Child sexual abuse victims have been let down by the “blatant hypocrisy and moral failing” of religions “purporting to teach right from wrong”, an inquiry has found.

       The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) discovered cases of abuse in most major UK religions, with some found to have no child protection policies in place at all.

       In its latest report, the inquiry said there was no way of knowing the true scale of child sex abuse in religious settings as there was likely to be “significant” under-reporting.

       The inquiry examined evidence from 38 religious groups in England and Wales including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Methodists, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and non-conformist Christian denominations.

       It found religious leaders blamed victims, put the organisation’s reputation above the needs of victims and discouraged the external reporting of allegations.

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       Analysis of data from Operation Hydrant, which examines cases of non-recent child sexual abuse, suggested 11 per cent (443 instances) of offending took place within a religious organisation or setting between early 2015 and 2020.

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