Government on child sex abuse and rape gangs - new authority set up, gang enquiries dropped.

I apologise for not discussing productively enough😕

I'm getting tired of the policing of the number of replies on threads. We don't all have to comment on every thread. I don't post unless I've got something to add, and a thread full of 'how awful' or 'I agree' isn't a productive discussion.

I think it does include all the online/images as well as the churches, boarding schools, sports, voluntary organisations, charities, and so on. I am just reporting the arguments that are raised every time the rape and trafficking (grooming) gangs are mentioned. It would be useful to know whether figures are calculated as a proportion of the general population. Ditto the type of crime - much of which might be cyber crime.
It is all horrific and shocking, but the reluctance to investigate this specific group is very telling.

Agreed. You can debate mostly anything with a Tory. You might have a very heated disagreement but you can talk. However, certain thoughts are completely off limits to the progressive left. You are shut down before the words are out of your mouth.

Thank you for these insights.

ARE white men committing the majority of abuse? Which data supports this? CSA data - if it includes online crime - will almost certainly skew towards white men.

This could be because of indecent images, where each image counts as one crime. And it’s clear from the cases we see in court that these men won’t have small numbers of images. They’ll have hundreds or thousands. So crime data has to be fully set out and explained otherwise we lose important context.

CSA offending will also encompass location and opportunity. For white men, this might be more largely online. It will also - for all sexual predators - encompass boundary testing and escalation of offending.

Yes. Whenever this is mentioned the aggressive response is to shout about white men committing the majority of abuse. Nobody is denying that, but this particular organised crime is very much confined to a specific group and fear of acknowledging that has led to this point where it is impossible to deal with.

I still consider myself as (just about) part of the 'left wing women' demographic and I agree, the pressure not to talk about this is like nothing else I've experienced. It's even more pronounced than the reluctance to discuss transgender issues or the Cass Review. The same women will happily discuss child abuse in the Church whenever the topic arises.

Its the trouble with looking at everything racially and ignoring class.

If all politicians could see this as the working class being let down by the state it makes it easier to see what people are angry about.

Almost everyone involved - victims, perpetrators, police, social workers are of the same class and from the same area. Its the political class, who see everyone as a racial demographic, who have, i believe, stepped in to enforce a racial biased onto a safeguarding and justice issue. They are the ones who have stopped the good people doing their jobs and allowed the bad ones to take advantage.

Agree.

I can see this. However, then I think of the fear in the trafficked, raped, tortured (and some of them, murdered) girls and I think…Do. Your. Job.

I had this conversation with my (labour) MP (doorstep) and there is clearly enormous fear around any criticism of Jess Phillips or any of the leadership team. After all, look what they did to Rosie Duffield. The cognitive dissonance must be very stressful.

The lack of responses doesn’t surprise me. This board is really mostly left wing women and many of them are just not sure exactly how to respond to this for fear of looking racist. THIS is where the near-complete destruction of child safeguarding has brought us to. These are child safeguarding issues all day long. But the left worry about looking somehow wrong in prioritising the safety of girls. It’s totally right that you should ask your MP to ensure children are being protected and those that might harm them are being investigated. That’s a normal thing to want to happen and to say out loud.

I never venture onto these FS&G boards tbh. I'm usually on the politics threads. I was actively searching for a thread on the subject and happened to find it on this board.

Labour councils are in it up to their necks that's why they don't want an enquiry.

This is the naughty corner of MN. Avoided by many.

Maybe they need to do an inquiry into the rape gangs (it is clear the gov hope this issue will go away) and then someone should see if there is any correlation to these other barbaric crimes?

The lack of responses on this thread has surprised me. Why aren’t more people disgusted by Jess Phillips and wanting to comment? Or suggest ways we could help these girls?

One of those prosecutions for FGM was a doctor who was faced with terrible injuries post delivery of a woman who had previously suffered FGM. He repaired the injuries as best he could to stop the bleeding and ended up being arrested.

"It’s odd because when communities are doing things to their own girls (FGM, forced marriage, child marriage) we have no problem acting."

There have only been two convictions in 40 years plus one for "conspiring to commit FGM".

FGM Law, Trials, Prosecutions, Convictions, Protection Orders and Mandatory Reporting
14 May 2024

"The practice of ‘FGM’ in the UK has been a criminal offence since the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985."

"Although 60,000 under 15 year old girls living in the UK are believed to be at risk of FGM, only six prosecutions have been heard to date. From these, two convictions have been delivered . . . In January 2022, Karlsen and colleagues reported a clear discrepancy between the prosecution rates reported by the Crown Prosecution Service (n = 5) and Home Office (n = 2)."

"The Ministry of Justice collates data on FGM Protection Orders. There have been 600 applications and 860 orders issued to 30 September 2023. There were no reported proceedings for any breaches of an FGMPO by March 2019.
A critical piece about FGMPO’s can be accessed here."

"Section 5B of the FGM Act 2003 introduced a Mandatory Reporting duty on 31 October 2015. It requires regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report to the police ‘known’ cases of FGM in under 18s which they identify in the course of their professional work. ‘Known’ cases are those where either a girl informs the person that an act of FGM – however described – has been carried out on her, or where the person observes physical signs on a girl appearing to show that an act of FGM has been carried out and the person has no reason to believe that the act was, or was part of, a surgical operation within section 1(2)(a) or (b) of the FGM Act 2003.

Data in regard to these reports appears not to be collated by the police so is unavailable.

Selective and critical contributions in regard to FGM legislation, monitoring and implementation to an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, can be accessed here."

https://www.shiftingsands.org.uk/fgm-law-trials-prosecutions-convictions-protection-orders-and-mandatory-reporting/

I don't want to derail into a discussion of FGM so, if anyone is interested, this account of prosecutions and unwarranted suspicions and charges provides important context:

Prosecution of female genital mutilation in the UK: injustice at the intersection of good public health intentions and the criminal law
2 March 2020

https://bererblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/prosecution-of-female-genital-mutilation-in-the-uk-injustice-at-the-intersection-of-good-public-health-intentions-and-the-criminal-law/

Thank you for starting a thread on this op. I'm furious. It's ridiculous that the LAs are being asked politely if they'd like to opt in to mark their own homework. Trevor Phillips was spot on on times radio. These are predominantly Labour led areas, it's all about votes, and not upsetting certain communities at the expense of the victims. Some of these men have been welcomed back into their communities, even defended and protected by them. We all saw what happened to Jess P at her count on election night.

Jess P did an interview with Beth Rigby in January stating that nothing was off the table with regards to an inquiry if that's what the councils and victims wanted, but she said the LAs were in favour of a Telford style investigation rather than a national statutory inquiry. This claim was also pushed by Yvette Cooper.

In February, Oldham council voted in favour of a national statutory inquiry (after Labour lost overall control). The claim that local authorities don't want a national inquiry is untrue and no longer holds water.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr46yxnw1d1o

No it was not fit for purpose. Only those believing the government propaganda and rape sympathisers thought the Jay report was about Pakistani rape gangs.

It appears Lowe’s crowdfunded inquiry has attracted cross party support today.

Esther McVey
James McMurdock
Rupert Lowe

I want to know who else will join them.

I see some Labour members are calling for a National Inquiry (blue Labour) there is a post on their X account in support.

Kemi has said she will ask for another vote in parliament too about a national inquiry. This is good news.

I couldn’t care less what party they are in but I’m interested in knowing how many (and who) are prepared to do the right thing even when it’s hard. Will Lam join? I hope so, she came across very well. Once I’d have said Jess Phillips would but I now doubt it.

These MPs have power and are elected by us to act for the British people and protect our children. I’m glad four have remembered that so far . I am interested to see if any others join the cross party group. I am impressed that some think cross party is the way forward - I wasnt expecting that.

Another comment that has really stuck in my head was the man who called 20 friends to come and rape his victim. Is this normal? Do people talk about rape so openly with their friends and family that they have 20 blokes numbers in their phone who want to rape children?

Online I guess you may find 20 such weirdos within a radius of your town (Giselle Pelicott) but to have 20 you meet up with in the flesh in your town some are your relatives wtf? What about the men who don’t rape children? When they were asked did they report it? It’s clearly discussed openly to find 20 mates and family who also enjoy the rape and torture of white girls.

That’s ridiculous. It was not fit for purpose.

Reportedly, the previous inquiry had only one grooming gang victim

https://x.com/cdp1882/status/1910357283013337147?s=48&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

How she can imply that she would like a fuller understanding of what has been going on when so many people have been shouting about it only to be threatened, bullied, sacked and intimidated. From Ann Cryer MP through to the school nurses, teachers, parents, victims, local residents.
The lying and covering up is infuriating.
The same groups were importing heroin and using it on the victims.
They are still dealing drugs and money laundering through their businesses and the police turn a blind eye. Everybody knows.