Teenaged victim of a grooming gang was arrested 5 times

I can believe that there are differences between the way groups of young teenage girls are treated and the way groups of adult males are treated in somewhere like Leeds actually. Is there a difference between the way groups of young girl and young boy teenagers are treated? Male teenage behaviour leads directly into male adult behaviour. That is the whole issue. Let's not get sidetracked into a debate about teenage v. adult behaviour, which after all is very media-led. Life is getting harder for us all.

Sweeping bigoted statements should not be applied to them,

'Youths causing annoyance' is not a sweeping bigoted statement. It is a description of what the caller experiences.

I've been involved in a number of pilots, projects, intiatives and research to look at better ways of negotiating between residents and young people. I've been in partnerships with youth services, volunteers and young people themselves to find lasting solutions.

You said that the police were bigoted towards young people, based simply on the observation that they move youngsters on. I say that is utter tripe.

No other agency is doing anything about the lack of spaces for the diverse children, young teens and teenagers with different needs and interests (and anxieties). Meanwhile the police are fire-fighting at multiple hotspots every single evening, without the resources to patrol every single place where they may or not be groomed.

It would be helpful if you would tell your local police exactly which groups are at risk and where you suspect that grooming takes place so that they can set up cameras and other observations for a few months.

Teenagers are as diverse a group as any other. Yes some are antisocial but many are roaming the streets at night due to abuse at home, family breakdown or small houses and intolerant parents. Sweeping bigoted statements should not be applied to them, or any other group

This ^^

Teenagers are children
Adults and society have a responsibility towards all of them. Both sexes.

Even when you organise activities or services, young teens won't go because of the fear of bullying - and those young teens are the next cohort of 'youths causing annoyance' that we need to reach

Youth work, Connexions, CAMHS, Leaving Care services etc have all been very badly hit over a long period of time.

from 2018:
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/youth-worker-job-cuts-austerity-centres-services-unison-trade-union-a8663711.html

And ask the Police why they are so bigoted against teenagers.

What utter, misinformed tripe.

'Youths causing annoyance' comes up, time and time again, as the most pressing local problem that the public want the police to tackle. And it's not because the public don't like young epople, but because they say that they are in fear.

Of particular interest are the surveys of young teens (undertaken by independent researchers on behalf of police and crime commissioners) which tell us that the young ones feel squeezed out and intimidated by groups of older teenagers.

Every evening, the police will be besiged with calls from people who can't use their local shops, get the bus or go to the ATM because of a group of raucous youths. Even when you organise activities or services, young teens won't go because of the fear of bullying - and those young teens are the next cohort of 'youths causing annoyance' that we need to reach

It is frustrating, never-ending and there is feck all that the police can do except negotiate with the youngsters to find a different space for that night or the next. And then they tell you that they want to be in well-lit public spot because they don't feel safe anywhere else!

No-one wins. If you know of a magic solution to the 50 different spots in my division, where young people are causing annoyance every evening, and where another cohort is waiting to replace them next year, please let me know. I'd win a prize or something.

They have freedoms but have not been taught responsibility to control their own behaviour.

Well this could accurately describe every adult male who has sexually abused children, groomed and trafficked women & girls, perpetrated violence against women etc etc.

Those male perpetrators come from all communities and social demographics as anyone who has worked in women's and children's services knows well.

I get what you are saying, but sadly many of those teenagers are actively antisocial. I would say it is more teenage males that are the issue though. They actively damage and destroy what they can to gain social status: it's not just 'silly', it is destructive and intimidating to others. They have freedoms but have not been taught responsibility to control their own behaviour. The cultural rot we have involves teenage destructive impulses closely: they are victims of it, but they cause it too. They are all too often similar to football fans.

But this acceptance of misogynistic practices and abuse of women as 'cultural practices' has to stop. One country: one law.

Happening near me too Sarah the only thing that has changed is we now have a turf war between the Pakistani gang and EU gang.
Before the EU group came there was less streetwalking and a nod to discretion but now there are girls around 12 doing street work.
The police (South yorks) do an occasional drive past but n never disrupt them, community tension see.

sarahjconnor I applaud women like you who try and do something about this I can't get my head round turning a blind eye or shrugging girls off as "bad"

Theres also a serious problem with the care system that is never addressed. As a group, children in care do not thrive. I know social workers who's expectations of children in care is low and their attitude towards them appalling.
You cant talk to them about it. They are defensive of the system, have a prepared answer for everything, and don't see themselves as part of the problem.

It's not just "people from those cultures" that do that then though. It's focusing in on their behaviours, and as Sarah says, the social structures that support them. They're what we need to target. Starting with our own British Law and "Justice" system. Get that right, and then enforce it across the country, for all.

It might then become easier to see how western cultural 'memes', for want of a better word, are sweeping in through the internet and social media and making women's lives worse too.

There's clearly a lot of intersecting anger going on. But what middle class people really have to start getting their heads round, is that the anger is legitimate and deserves to be heard, and investigated. There are conflicts between different cultures in Britain, and women are taking the brunt as they always do.

I really think it would be helpful if we ditched the concept of "race" here and talked about "culture". Learned behaviour, enforced within a social sphere.

Race was a confounding factor in Rotherham, but men sexually preying on female children is not, and never has been a race issue

Let’s at least be honest with ourselves about that

This ^^

Also as Lisa Muggeridege described in one of her interviews with Taxi Driver concern about the inevitable appropriation by far right racist groups was also significant factor not as is often incorrectly suggested that the social demographics of these particular grooming gangs were withheld solely because of 'political correctness'