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Victims of historic child abuse in British institutions will feel “cheated” if the recommendations of an inquiry, published today, are not hard-hitting enough, a survivor has said. The full report will take in nineteen strands, including those into abuse in the church and in Westminster.

One victim, who wished to be called Joanne, called for a law change to make it mandatory for allegations of child abuse to be reported to the police, even if made during confession.

The inquiry – which has taken five years to complete – has already heard that politicians, church leaders and other authority figures failed to act or turned a blind eye to child sex abuse claims.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), one of the largest and most expensive investigations of its kind ever in the UK, was established in July 2014 after a deluge of horrific revelations of abuse came to light – some dating back decades.

Most notable was the widespread and career-long abuse of children by disgraced BBC presenter Jimmy Savile.

Victims complained of cover-ups at the behest of powerful establishment figures including senior lawmakers, spies, police officers and school leaders.

The inquiry, led by social care expert Professor Alexis Jay OBE, has held 325 public hearings with 725 witnesses and processed nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence since it got under way in February 2017. Over 6,000 victims and survivors of abuse also related their experiences to the inquiry’s “Truth Project”.

Joanne said the investigations “have shown across the board catastrophic failings to protect and safeguard children – not just historically but in the very recent present. There’s no ambiguity as to how serious that is.

“The only outcome should be and must be mandatory reporting, and very uncompromising mandatory reporting.”

She argued that the inquiry “has shown is those that cover up and take no action are effectively enabling abuse – they are collaborators of it. The inquiry has shown the consequences of doing nothing.

“It goes beyond those who are victims of the abuse to those who have been at risk of abuse, and I think that’s unacceptable.”

Joanne said the Government now have an “absolute duty of care” to act on the report’s recommendations to prevent future abuse from going unreported.

The final IICSA report will comprise two parts: victims and survivors’ voices, and the inquiry’s conclusions and recommendations for change. It has already published reports and other research, laying bare appalling details of abuse within institutions, such as both the Catholic and Anglican churches.

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Politicians and church leaders had ignored and actively covered up allegations to protect perpetrators and reputations, its reports have found.

The inquiry itself was riven by setbacks before it got under way, with Professor Jay being the fourth person appointed to lead it after three of her predecessors stepped down.

Joanne commented: “All of us who have given evidence to the inquiry are not just doing it in the ‘wallowing in the past’ sort of way – we are telling our stories to show that this must not happen in the future.

“If, on the back of the evidence that has been heard […] there isn’t something very hard-hitting, I and other victims will feel very cheated and it will be very hard to get closure.”

She added: “I think the church can’t be left to regulate itself, I think it’s for statutory bodies to take that control.” Joanne said she was “silenced” by the church’s hierarchy.

Addressing what it was like for the victims of child sexual abuse to give evidence at the inquiry, she said: “I think we’ve all paid a very high price giving evidence. It’s been very traumatic to do it. It’s in the title, really – [a] public inquiry.

“It put a lot of very personal and traumatising information into the public arena. I felt often like a human sacrifice, and I felt angry that I had to be exposed to this and for it to be exposed and heard.

“If the legacy of that can bring about some meaningful change and not just some wishy-washy words […] then that will help me get some closure. We can [then] let it go knowing others are taking control to protect others.”

Joanne wants to see the report’s findings and recommendations treated as a “priority” for the Government, noting: “We have done this to show why things need to change for others in the future.”

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