim and survivors. In the meantime, we’ll keeping working at home and internationally to protect children from abuse in religious settings.”
