Abuse can happen t whatever your backg have to stop childre

long and lonely journey to get here.

“It’s a lonely journey for everyone, whether you’re a victim or you’re witnessing abuse, or you’re in a family where you don’t want to upset others or are worried what happened to you will bring shame on your family.”

That fear of shaming her family is what stopped Saira telling her parents when her uncle molested her at 13. Saira, 47, only told her mother and brothers after her uncle and father were dead. She says: “In my family, my uncle was someone you wouldn’t think in a million years was capable of molesting children and I probably wasn’t the only one.

“I still feel like I am bringing shame on my family but me talking about it might stop just one other girl from being abused. This campaign is about empowering people not scaring them. It’s about not taking anything for granted.

“So many people have been in touch with me since this happened. Just one voice can empower others.”

Maggie agrees that telling parents about abuse can be difficult and wants independent groups set up in the community to help victims and families.

She says: “Paedophiles can come from anywhere – they might be your nextdoor neighbour, your football coach, your teacher, they might be someone in your own home. We need to encourage kids to keep lines of communication open with parents. I would advise parents not to judge their kids and make sure that they feel they can trust you.”

As they chat at ITV’S Loose Women studios in London, the women agree the BBC drama Three Girls, about the abuse in Rochdale, should be shown in schools.

In the series, shown last May, Lesley Sharpe played Maggie and Maxine Peake starred as sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham, who also helped uncover the scandal.

Maggie, who quit the police after 16 years to expose the wrongdoings of senior officers, says: “So many people have said to me since seeing Three Girls, ‘I had heard of grooming but I didn’t realise that’s what it was’.

“If victims can discuss their experiences in a peer group, away from their parents’ horrified reactions, they may get the help they need. Parents are often so frightened they overreact and this can push children into an isolated corner.

“I am campaigning for a whistleblowers’ ombudsman as well, because I am still being contacted by police officers who are still witnessing what I saw – and they don’t know where to go. But I would like to say, voice can make a difference, beca one voice becomes two, becomes becomes dozens.

“A whistleblowers’ ombudsm which would be independent, woul a place you can go and share knowle And knowledge is the key.”

Sammy’s abuse still continue