Child sexual abuse inquiry chair Alexis Jay urges government to act

Prof Alexis Jay, the previous chair of a nationwide inquiry into youngster sexual abuse, has referred to as for the “full implementation” of reforms set out in her 2022 report, which warned of “endemic” abuse throughout society in England and Wales.

A marketing campaign group chaired by Prof Jay, referred to as Act on IICSA, mentioned ministers should decide to a “clear timeline” to undertake the suggestions laid out by the Impartial Inquiry Baby Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The federal government says it helps the modifications.

The group warned towards “politicising” sexual violence and pushed again towards “misinformation”.

Prof Jay additionally distanced herself from calls from the Conservatives and Reform UK for a brand new inquiry into grooming gangs.

The IICSA nationwide inquiry was arrange in 2015 and carried out 15 investigations, together with into grooming gangs and abuse in faculties and church settings.

Prof Jay had beforehand led a landmark local inquiry into widescale abuse in Rotherham, the place it was estimated 1,400 youngsters had been exploited between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by males of Pakistani heritage.

The IICSA’s closing report was revealed in 2022 and set out 20 suggestions it mentioned had been vital to cut back youngster struggling.

They included organising a nationwide youngster safety authority, implementing tighter controls on who can work with susceptible youngsters, legislating to pressure tech companies to take stronger motion over on-line abuse materials and making not reporting abuse a criminal offence.

In an announcement issued on Sunday, Act on IICSA mentioned: “Politicising the difficulty of sexual violence fails to acknowledge its lifelong affect and hinders the implementation of significant and pressing overhaul to our programs required.”

Prof Jay mentioned: “Our mission is to not name for brand new inquiries however to advocate for the complete implementation of IICSA’s suggestions.”

She has beforehand mentioned she was “frustrated” at the previous Conservative government’s lack of progress in adopting the suggestions, and described its response as “weak”, which the Dwelling Workplace disputed on the time.

On Sunday, Act on IICSA additionally mentioned current media protection of kid sexual abuse has highlighted a “troubling development of misinformation that undermines the true scale of the disaster and the urgent want for reform”.

Talking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned the federal government was prioritising “getting on with” implementing the suggestions.

Prof Jay’s feedback got here after Tory chief Kemi Badenoch called for a national public inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal” on Thursday, which Reform chief Nigel Farage additionally helps.

The difficulty of grooming gangs was put again within the highlight after Dwelling Workplace minister Jess Phillips rejected Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into historic youngster sexual exploitation within the city, in favour of a locally-led investigation.

That call was criticised by senior Tory and Reform figures, whereas billionaire Elon Musk also fuelled online anger over the transfer in a collection of posts on social media.