A Huddersfield child protection expert has called for better education to avoid more Rolf Harris cases.

Dr Bernard Gallagher, of the University of Huddersfield, believes the conviction of Harris and Stuart Hall, and the scandal about Jimmy Savile, have made it easier for victims to come forward years after the events.

But he fears that far too many youngsters are still at risk of abuse and warned of the need for a better education system.

Dr Gallagher, a reader in social work, said it was time for a “wake-up” call.

“Our understanding of child sexual abuse has come a long way over the past 20-30 years. There are now more ways in which it can be detected, and the police are far more effective at investigating it. But once the furore over celebrity sexual abusers dissipates, then societal concern will diminish and children and women will continue to be sexually abused.

“Still, our approach to child sex abuse, as with so many social and criminal ills, is often to shut the gate after the horse has bolted. Yes, we gnash our teeth and beat our chests when we discover abuse but we still do little to prevent it. In short, our approach to sexual offending more generally needs a dramatic overhaul.

“That will l require a serious long-term public awareness campaign, where every citizen is given the chance to learn about the extent and nature of sexual abuse, how its perpetrators commit their crimes, and how they avoid detection.

“To achieve this, we must ensure that every child in the country receives adequate sex education lessons. It is ridiculous to expect children to understand and avoid sexual abuse if they haven’t been adequately taught about normal, consensual sex. An Ofsted report published last year found that sex education was poor in more than one-third of English schools, leaving these children vulnerable to abuse.

“But even more importantly, we urgently have to address male socialisation. Of course some sexual abuse is committed by women, but they are responsible for only a small proportion of offences – by some estimates, as low at 6%. Sexual offences against both children and women are crimes committed overwhelmingly by men, both men and boys.

“If our society is serious about changing that, we have to change the way boys are socialised. As things stand, too many grow up to believe it is acceptable to sexually assault children and women”.

Dr Gallagher said the exposure of Savile and the convictions of Harris, Max Clifford and Hall might well offer some form of “closure” to their victims .

But he added: “While the Savile affair and everything it has unleashed may do something to advance our understanding of sexual offending, we have also been shown the abject state of our ability to deal with it.

“And even as these abusers who for so long thought themselves beyond the law have finally been brought to justice, there is little to think the situation is changing”.