Institutions and the banality of evil: Learning from Rotherham and Savile

The similarities between the Rotherham child abuse scandal and the abuses of Jimmy Savile are striking, argue Dave Richards and Martin Smith. Sustained abuse was allowed to continue with the knowledge of people in key positions of authority, showing that closed institutions can normalise appalling, abusive behaviour. They argue that we need to move towards a new tradition of openness and real accountable in our institutions.