STATE schools should be brought into a public inquiry into the abuse of children, campaigners have said.
The call comes in a petition to the Scottish Parliament by Maryanne Pugsley.
Ms Pugsley said she wanted to raise the issue after she was "sexually and emotionally abused by a teacher in a state school in Scotland".
She said she suffered abuse between the age of 12 and 15-years-old in the 1970s.
READ MORE: John Swinney agrees to extend Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry
She said she only realised this was child abuse in the 1990s and raised a complaint.
The accused was suspended for a few months and then moved to another local authority to carry on teaching, she said.
She said: "I consider it my civic duty to raise this petition. I have reached out to so many in trying to seek justice. I have not lived a life reaching my full potential.
"If we do not have this inquiry, we're not going to be able to truthfully say that we have found every predator out there."
The ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is currently looking at the abuse of children in care - which currently only includes state, private and independent boarding schools.
READ MORE: More than 360 complaints of physical and sexual abuse
The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament "to urge the Scottish Government to endorse a public inquiry into the abuse of children within Scottish state schools, faith or otherwise".
The petition also seeks a review of the law of corroboration because of the difficulties facing victims who raise historic cases of abuse.
Ms Pugsley said: "I have concerns over Scotland's independent inquiry into the abuse of children in care, which currently excludes the victims of historical abuse in state schools in Scotland.
"I believe this disservice repudiates a fundamental right of the victims of child sexual abuse and of the subsequent repercussions in relation to the safeguarding of our children within state schools.
"The discrimination against the victims of historical childhood abuse within state schools being excluded from the current in care inquiry into child abuse is unfair.
"In turn the impact on the victims, children currently within the state school system and our duty towards the rehabilitation of offenders is not being addressed."
READ MORE: Child abuse inquiry is 'barely scratching the surface'
Ms Pugsley said securing corroboration into reported historical cases of child abuse within state schools was "greatly diminished" as the law currently stands.
She added: "The current law of corroboration appears only to serve as another barrier that victims of historical child sexual abuse have to endure.
"As it currently stands, the law of corroboration could be seen to be protecting child molesters and paedophiles, rather than victims."
"Given the very nature of some of the grooming tactics employed by a child molester or paedophile, those of isolation and the fear instilled upon the victim if they “tell”, leaves very little chance of corroboration."
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