Child sexual abuse is an “epidemic” affecting millions of people in the UK, survivors have said. Patrick Sandford, who was abused by a schoolteacher at the age of nine, said society needed to “get real and wise-up” about the scale of the issue. “It’s an epidemic,” he told The Independent .

“We are talking of millions of people walking around and trying to live with this.”

Another survivor, Ruby Joseph, said authorities needed to stop “burying their heads in the sand and pretending it’s not happening”.

“I don’t know how we can call ourselves civilised when so many of our children are being raped and we look the other way,” she added. “It’s going on all the time and it has got to stop.”

They are among the survivors giving evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Its Truth Project has been gathering anonymous accounts from victims for six years, and is appealing for more people to come forward before it closes later this year.

The evidence will be used in a report looking at the patterns of abuse, and failures by public institutions to protect children.

Read the full story from the Independent below:

Source: Survivors demand action on ‘epidemic’ of child sexual abuse affecting millions in UK