1. It can be extremely difficult for victims and survivors to speak about their experiences of child sexual abuse. Revisiting traumatic childhood experiences can cause significant distress. Prior experiences of being silenced, blamed or not taken seriously can discourage victims and survivors from disclosing child sexual abuse again. Despite these challenges, many victims and survivors chose to share their experiences with the Inquiry. For some, it was the first time they had ever spoken about being sexually abused as a child (Figure B.1).

Figure B.1: Proportion of Truth Project participants who told the Inquiry that participating in the Truth Project was the first time they had ever spoken about being sexually abused as a child