To want Sadiq Khan to answer this question

[OpheliaWasntMad]

Are there grooming gangs in London?

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/grooming-gangs-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-stonewalling-tory-questions-b1205508.html

I'd like to also ask him why he's allowing all these stabbings.

@OpheliaWasntMad

• Why do you think it is racist to ask if there are grooming gangs operating in London?
Because talking about "grooming gangs" has become a way of passing all responsibility for organised child sexual abuse onto Asian men- when it is actually something the happens in all communities and cultures.
• Do you agree that fears about being thought “racist” had a detrimental impact in the way the perpetrators of sexual abuse were dealt with in Rotherham etc
Yes, I do agree that happened.
• Do you realise that “child exploitation” is a very euphemistic way of describing the ongoing rape, torture and abuse of children as young as 9?
No. Nobody with half a brain would think that "child exploitation" describes all of those appalling things.

Grooming gangs don’t just prey on girls and young women. They prey on all children and the majority are white. There are plenty of white men in London so it was a stupid question.

I can't get past the fact that Susan Hall keeps saying "country lines" when talking about county lines.

Such a mature response given the gravity of the rape gangs. Such empathy for the victims.

Susan Hall is using the victims to score cheap political points. I don't remember her mentioning this issue once during her failed Mayoral campaign. Totally disingenuous hypocrite.

Having read the article, it seems as though he was pushing her to be more explicit in what she was asking.

From my understanding, he wanted her to refer to either ethnicity or religion. He kept asking her to spell out what she meant.

The Tories seem to be using this in order to garner popularity. Using dehumanising and inflammatory language which will increase tension.

He is the mayor of London why shouldn’t he be asked such questions it’s very much in the news at present the government announced there would be a nationwide review into such gangs only last week

why shouldn’t he be asked. He repeatedly said child sex exploitation no it’s child rape and replied young girls were being groomed for county lines and some of those girls are being used for sex

no they are not being used for sex they are being raped they are girls/children

wtf 🤬 once again the treatment of young girls and they will be working class girls probably a number under social services/in care isn’t being labelled what the crime actually is

I do understand that this issue can be exploited by people who are more interested in stoking racial hatred than in addressing a real problem.

BUT it is worrying that the Mayor of London refused to treat the question seriously. He could have answered in a much better way - by acknowledging that the terrible things that happened in Rotherham/Oldham etc could happen again in any city and we must make sure it is never ignored or minimised by those with responsibility again .
Instead he chose to pretend he didn’t understand the question…

You could be right but that still doesn’t change the fact that the question needed a proper answer.

I would have preferred him to prioritise the need to safeguard children and talk honestly about the challenges of that rather than play political games with language.

Another example of why normal (actual) people will leave Mumsnet. Good grief!
Sort it out, Mumsnet!

I honestly don’t care about Susan Hall. She could be a complete idiot /bigot whatever.
I just want a clear answer and no obfuscation on an issue where obfuscation and political game playing has caused incredible harm to young girls.

Not sure what you mean?

Are you Susan Hall?

To what end? Are you rolling up your sleeves for more riots? She's a Tory and they did fuck all to address it, rejecting a national inquiry. Her colleagues appear to be exploiting the issue by using inflammatory language to describe certain ethnicities.

She wants to know if there are Muslim grooming gangs in London. Perhaps she shouldn't have played patacakes and come out with what she meant.

If Khan says yes there are, what outcome are you expecting? Do you think it would assist police investigations or do you think it would stoke further tension given recent riots and pot stirring foreigners?

Khan could have answered that yes we do have gangs that are grooming and raping girls

the situation is different to those in Rotherham etc as we are not looking at gangs within particular ethnic communities

but then he woudl be admitting that there is an issue in some parts of the country with Pakistani grooming gangs

also the girls are not being used for sex they are being raped. This is again dismissive of the crimes committed against these girls

and we are talking about children being raped

No - I definitely don’t want riots. I agree with you about the Tories who did nothing. I’m not in favour of inflammatory language or demonising any group. I just felt frustrated at his lack of response.
I get your point of view.
Im not sure what the answer is.

I’ve asked for this thread to be shut down as I don’t want it to become inflammatory etc
I regret starting it.

Agreed.

I was furious when I read about how these girls were let down time and time again by those meant to be protecting them. However it's not an anomaly, working class girls in particular are traditionally blamed for being victims of sexual abuse.

I grew up in a time when victims routinely had to describe their clothes after stranger rape. It was also a time of 'child prostitutes' and 16 year old page 3 girls. Judges blamed CSA victims for seducing their abusers.

Jimmy Savile's sexual predilections were well known by many but his victims had no voice and he was friends with powerful people.

If it was up to me, every single person who let down those girls would have a criminal record and banned from working with vulnerable people.

This country has a problem with CSA and it seems ingrained.

“If it was up to me, every single person who let down those girls would have a criminal record and banned from working with vulnerable people.”
Yes .

@CurlewKate , it is not a racist trope. The rape gangs are mainly Pakistani Muslim gangs. That’s not racism it’s fact.

I donate to the Maggie Oliver Foundation. They assist survivors with holistic help. Obviously there are other charities. It's just in case anyone wants to contribute.

The difference between child exploitation generally and grooming gangs is that the investigations of the grooming gangs were covered up and in some cases the proponants were known or linked to local authorities.