I was fairly close to one of the cities/ situations. To some extent the authorities (and the girls, at the time) thought these were romantic relationships.
In those days, that was enough. No one stopped and thought that a young girl shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship with an adult man. No one thought an adult man shouldn’t have taken her away from her care home in his taxi. They all thought it was the girls fault, out of control, wayward girls who were loving it.
it appears that even when clear reports of rape and abduction started being made this culture was so prevalent they couldn’t see past it for a long time.
its no coincidence that the girls who were finally listened to- the “three girls” were the ones who had maintained some level of family relationship AND had stable, loving and more middle class families.
most of the girls didn’t have parents who cared. Many of them were in care due to poor parenting and neglect.
I don’t know this for sure, but over time I’ve come more to the belief that the girls weren’t targeted because they were white and because the men hated white girls.
I think it was mainly their vulnerability that attracted the groomers- who when they discovered children’s homes full of unparented girls couldn’t believe their luck- but also because so many of the groomers were from the same community, often extended families - cousins uncles etc, that they had to have victims who were far removed from their community.