Britain has long grappled with a dark history of so-called grooming gangs that have sexually abused thousands of girls. The issue has long divided British politics. The perpetrators of several high-profile incidents that received media attention have been identified as men from Pakistan. Some politicians and public figures have focused on these incidents, and researchers suggest that this ethnic framework may hinder efforts to address child sexual exploitation.
The debate was reignited after billionaire Elon Musk weighed in on the issue, accusing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to rein in the threat of gangs grooming and sexually exploiting young girls. He also called for the jailing of Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, who refused to sanction a government inquiry into the history of child abuse in Oldham town. Phillips proposed instead that local committees be established along the lines of those established in Rotherham and Telford. The Conservative Party has criticized the ruling Labor Party, claiming it has “abandoned” the victims of these crimes.
Critics claim Mr Musk raised the issue to target Starmer’s government and support Reform UK, a far-right party known for its anti-immigration stance.
How widespread is the grooming gang problem? Although group-based crimes make up a small proportion of child sexual exploitation cases in the UK, media attention and significant public interest have led to widespread debate within the country. The debate also focuses on administrative mismanagement that has resulted in victims being seen as perpetrators or not being heard.
What does the data show?
Of the more than 1.15 million child sex crimes reported in the UK in 2023, 4,228 (3.7%) were group-based crimes, according to police data. 26% of these crimes occurred within families, and 17% involved groups such as grooming gangs. Institutions such as schools, religious institutions, and community centers accounted for 9% of group-based crimes.
The task force, set up by then chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2023 to tackle grooming gangs, arrested more than 550 suspects in its first year.
Cases of grooming and sexual exploitation
A network of abusers grooming young girls in several British cities has been revealed, sparking public concern. These “gangs” operate by befriending underage victims and often use alcohol, drugs, and gifts to manipulate them. In most cases, the victims are vulnerable children living in state custody or in broken homes.
The Oldham case, which has sparked intense debate this week, refers to social media concerns between 2011 and 2014 about child sexual exploitation and an alleged cover-up by the town council. However, an independent report released in 2022 said there was “no evidence” of such cover-ups or widespread sexual abuse by local hookah shops or taxi drivers. The report found that local authorities failed to protect some children from grooming and exploitation. There are growing calls from the public to expand the scope of the investigation into the Oldham incident.
In 2024, an independent investigation commissioned by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham found that grooming and exploitation of young girls was rampant in Rochdale. It also highlighted the failure of authorities to properly investigate these cases between 2004 and 2013. Nine perpetrators were found guilty, eight of them British-Pakistani men. The report found that young girls were drugged and raped on top of takeaway shops, then transported in taxis in exchange for cash.
The Rochdale investigation dates back to a 2014 report by Professor Alexis Jay, which investigated the activities of grooming gangs in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The report states that 1,400 children, some as young as 11, were exploited during that period. It outlines how children were threatened with petrol and guns. The report notes that the majority of the victims were white girls and the perpetrators were of Pakistani descent.
Similar incidents have been found in Telford, Oxford, Bristol and other towns and cities.
The Independent Investigation Team into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Jay, was commissioned by the government in 2015 and has since published a series of reports on these cases. The report recorded the voices of victims, who often felt blamed for their plight or shamed for reporting abuse. Victims also spoke about the inaction of police and local governments.
ethnicity issues
Professor Jay said in his 2014 report that council officers “said they were nervous about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being seen as racist”. Others remembered clear instructions from their managers not to do so. ”
When Sunak launched the Grooming Gang Task Force in 2023, he said perpetrators had evaded justice for too long due to “political correctness”.
That same year, Conservative MP and then Home Secretary Suela Braverman wrote in a column for the Daily Mail that “almost all” British-Pakistani men were involved in the “grooming gang phenomenon”. suggested. The newspaper later revealed that she was referring specifically to “high-profile cases such as Rotherham and Rochdale”, adding that “perpetrators of child sexual abuse more broadly represent a wide range of ethnic groups”. Yes,” he added.
Claims linking crime to the ethnicity of the perpetrator have no basis in fact.
A letter signed by 50 researchers following Braverman’s comments warned that such claims “perpetuate misinformation, racism and division.”
A report published by the UK Home Office said there was not enough data to conclude that the majority of gang crime offenders were Asian or Pakistani. It turns out that the majority of perpetrators of sexual crimes against children are white.
“Several studies suggest that black and Asian offenders are overrepresented compared to national demographics. “It cannot be concluded that this represents a crime (exploitation),” the report said.
“This is due to issues such as data quality issues, how samples are selected in studies, and the potential for bias or inaccuracy in how ethnic data is collected,” the report added.
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