Sexual exploitation of teenagers by (mainly) Asian gangs

[edam]

hundreds of young girls are being groomed and prostituted by gangs according to an investigation by The Times]] Only the gangs are predominantly Asian men so the authorities have been very reluctant to either talk about it or act - even now the Home Office 'has no plans' to do any research into the pattern of offending, despite a request by the safeguarding children's board in Derby, backed by Barnardos. Former MP Ann Cryer has been campaigning on this for years but was shouted down with cries of 'racism'.

Afraid Times is now behind a paywall so can't link to the full story but if you have access, it's here down the page under 'UK news'.

Strikes me that the racists here are the officials who are afraid to uphold the law or to talk about this. And that it's yet another example where racism trumps misogyny.

There have been some prosecutions - 56 men convicted in 17 cases. But sounds as if the Home Office doesn't want anyone to find out if the problem is far more widespread.

I have met a lot of young PAkistani muslims, male and female and think a lot of the issues identified above are caused by the massive cultural difference between how they live ( and are expected) to live at home and how their Western friends live their lives outside of the home.

On the onehand they are being told to save themsleves for their marriage and then like Riven has said above are bombarded by images of sex outside of home.

I was disapponted to see the MEdia's 'outrage' at Jack Straw, this issue really needs addressing.
I accept that white men abuse girls too, but this is a very specific form of abuse that is becoming all too commonly perpetrated by Muslim Asian men.

Oh I remember you mentioned that before Riven, yes.

whomovedmychocolate I agree it has little to do with religion but everything to do with culture/race.

Large sections of the Pakistani community in the UK ( and especially in Bradford, Blackburn, Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow, Birmingham) are living like the Victorians did. "see no evil hear no evil" type mentality, kids should be seen and not heard and as long as appearances are ok then there are few concerns about reality.

These cultural traits can be the breeding ground for the types of grooming operations that have been reported recently. I will say it again - I am sure the perpertrators are well known in their communities but their parents are probably too busy trying to make sure they get married to the right person and hope that will make everything alright. And the fact that the crime is being committed against white girls adds to the inertia associated with it from the community.

As for my name change - I don't think I would feel very comfortable admitting to incest going on in my ( very respectable ) family and carry on posting on other threads as normal.

Re: Mediterranean cultures - yes there is still machismo etc in them but not as much as perhaps 20 years ago - the same as the UK they are changing. It isn't quite true that 'all' men are expectd to be out sowing their oats etc etc.

I would add that those cultures that migrated to the UK in the 50s and 60s have actually 'stagnated' and not moved with the times in the way their homelands have. For example, the Geek community in London is very different to the Greek community in Greece, more like how Greece was 50 years ago - this is because they fought to protect their values and identity against the dominant indiginous culture but as a result became unable to move on at a reasonable pace. Modern Greeks do not integrate into that community very well as they find it old fashioned and reject some of their views eg on women etc.

I would hazard a guess that a similar thing has happened with other cultures as well, eg Pakinstani etc. Specific cultures have grown up here as a reaction to being in this situation, communities run the risk of becoming closed and yes, values become noticeably old fashioned, even Victorian.

I do apologize, I meant Greek community not Geek communiy.

Darned keyboard....

I do think that your name change is unfortunate,
Hypocrisy is not something you should be accused of.
I think you are brave to speak out this way.

Bloody hell hypocrisy - just caught up with the last page and your post has left me [shocked] - but sadly, not surprised. I have heard/thought/suspected some or all of those things about a fair proportion of British Pakistanis before, but for a white person to speak those thoughts out loud is just the done thing, is it? Because it isn't possible to criticise or challenge any of those apparently prevalent attitudes or behaviours without 'demonising' or 'stereotyping' 'entire racial and cultural communities' as Jack Straw is finding out to his cost today.

Because of course, ALL people of Pakistani origin are incapable of separating the good behaviour from the bad within their own culture, and therefore take it as a personal/racial slur when any dubious practices committed by their own are held up for criticism, don't they?

And regarding the 'Muslim as a housebrick'comments, I have to disagree - I think the fact that they are (at least culturally) Muslim is entirely relevant. The mysoginist attitiudes ingrained in many non-enlightened, hard of thinking Muslim men are the very reason these they feel they can and should do this at all. If they were white British and had a wholly different cultural attitude, there would be little need for them to go to these lengths for sex.

tigerseyemum that is exactly what happens - these communities are stuck in the 60's when they come over.

In those days air travel was financially prohibitive and there was no internet or sky TV so they had absolutely no idea about what was happening in their own countries or how society was progressing.

Having said that, the global radicalisation of Islam has led to society in Pakistan also regressing in the last 10 - 15 years or so.

Funny you should mention greek culture. I used to date a greek guy and the similarity between the two cultures was striking.

reelingintheyears Sat 08-Jan-11 20:54:33
Missque....most Asian countries take a VERY dim view of drug dealing.

What I meant is that the punishments for such crimes are much more severe than in this country in many Eastern countries, where capital punishment is a possible sentence for people peddling drugs. Just because heroin comes from Afghanistan and Pakistan doesn't mean that their laws allow it. The reason so much comes from there is because there is so much unrest in those countries and the police aren't able to control it. In Britain, even the biggest drug dealers are facing no more than life imprisonment, but they can be put to death elsewhere.

'I would add that those cultures that migrated to the UK in the 50s and 60s have actually 'stagnated' and not moved with the times in the way their homelands have. For example, the Geek community in London is very different to the Greek community in Greece,'

I agree. In the same way, Irish Americans often seem to be fighting a war against Britain that 'real' Irish people believe has ended now.

I worked in schools in Bradford and Leeds during the 90s and like TM says, the communities have not moved on.

Fantastic post Hypocrisy

Very Inciteful, thank you

Regarding the religion not being blamed but alternatively culture, what is religion, exactly? Isn't it a guide to shape a culture?

Alouiseg are these girls actually being coerced into prostitution in the true sense then? It was my impression that they were mostly being passed around among other male members of the family, friends, uncles, etc, whilst reamining the 'property' of the supposed boyfriend. Is money changing hands, and are they acting as pimps and taking general punters as well?

reelingintheyears I agree 'easy meat' is a revolting term, but it's the phrase JS used in his statement yesterday, and in this case I think it very accurately represents the attitudes held by these men to the girls they are exploiting. And yes, I take your point about Thailand.

MissQue..But their heroin still comes here doesn't it.
And lots of it.
What do we in this country export that is as bad as Heroin.

And we do not have capital punishment.
I'd like to see the statistics that show how many are put to death in Pakistan and Afghanistan for exporting Heroin.

Sorry, re: my last post but one, I meant just NOT the done thing.

Fellatio.....i know,i just find it such a horrid term and when i heard JS using it ,it really did make me flinch.

You're right Fellatio, except the men receive payment for the use of the girl but the girl doesn't get paid. If there is a "lowest" form of prostitution then this has to be it.

OMG - the subject of prisons has come up and it has reminded me of something else in my experience.

When I was last in Pakistan I had the opportunity to visit a woman's prison - not just any prison but death row.

The stories I heard were so moving and frightening. Most of the women were there on account of muder. Some of them had killed as a result of domestic violence or rape within a family, some had been definitely been framed for a murder committed as a result of feuding families. They were all there on appeal but were living in pretty awful conditions and had no one to talk to about their "women's problems".

I know I digress but it's just a sad reflection of the status of women in these cultures.

Hypocrisy - thanks for such an enlightening (if depressing) post.

For those who have mentioned the media and sexualised culture - I'm sure it does have some relevance BUT as I posted below, my sister was attacked when she was wearing her school uniform - below the knee brown kilt, brown blazer, brown baggy jumper. Being young and white was enough for that bastard to try to assault her.

Have to admit, was very proud of our dog for rescuing her and also hoped the fact it was a dog added to the man's humiliation - because many of the more insular people of Pakistani descent round were revolted by dogs.

Ultimate respect to Hypocrisy - I, as SWC am waiting to hear what action Muslim leaders are going to take in addition to claiming there is no problem. I would also like to hear from the people on this thread who are so keen to blame the permissiveness of our society rather than an pervasive culture of misogyny in certain communities. And I dont care if we call it religion or culture it exists never the less

My understanding s that the motive is not financial, they are not being pimped out for money.
THey are just passed around so everyone in the group gets a turn.

Thank you for all your support.

I have to say goodnight now and breastfeed my baby!