Working with the All-Party Parliamentary Group, (APPG) The Survivors Trust Chairs Landmark Meeting Between the Prime Minister and Survivors of Sexual Violence Linked to Harrods and Fayed as Calls Grow for Accountability and Systemic Reform 

Survivors subjected to decades of institutional rape and sexual abuse associated with Harrods, its former owner, Mohamed Fayed, and other linked parties are today meeting with the Prime Minister in a landmark moment hoping for accountability, justice and real action. 

The meeting follows the work of The Survivors Trust and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Survivors of Fayed and Harrods. This cross-party group of MPs aims to amplify survivors’ voices in Parliament, scrutinise investigations, and push for transparency and systemic change. 

This is the first time a Prime Minister has engaged directly with survivors connected to a single institution in this way. 

The Survivors Trust, the UK’s largest umbrella organisation for specialist rape and sexual abuse support services, with over 122 members, has been supporting the APPG in this work. The charity was approached for its expertise in institutional abuse, including patterns of power, cover-ups, and survivor-centred responses. 

Through collective engagement with survivors, representatives, and legal teams, more than 480 individuals have already been identified. It is widely acknowledged that this number is likely to be a lot higher and with the sector in funding crisis it’s a worry how survivors will receive the specialist support they are entitled to.  

Lucy Duckworth, Policy lead for The Survivors Trust who will chair the meeting with the Prime Minister said: 

“This meeting represents a significant and hard-earned milestone for survivors. It is the result of sustained courage, persistence, and a refusal to remain silent in the face of serious harm. 

We are aware of more than 480 survivors, and we know there will be many more. Each survivor’s experience matters, and each person deserves accountability  and the opportunity to be heard.  

This must be a turning point and we need to start joining the dots. We need to confront ourselves and policymakers with the wider systemic failures that allowed abuse on this scale to occur and persist. Lasting change will depend on transparency, accountability, and a commitment to strengthening safeguarding across institutions.” 

The APPG continues to call for a full understanding of the systemic failures surrounding Harrods, alongside concrete action to prevent abuse on this scale from happening again.  

The Survivors Trust emphasised that today’s meeting should be seen as the beginning of sustained engagement with Government, rather than an end point, and that continued collaboration between survivors, policymakers, and other organisations will be essential for meaningful reform. 

Support options 

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