Girls "left at mercy" of grooming gangs in Rochdale, England because of failings by senior police and council bosses, damning report says

This wasn't exactly unknown. DH campaigned against it around 2006 in Manchester but he was seen as "racist". Disgraceful.

This but there are still people who will argue that race was not a factor.

And yes, there were failings by every agency which should have had a duty of care for these girls.

I think saying that they were scared of being called racist is a cop-out. Statistically black and Asian men are more likely to be arrested, even for crimes they haven't committed.

I think that's a bit simplistic. You are correct, but this has nothing to do with black people, it's about close knit Pakistani Muslim communities, and a lot of these men were not normally in trouble with the police, they were business owners, restaurant owners, self employed taxi drivers, and their male relatives. They were powerful in their community.

People might not want to acknowledge it but multiple reports have found that these crimes were ignored and brushed under the carpet was in part due to the racial dynamics involved. It's not the only reason, but it is a reason.

I wonder how many ribbons and parades, days of training and campaigns the police, and special ‘staff’ all these police officers, children's homes, schools and social services will have to ‘reeducate’ them to do their bloody jobs?

Its not just about the gangs its about the social workers, the police, the carers.

They were not 'Asian groomers' and they failed them. Why were they neglected and failed by the people who were supposed to look after them?

I think saying that they were scared of being called racist is a cop-out. Statistically black and Asian men are more likely to be arrested, even for crimes they haven't committed. So why would there be hesitation over crimes that have a clear pattern of evidence? It doesn't make sense.

I’m sure it’s happening everywhere but In these large gang grooming cases it’s undoubtedly community make up (race of perps/victims) plus deprivation, plus police culture. I expect it’s worse now as there are so many less resources to go around. I think Maggie Olive said as much. The department that is meant to deal with modern slavery is useless in dealing with British nationals, despite them being a large % of victims. It’s set up to deal with those trafficked from abroad. Whole culture country wide is not set up to view these girls as victims.

Yes...and especially if theyre in care too ....sadly

Thats exactly why.
Because the police risked the racist label and libel...so it continued and the poor girls suffered endlessly. Easier to dismiss the white girls than the asian grooming gangs

Isn't the real question not one of ethnicity or geography, but of power?

Surely it's location, situation and opportunity to offend. Opportunity includes the opportunity to abuse the power afforded to offenders, which will be boosted by location and situation eg position in community, organisation, online group and so on. And some of those will include opportunities to co-offend with others.

Is it though? Rotherham, the last time I looked, wasn't in North West England.

What is a more interesting question is why isn't it the leafy suburbs? Perhaps it's because the wealthy and powerful are above such things. Or perhaps there's another explanation...

Underlying all of this is assumptions. It's white working class girls who are the victims, and prowling gangs of Asian men the perpetrators. That feeds a very convenient agenda, and displaces attention from elsewhere.

Sadly I think this is far more prevalent than people think, and taking place in the corridors of the powerful and the wealthy far more than people credit. It's easy to see the blame lies with Asian men - most of whom are decent people who would not dream of abusing a child. But funny how, as I said earlier, there was no evidence of such behaviours in the corridors of Parliament. Or Buckingham Palace, apparently.

Isn't the real question not one of ethnicity or geography, but of power? As it always is.

Thank you.

@Naptrappedmummy well i think the attitudes shown to working class people and people who live on social housing estates creates a hostile environment where this kind of thing goes on unabated because working class girls from estates are seen as lesser no???!!! 🤔

I wonder why it’s so prevalent in North West England?

I was working in a local council which had a similarly high profile scandal, also with racial overtones, in a different city, several years back. My role was minuting child protection case conferences. At the time I had young children. I remember being horrified by the attitude towards the victims that I observed and I doubt it's changed.

Now I have teenage daughters and it horrifies me that grown men are doubtless sexualising them when they see them even though they aren't themselves yet at the stage where they're particularly interested in sex.

Is it hinting at the vote base I guess. I note that the comments are about the south Asian origin of many of the offenders. It's actually far more specific than that. They are not just Pakistani but from the Mirpur/ Azad Kashmir region. Most of them are related. It's a learned pattern of behaviours. The account from the woman on another thread mentioned her groomer also being abused by other relatives. It's all bound up with honour culture which is all about policing your females (getting a Talking To if you are seen out talking to Other Boys) because you don't want to end up like those girls. Because what are those girls ever good for except getting an income from?

The report was commissioned by a Labour Mayor, so not sure I follow this

What, you think it shouldn't be addressed just now because of the GE and it might hurt Labour's share of the vote? Really? REALLY??

What do you mean?

That I don't think "because it's political" is an excuse for being thorough in rooting out corruption and failing to act on mass sexual abuse of girls.

Everyone knows this in the NW don't they? It's so fucking commonplace.

Indeed.

That’s appalling @Neriah , I had no idea!

There’s this underlying narrative that men desire young girls and girls flirt and tempt men because they like being desired. Men have no control over their baser urges. Girls should know better than to provoke men.

Until the narrative changes, it’s fecking hard to stop.

We need a cold, humourless, children have never consented, do not consent and cannot consent to being sexualised by adults. Men who view children as sexual are deviant predators. No jokes. No tolerance. Grow the fuck up and stop passively allowing it.

That’s for the men who are not directly involved but think the girls are collaborating in their own abuse.

The criminals who trade children’s bodies need to be prosecuted and punished far more severely for trafficking, rape, drug dealing and coercion.

What do you mean?

I don't agree entirely. The police and Council in Rochdale were long accustomed to ignoring the organised abuse of children in the town. There is something rotten to the core in the town, and it is not about Asian men - it is about men and the child abuse of both boys and girls over many, many decades.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/establishment-knew-cyril-smith-abusing-17811996

I grew up in Rochdale in the 60's and 70's. As a teenager I knew all about Cyril Smith and his friends - it was such common knowledge in the town that even teenagers growing up in a time when such things were not usually spoken about knew all about it. The local alternative newspaper, RAP, regularly headlined stories about him and his friends and the abuse of children. Most newsagents in the town carried RAP.

If a teenage girl knew what was going on in a time when sexual abuse was simp0ly not a "talking point" in society, then how couild the police and the council not have known?

There is a rotten culture in the town, and there is no evidence that it has gone away. In fact, if you were of a suspicious nature, you might wonder why the only people to have been caught for child abuse in Rochdale are Asian, and what still lurks beneath the surface. Cyril Smith wasn't alone...

Call me cynical but something tells me this is coming back in to the headlines simply because these grooming gangs are based in Labour ran towns.

That's why we need to talk about it though.