Episode description
Maggie Oliver is a former Greater Manchester Police detective who became one of Britain’s most important whistleblowers by exposing institutional failures to protect children from sexual exploitation.

She joined GMP in 1997, working in Serious Crime. During Operation Augusta, she interviewed victims as young as 11. Of 97 perpetrators identified, only three were taken to court. She was told victims “were prostitutes making a lifestyle choice” – “bad kids” not credible witnesses.

In Operation Span investigating Rochdale, the same patterns emerged. When she tried to be heard, she was written off as too emotionally involved. She resigned in March 2013 because speaking truth required leaving the institution. Nine men were jailed, but hundreds of perpetrators were never charged. The system investigated itself, paid compensation, and changed nothing.

Maggie founded the Maggie Oliver Foundation, supporting nearly 5,000 victims and survivors. Her charity is leading the only judicial review challenging government failure to implement the 20 recommendations from the £200m+ IICSA inquiry. In this episode, Maggie discusses how the
“independent” IOPC redirects 96% of complaints back to police forces, why institutions block survivor testimony from reviews, and why meaningful accountability requires survivor-led oversight with real enforcement powers.

Content warning
This episode discusses child sexual exploitation, abuse, institutional failures, police misconduct, and whistleblower retaliation.

Key quotes
“Senior officers make decisions. As a junior officer, you do as you’re told. My job wasn’t to do as I was told, it was to uphold the law.”
“When institutions that are meant to protect them turn away, the damage is multiplied a million-fold.”
“You cannot trust a report that is not listening to those who have experienced what happened then and what happens now.”
“Of 80,000 complaints to the IOPC last year, complaints never actually reach the IOPC. They’re immediately redirected back to the police force being complained about. Only 3,000 came back.”
“What is the point of a national inquiry if the government don’t implement the recommendations? It gives survivors false hope.”
“I would rather my charity does not exist than accept money that would give somebody a mechanism to silence me from speaking the truth.”

Contact
Follow @addresstheharm
Visit addresstheharm.org
Email: press@addresstheharm.org

Take action
Support our crowdfund: crowdfunder.co.uk/addresstheharm
Support the Maggie Oliver Foundation
Download the white paper at addresstheharm.org

Address The Harm®️ is hosted by Leah Brown FRSA, founder of The WayFinders Group and architect of the Coalition for Institutional Accountability.

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