Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be horrified at how much worse the "grooming gangs" actually were than I thought

481 replies

OneAmberFinch · 04/01/2025 13:36

There are several other threads about Elon Musk, Labour, Jess Phillips, etc.

I don't want to discuss them in this thread. The other threads keep getting derailed and I just want a place to discuss how absolutely horrifying the new details that emerged this week are.

I knew that there were "grooming gangs" who would entice girls in care or from broken homes to be their "boyfriends" by giving them cigarettes and vapes, for example.

I didn't know that girls as young as 11 were being brutally tortured and raped, that people had been killed over it, including one policeman who arranged for some of the rapists to get off, houses burnt down. I didn't know the details of the violent gang rapes which I won't repeat here but you can find on X.

I'm just genuinely shocked and horrified.

Some of the court transcripts circulating are from 2013. How did I not know?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
22
30percent · 04/01/2025 16:08

Adamante · 04/01/2025 15:53

The problem is there's a lot of terrorist activity from the far right and events like this are perfect fodder.

Genuine question. What organised recent terrorist activity from the Far Right is there?

Exactly what? I assume they're talking about the riots last summer. Honestly I'm surprised there aren't more riots especially after reading the more brutal details that have come out recently about the rape gangs.

Nameychangington · 04/01/2025 16:08

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 16:04

I'm not.
I'm adressing that there are many posters on this thread wanting to discuss Islam and its impact.
There were cultural factors at play in these crimes. But Islam is not the cause of these crimes its irrelevant.
The cultural identity of the perpetrators may have had an impact on how the police handled these specific situations, and that does obviously need review.
But it's just not helpful to try and make these types of crimes about Islam in any way for reasons I have said over and over.
Nor does it help to make it a cultural issue in general when the majority of these types of crimes across the UK are carried out by white British men.
There's reason to look at the impact the cultural element had on the investigation of some of these crimes, obviously.

No Islam isn't the cause, you're right. But we shouldn't ignore that the culture in the Pakistani Muslim community does seem to have been a significant factor. It's like trying to understand the Troubles in Northern Ireland but not referencing the religion of the perpetrators. Not all Christians are Northern Irish terrorists, but all Northern Irish terrorists are (self defined) Christians.

CuddlyDodoToy · 04/01/2025 16:08

Details have certainly been withheld and whistle-blowers sacked and vilified. Even now some people are blaming the messenger (Elon Musk) rather than the vile abusers and rapists.

Hunglikeapolevaulter · 04/01/2025 16:07

There's a big problem with male predatory violence in the UK.
You Let this be made about Islam its an offense against the majority of kids in this country who are abused by white men.

We do need to acknowledge that certain cultural backgrounds are far more likely to commit sexual offenses than others.

Take Sweden as an example. Look at the Birthplace of perpetrators section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Sweden

And how many women posting on here would happily go on holiday to Egypt or Morocco and walk unaccompanied around busy urban areas and markets in a short skirt and tank top?

I think we're far past the point of pretending that all men pose an equal risk.

Rape in Sweden - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Sweden

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 16:06

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 16:04

I'm not.
I'm adressing that there are many posters on this thread wanting to discuss Islam and its impact.
There were cultural factors at play in these crimes. But Islam is not the cause of these crimes its irrelevant.
The cultural identity of the perpetrators may have had an impact on how the police handled these specific situations, and that does obviously need review.
But it's just not helpful to try and make these types of crimes about Islam in any way for reasons I have said over and over.
Nor does it help to make it a cultural issue in general when the majority of these types of crimes across the UK are carried out by white British men.
There's reason to look at the impact the cultural element had on the investigation of some of these crimes, obviously.

The perpetrators deliberately targeted non Muslim girls on a vast industrial scale. Nationwide. In every major city. 250,000 victims at least. Surely that's something we all need to be aware of? Or do we brush it under the carpet and say "no religious racial element here everyone...just a bunch of victims randomly targeted for no particular reason!".

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 16:06

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 15:59

But the main point is that the police do not operate a "hands off" policy unless the perpetrators are Asian Muslims and the victims are not in a protected category (unlike Muslims themselves).

Oh God but they do!!

Like I said there is a reason to investigate how the police handled these particular crimes due to not wanting to create racial tension.. obviously mistakes were made.

But let's be honest the police have turned a blind eye to abuse of girls in care in many circumstances not related to cultural tensions!
I've seen it first hand working in mental health and coming across many care leavers.

OneAmberFinch · 04/01/2025 16:06

@ContactNightmare The reason governments don’t publish stats in ethnicity in crime is not because they don’t know. It’s because the fear is it will cause a riot.

Yes!

OP posts:
OneAmberFinch · 04/01/2025 16:05

"ALL OF SOCIETY IN THE UK" did not think that anally raping 11 year olds or dousing them in petrol was okay, actually.

OP posts:
ContactNightmare · 04/01/2025 16:04

If it comes to the Catholic Church its moral authority has collapsed; people no longer go in the way they once did. The head of the Church of England has just resigned because of one paedophile operating in plain sight.

These cases are disgusting in Rotherham, Telford, and Oxford. There is even less accountability here; it’s because sexual violence against children is barely prosecuted, particularly for children who are vulnerable. These offenders don’t worry about community cohesion. They aren’t worried by the authorities either. Because really no one cares about these children; you can see a few well motivated people trying, but you can’t systematically protect children based on that.

The reason governments don’t publish stats in ethnicity in crime is not because they don’t know. It’s because the fear is it will cause a riot.

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 16:04

Snowangles · 04/01/2025 15:58

@Thatcastlethere you are confusing races and religion.

The perps here are mainly south Asian Pakistani Muslim.

I'm not.
I'm adressing that there are many posters on this thread wanting to discuss Islam and its impact.
There were cultural factors at play in these crimes. But Islam is not the cause of these crimes its irrelevant.
The cultural identity of the perpetrators may have had an impact on how the police handled these specific situations, and that does obviously need review.
But it's just not helpful to try and make these types of crimes about Islam in any way for reasons I have said over and over.
Nor does it help to make it a cultural issue in general when the majority of these types of crimes across the UK are carried out by white British men.
There's reason to look at the impact the cultural element had on the investigation of some of these crimes, obviously.

FOJN · 04/01/2025 16:04

Anonym00se · 04/01/2025 16:00

Yes, people were furious! But what has actually come of it? Who knew? Who has been punished?

People being furious is not a punishment and it won’t stop it happening. Justin Welby has just stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury because he allegedly knew and was complicit in covering up an abuser. And what? Does that mean there is no more child abuse in the CoE?

My point is that this is a much bigger problem than JUST Muslim sex gangs. The problem is all sex gangs and all institutional sex abuse.

I was responding to the point about people not having an issue with white abusers when that is clearly false.

The fact that the police response to all types of sexual abuse is woefully inadequate is a different issue.

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 16:03

Anonym00se · 04/01/2025 16:00

Yes, people were furious! But what has actually come of it? Who knew? Who has been punished?

People being furious is not a punishment and it won’t stop it happening. Justin Welby has just stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury because he allegedly knew and was complicit in covering up an abuser. And what? Does that mean there is no more child abuse in the CoE?

My point is that this is a much bigger problem than JUST Muslim sex gangs. The problem is all sex gangs and all institutional sex abuse.

No the big problem is a two tier legal system where the police will prosecute only some rapists and paedophiles as long as it doesn't upset a particular "community".

Phobiaphobic · 04/01/2025 16:01

Longtimelurkerfinallyposts · 04/01/2025 15:20

Please can you provide some evidence to back up this assertion?
There are reputable studies showing that most child sexual exploitation is committed by white ( and non-Muslim) people (the majority of whom are men)
eg https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/dec/analysis-new-home-office-report-admits-grooming-gangs-are-not-muslim-problem#:~:text=For%20many%20in%20Britain%20today,offenders%20are%20most%20commonly%20White%E2%80%9D

There are plenty of things you could blame for this situation:
including patriarchy, men's attitudes towards women, child poverty, the hollowing out of social care budgets, the instututional sexism of the police etc.

Of course white men commit most child sexual exploitation, because we live in a majority white country. Most child abuse in Japan is unsurprisingly committed by ethnic Japanese.

I was referring specifically to organised rape gangs, where the evidence we do have is pretty damning: https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-grooming-gangs

Anonym00se · 04/01/2025 16:00

FOJN · 04/01/2025 15:46

But the message that’s coming across on this thread is that people don’t have an issue with abuse by white people.

I suppose that's a convenient interpretation if your intention is to shut down discussion by implying people are only interested in this particular issue because they are racist.

I recall people being furious that the BBC appeared to have covered up the Saville scandal after enabling his abusing for years.

Yes, people were furious! But what has actually come of it? Who knew? Who has been punished?

People being furious is not a punishment and it won’t stop it happening. Justin Welby has just stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury because he allegedly knew and was complicit in covering up an abuser. And what? Does that mean there is no more child abuse in the CoE?

My point is that this is a much bigger problem than JUST Muslim sex gangs. The problem is all sex gangs and all institutional sex abuse.

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 15:59

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 15:55

This is the crux of the problem
Like I was saying these gangs were operating in same time frame as 16 year olds wee posing topless in the sun.
We try to blame another culture but our white British culture has as much to answer for. Regarding why the crimes weren't taken as seriously as they should be at the time.
And we do need to open it out to talk about grooming and abuse by white male perpetrators.. as sadly the only reason these stories have becomes as notable as they have is because they included mainly attacks on white girls by non white men.
And sadly there's a fair portion of the antry response that don't give two shits about women and girls really.. especially vulnerable teen girls who don't meet the perfect victim profile.. they give a shit about brown men doing something they can express hate about.

Really we should be talking about 'the perfect victim' and how abuse of teen girls is often not taken seriously.

Not bleating on about Islam.

I understand there were racial elements in some cases and that needs a review.. the line between creating racial tensions and properly investigating crimes needs looking at. Obviously these cases need going over to learn from mistakes. Definitely mistakes were made.

But it's not helpful to focus on the racial element alone. The real problem was the way ALL OF SOCIETY IN THE UK viewed teenage girls at this time. Especially underclass teenage girls.

And still do. Look at the Prince abdrew stuff. Look under any article and you'll get a horrific amount of comments from men and women, mostly white, blaming the girls.. "she was 16 she knew what was going on" "she accepted gifts she knew she'd be expected to have sex" etc etc etc

But the main point is that the police do not operate a "hands off" policy unless the perpetrators are Asian Muslims and the victims are not in a protected category (unlike Muslims themselves).

Snowangles · 04/01/2025 15:58

@Thatcastlethere you are confusing races and religion.

The perps here are mainly south Asian Pakistani Muslim.

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 15:55

Noflukeforthenuke · 04/01/2025 15:20

I don’t know why people blame ‘the media’

these cases were reported widely at the time. There was a lack of an outcry because people didn’t really care about these young girls because they were seen as scum. They were written off.

I remember seeing a Question time around the time and was horrified that the focus among the audience and panellists was what had gone wrong with young girls that they would give blow jobs for a bag of crisps!

none of the panellists seemed to think it was wrong to blame the girls for going off the rails. One of them was a Daily Mail columnist ( ok, so the media). But as much as it’s a horrible rag, it really knows it audience. They wouldn’t spout such bile if it wasn’t lapped up by the British public.

there was much discussion around the time of the Soham murders too because Ian Huntley had a long history of 13/14 year old girlfriends. At the time, it was admitted that chances to stop a paedo were missed because it was considered normal and these children were ‘slags’

This is the crux of the problem
Like I was saying these gangs were operating in same time frame as 16 year olds wee posing topless in the sun.
We try to blame another culture but our white British culture has as much to answer for. Regarding why the crimes weren't taken as seriously as they should be at the time.
And we do need to open it out to talk about grooming and abuse by white male perpetrators.. as sadly the only reason these stories have becomes as notable as they have is because they included mainly attacks on white girls by non white men.
And sadly there's a fair portion of the antry response that don't give two shits about women and girls really.. especially vulnerable teen girls who don't meet the perfect victim profile.. they give a shit about brown men doing something they can express hate about.

Really we should be talking about 'the perfect victim' and how abuse of teen girls is often not taken seriously.

Not bleating on about Islam.

I understand there were racial elements in some cases and that needs a review.. the line between creating racial tensions and properly investigating crimes needs looking at. Obviously these cases need going over to learn from mistakes. Definitely mistakes were made.

But it's not helpful to focus on the racial element alone. The real problem was the way ALL OF SOCIETY IN THE UK viewed teenage girls at this time. Especially underclass teenage girls.

And still do. Look at the Prince abdrew stuff. Look under any article and you'll get a horrific amount of comments from men and women, mostly white, blaming the girls.. "she was 16 she knew what was going on" "she accepted gifts she knew she'd be expected to have sex" etc etc etc

Snowangles · 04/01/2025 15:54

@Nordione1
I have tagged you and it's not letting me de tag you , apologies.

I think it's clear we' have a massive problem with some men.

We know the UK and other modern western democracy have deep issues still, with ingrained misogyny, violence rape and murder.

As a society we try and address it through school, legislation, etc.
How on earth can we continue to move forward to a better safer society when we are importing in a huge volume of men from a Very different culture which doesn't respect women?

Assimilation requires small numbers and push and pull to adhere to local laws.

Nameychangington · 04/01/2025 15:53

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 15:45

The problem is there's a lot of terrorist activity from the far right and events like this are perfect fodder.
The police clearly didn't handle it well but you can't fault them for having trepidation.
You won't help the matter if there are lunatics gunning down Muslims or smashing up streets.

On the contrary, I very much do fault them for 'having trepidation'. They're the fucking police,.it's what we pay them for! Without fear or favour.

They chose public order over raped children. They know it was a choice and they chose, there are examples in the article already linked on the thread that they knew what they were choosing. So yes I do fault the police, and local councils, for choosing community relations over abused girls.

Adamante · 04/01/2025 15:53

The problem is there's a lot of terrorist activity from the far right and events like this are perfect fodder.

Genuine question. What organised recent terrorist activity from the Far Right is there?

Coldinthishouse · 04/01/2025 15:51

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 14:53

If you are trying to make this about Islam please don't.
You can find this with any religious extremism including Christianity.
This is not unique to Islam.
Predatory men can use their religion to sexually abuse.
Look at the Catholic church? Look at some Mormon groups??
It's not unique to Islam. There are plenty of ordinary Muslims who would never dream of doing such a thing.
Just as there are plenty of ordinary Christians who would never do such a thing.. but we accept that and we don't try abd make it about Christianity and ask what we can do to crack down on Catholicism for example??
It's not acceptable to make this about Islam just because it's something strange to you or you don't particularly like that religion.
This is about male predatory violence and let me tell you if you took away the religious aspect of it it wouldn't make a difference. It wouldn't stop these men being predators. They aren't predators because of Islam.

Oh fgs open your eyes

Ablondiebutagoody · 04/01/2025 15:49

Thatcastlethere · 04/01/2025 15:45

The problem is there's a lot of terrorist activity from the far right and events like this are perfect fodder.
The police clearly didn't handle it well but you can't fault them for having trepidation.
You won't help the matter if there are lunatics gunning down Muslims or smashing up streets.

I dunno. There would probably be fewer girls being raped and tortured.

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 15:49

Bromptotoo · 04/01/2025 15:47

What I meant was your presentation of girls v community cohesion as binary is false.

I'm saying that community cohesion shouldn't come before prosecuting people who commit rape. Which is exactly what has happened.

Bromptotoo · 04/01/2025 15:47

Nordione1 · 04/01/2025 15:45

Yes it is. Everyone is equal before the law. Or should be.

What I meant was your presentation of girls v community cohesion as binary is false.

FOJN · 04/01/2025 15:46

Anonym00se · 04/01/2025 15:35

Exactly. All the cases you raised were historic. I agree that there should be an inquiry, and the racism/anti-racism angle explored.

But the message that’s coming across on this thread is that people don’t have an issue with abuse by white people. It’s fine to hush that up and then throw up their hands in mock horror decades later once the abusers are dead, and pretend that nobody knew. But those Muslims need dealing with now.

But the message that’s coming across on this thread is that people don’t have an issue with abuse by white people.

I suppose that's a convenient interpretation if your intention is to shut down discussion by implying people are only interested in this particular issue because they are racist.

I recall people being furious that the BBC appeared to have covered up the Saville scandal after enabling his abusing for years.

Swipe left for the next trending thread