A Union Jack flag flutters at full mast following the end of the official period of mourning of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London
A Union Jack flag flutters at full mast following the end of the official period of mourning of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain September 20, 2022. Reuters

Child sex abuse is epidemic in Britain, affecting millions of victims, with vile and horrific acts hidden away for decades as institutions and politicians prioritised reputations over the welfare of young people, a public inquiry said on Thursday.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), one of the largest and most expensive investigations of its kind ever undertaken in Britain, said it was a global crisis, where children would be at risk unless urgent action was taken.

"The nature and scale of the abuse we encountered was shocking and deeply disturbing," Alexis Jay, a social care expert who led the inquiry, told reporters. "This is not just a historical aberration which happened decades ago, it is an ever-increasing problem and a national epidemic."

The inquiry was set up in July 2014 following a series of horrific revelations of abuse, some of which dated back decades, with the most notable involving the late BBC television star Jimmy Savile who after his death was revealed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

It has published 15 investigations and dozens of other reports, cataloguing details of appalling abuse at institutions including the Catholic Church, the Church of England, and Britain's political hub in Westminster.

Politicians, church leaders and local social care bodies had ignored and actively covered up allegations to protect perpetrators and reputations, with police showing undue deference to those in public life, it said.

The inquiry heard from 725 witnesses since hearings began in Feb. 2017 and processed nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence. More than 6,000 victims and survivors of abuse also related their experiences to the inquiry's 'Truth Project'.

Jay said the abuse involved children, babies and toddlers and was often accompanied by extreme violence and acts of sadism, causing physical pain.

"It is vile and degrading and its consequences are frequently life-long for the victims," she said.

The numbers who had and continued to suffer abuse were stark. The inquiry said a 2019 crime survey indicated there were 3.1 million victims and survivors of abuse in England and Wales, or about 7.5% of the population aged 18 to 75.

Jay said in any group of 200 children, 10 boys and more than 30 girls would be victims before the age of 16. The report said even while it was carrying out its investigations, the scale of online abuse had risen dramatically.

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