Public Awareness Campaign
The Inquiry recommends that the UK government and the Welsh Government commission regular programmes of activity to increase public awareness about child sexual abuse and the action to take if child sexual abuse is happening or suspected in England and in Wales. The programmes should: challenge myths and stereotypes about child sexual abuse; make maximum use of different approaches including, but not limited to, public information campaigns, the use of positive role models and creative media, such as television drama; and be supported by continuous evaluation to measure their impact.
- No published regular programme of public awareness activity about child sexual abuse beyond existing campaigns has been identified to March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartWe accept the importance of bringing child sexual abuse out of the shadows and creating more national awareness of the scale and nature of the issues and how to report concerns and cases of child sexual abuse. We have funded and delivered several public awareness campaigns and will continue to explore the most effective ways of raising awareness of child sexual abuse.
Progress Timeline
Enhanced communications campaign underway; continued funding for 'Look Closer' and Fearless programs; support for Lucy Faithfull Foundation to prevent offending and support survivors.
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
Professor Alexis Jay told Home Affairs Committee that £187m was spent on IICSA and "to date none of its final recommendations had been implemented." Called for "full implementation" saying "get it done."
View detailed findings
As of December 2024, none of the 20 final report recommendations had been implemented. The previous government's response was described by Prof Jay as "very weak and, at times, apparently disingenuous."