Jake’s Justice: A Film about the Sexual Abuse in a Care Home of a Man with Learning Difficulties

Jake’s Justice: A Film about the Sexual Abuse in a Care Home of a Man with Learning Difficulties 
Sunny Arts for PAVA UK,
£99.95 (including resource book)

STAR RATING: 5/5

The cover of this DVD says “all those working with vulnerable adults should have to watch this film”. It is a challenging film, in that it forces us to think the unthinkable, writes Clive Cartman-Frost.

Based on a play of the same name commissioned by Voice UK, Jake’s Justice is hard-hitting, powerful and moving. It illustrates some of the challenges for organisations working with vulnerable people in bringing perpetrators of adult abuse to justice.

What comes over in Nicholas Wolfson’s portrayal of Jake is a deep sense of injustice and the lasting impact that abuse has on him and his family. The film ends with Jake and his mother facing an uncertain future and the chilling prospect of Kevin the care worker continuing to work with vulnerable people.

The DVD comes with a resource book that examines themes from the film and provides opportunities for discussion about how people with learning difficulties can develop skills and awareness of abuse to keep themselves safe.

The film, along with the resource book will be an invaluable tool for training and raising awareness and sets the agenda for organisations and agencies to review their arrangements for safeguarding vulnerable people.

Clive Cartman-Frost is complaints services manager, Staffordshire Council and a former adult protection co-ordinator