CHILD abuse is one of society's last taboos. Until recently it was rarely, if ever, discussed. Suffering took place behind closed doors and no one was prepared to open them.

The campaigning work spearheaded by Esther Rantzen in the 1980s did a great deal to finally bring the subject to public attention. Something of the scale of the misery was revealed. Childline was, and continues to be, swamped with calls.

There is much more to be done, however. People are still unwilling to talk about child abuse. But the pain will not go away just because we try not to think about it.

The NSPCC has been in the forefront of the battle against child abuse for many years. Today the charity launched a major campaign to end cruelty to children: York Full Stop.

The charity has chosen York partly because of its excellent links with the city council and others. York has a proud history of pioneering social improvements, notably the Rowntree family's endeavours to tackle poverty, and that tradition continues to this day.

This city also provides the perfect platform for one of the NSPCC's key messages: that child abuse happens everywhere, all the time. York's prosperous and seemingly respectable status affords no protection against child abuse. Eighty children are on the child protection register here, and the NSPCC believes many more are being abused.

Child abuse covers everything from psychological cruelty to assault. But sexual abuse provokes the most vehement reaction. On the tide of emotion that followed the Sarah Payne murder, one national newspaper launched a 'name and shame' campaign to identify paedophiles. This misguided, unilateral approach provoked vigilante attacks on innocent people and forced known child abusers underground.

By contrast the NSPCC Full Stop campaign is designed to banish public ignorance of child abuse. We should listen and learn. The better informed we are, the better we can protect our children.