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.
It has been more than two years since the inquiry ended, but it was overshadowed as it published its final report. It raises the question: if there hadn’t been the high-profile resignation of Liz Truss on the same day, would these recommendations have been acted on sooner? Victims and survivors have been let down for too long. They must be heard.Name and address supplied
• I appreciate your overview of the issues concerning IICSA (The Guardian view on child sexual exploitation: concrete action must be the priority, 9 January). However, the key point is that IICSA relied on the insight and expertise of survivors to put together the recommendations. To hold another inquiry is to ignore our voices, to ignore our work. It took a huge amount of courage, time, energy and toll on our health to do that. It meant reliving trauma in order to give feedback on what legislation and services are needed to protect victims and support the recovery of victims and survivors.
I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. I contributed to the work of IISCA. I continue to campaign for the implementation of IICSA recommendations through the IICSA Changemakers. My voice and those of other victims and survivors, male and female, are the only ones that count in this. I ask everyone to please remember that in any discussion.Nicky RichardsIICSA Changemakers Survivor Advisory Community
• I became the police and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire immediately after Prof Alexis Jay published her report on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham in 2014. I proposed setting up a victims and survivors panel, as the home secretary is now proposing to do at a national level.
But the survivors made a significant change, asking for a victims, survivors and their families panel, which is what we established.
The point they were making is that there are many victims of child sexual exploitation. The primary victim is, of course, the one who is abused. But there are others, not least the younger sisters of victims, who can be traumatised by what they see happening to their older sibling. Our panel included parents who had been ignored by the authorities and who went out of their minds trying to save their daughters from the hands of the groomers. I commend a similar change to the home secretary for the national panel.Dr Alan BillingsPolice and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire, 2014-24