As your Police and Crime Commissioner and local Victims’ Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington, I am committed to delivering a first-class service for victims. The test of that commitment is whether people feel listened to, treated with compassion and able to get help.

For someone who experienced sexual abuse as a child, asking for that help can be incredibly difficult. You may have carried what happened for years, even decades, without telling anyone. You may worry that you will not be believed, or that speaking out will turn your life upside down.

Perhaps you did tell someone but were let down. Perhaps an investigation ended, leaving questions unanswered and the feeling that nobody wanted to listen.
If you recognise yourself in these words, please know this: what happened was not your fault. You deserved protection then, and you deserve care and support now.

You should not have to suffer in silence. Nor should you feel pressured to speak before you are ready.

That is why I welcome ‘I Am Ready’, a new national website developed with the help of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation. It brings together information about specialist support, reporting abuse and the options for reviewing previously closed cases.

You can explore it at your own pace, take a break and return later.

Where an investigation was closed by the police or Crown Prosecution Service, the website helps explain whether a review may be available. Depending on the circumstances, this could involve the Victims’ Right to Review scheme, the Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel or Operation Beaconport, which examines previously closed investigations into group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation.

However, a review does not guarantee a reopened investigation or a prosecution. People deserve clear explanations, without promises that cannot be kept.

But the end of an investigation must never be treated as the end of someone’s need for support. A closed case does not erase a person’s pain.

For those let down in the past, trust must be earned. I expect services to listen without judgement, explain decisions sensitively and follow through on what they say they will do. That is central to the first-class victims’ service my Police, Crime and Justice Plan seeks to deliver.

Here in County Durham and Darlington, our Victim Care and Mentor Service offers free, confidential practical and emotional support. You can contact the team yourself, whether you have reported to police or not, and regardless of when or where the crime happened.

If someone confides in you, your response matters. Listen. Do not press for details or ask why they waited. Remind them that responsibility lies entirely with those who abused them.

Visit: IAmReady.org.uk for national information. For local support, visit: victimcareandmentorservice.co.uk or call 0800 138 2020. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
My message to you is simple: you do not have to face this alone. Whatever you decide next, you deserve kindness, dignity and help. When you are ready, we are here.