A VICTIM of child sexual abuse urged members of a major national conference to make a difference and educate children about the dangers they could face at the hands of predators.

Speakers told a packed room of people from a range of charities and organisations at Aagrah Midpoint about their experiences on child exploitation and 'grooming gangs'.

Among those to speak about the ordeals they went through as children was Sabah Kaiser, from Bristol, who was first abused by members of her family when she was seven.

She spoke to the stunned audience about the abuse and how it lasted until she was 14-years-old.

When she finally plucked up the courage to tell her mother, school teachers and the police, she said nobody believed her and described herself as a victim of "institutionalised failure".

She described how she struggled to understand what was happening to her when she was abused, and said it is vital children get a sex education - especially Asian children where the subject of sex is still seen as a taboo in many families.

"I would like to see all of you in this room effect change so our children are equipped with the information to keep themselves safe as opposed to my upbringing," she said.

"It was meant to protect me but it left me ill-equipped.

"My mum's choice (not to provide a sex education) left me vulnerable to the predators who wanted to harm that innocence.

"Enough is enough. I want there to be a purpose for all of this and why you are here.

"I don't care about who is to blame in the past, what I want to know is what all of you are going to do about our future.

"I'm not just another tragic story, my story is real and there are children still living my life."

Sabah argued the best way to tackle child sexual exploitation would be as part of a "three pronged attack" to provide a sex education at school for all children, which is mirrored at home and in the community.

She said this strategy could be used to help children speak out.

Khalida Ashrafi, chair of Together Against Grooming, also urged the audience to help change the landscape of reporting.

She added: "If you don't use the power of the spoken word to effect change, power is useless.

"Think about what you can do as part of your organisation to do something different."

The conference was organised by Muslim-led West Yorkshire-based campaign group Together Against Grooming (TAG) and featured academics, senior lawyers, and those directly involved in the recent grooming cases in Rochdale and Telford., including Holly Archer, author of "I Never Gave My Consent - A Schoolgirl's Life Inside the Telford Sex Ring and Geraldine McKelvie, the Sunday Mirror reporter who broke the story that 1,000 children had been abused over 40 years in Telford.

The conference was headlined by Dr Ella Cockbain, who is the country’s leading academic and authority on sexual violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery.