Prof Alexis Jay is right: we need action, not more inquiries (Former chair of child abuse inquiry says another one would only delay action, 7 January). She’d know as she spent seven years chairing one. The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) was set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal. It was a societal turning point, with the nation collectively gasping in horror over the extent and covering up of his crimes. But the inquiry brought something much more sinister into the public consciousness: that the sexual abuse of children knew and knows no bounds.
It permeates almost every institution and environment, from care homes and the church to schools and the internet. The inquiry examined it all, processing more than 2.8m pages of evidence, having heard from more than 6,000 victims and survivors. Child sexual abuse is far from a crime of the past. Nor is it a political football. It is happening right now. And its effects can be lifelong.
