The Rotherham 1,400 children plus – WHO is responsible?

[Isitmebut]

The Rotherham situation, where the authorities appear to have done NOTHING to protect children in care, goes back 16-years, as it appears there was a largely ethnic element involved and ‘the powers that CONTINUE to be’ in a job, were afraid in that political climate, to be seen as ‘racists’, but why?

I can remember posting when anyone even daring to mention the affects of immigration on housing, jobs and local services were called ‘racist’, sometimes whole posts/threads were deleted on media boards (even the Daily Mail) - while the government of the day, not held to account by the media on their side, were free to continue a ‘multicultural’ agenda they adopted in their first few years they never sought at the ballot box.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2354713/BBC-chief-admits-We-deep-liberal-bias-migrants--changed.html

But as this article points out, the fear of being accused a racist, affected even household conversations.
“Are we all racist now?”
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10860492/Are-we-all-racist-now.html

And the problem with secret sofa government policies, where local authorities and media compliance is key to continued electoral success, is that you can’t be SEEN to raise ethnic issues OR plan ahead for the numbers in homes, healthcare or schools – especially in a 2010 General Election manifesto, in electoral damage limitation mode.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/6418456/Labour-wanted-mass-immigration-to-make-UK-more-multicultural-says-former-adviser.html

The 2000’s seem to be a time when our public sector/local government numbers increased enormously, but seemed to both have THEIR OWN POLITICAL agendas, and failed so many vulnerable people, especially children in and out of care.

For no one in Rotherham to take responsibility for what happened to the 1,400 children (we know about), is a national disgrace – that is not good enough.

Thanks. Is there any suggestion that the police in that case didn't believe the victim or take teh case seriously?

In Rotheram, we are talking about 1400 girls being abused over a period of 16 years and it must have been widely known about. I think the BNP were regularly demonstrating about it etc., so lots of top officials etc must have known about the rumours of what was going on. How on earth was it not acted on with some urgency and why was it not shut down?

peacefuloptimist ....... are you saying that we had to be careful who we prosecute so as not to give 'meat' to far right political groups?

It really matters not if white or ethnic, THE POINT here is there was a system cover up of over 1,400 crimes - which seems to be a political decision whichever way you slice it - as it certainly ain't JUSTICE.

Of course it's not appropriate for the wider Muslim community to "apologise" for this evil; as I've said, the vast majority are (hopefully) just as appalled as everyone else

As most seem to agree, though, cultural influence is an issue in abuse, just as disregard for victims, agency accountability and so on are too - even the excellent Nazil Afzal has said as much

In such a hideous case, I'd expect all involved to be forced to confront their attitudes and practices; my concern, however, is that some apologists may attempt to see that the local community is exempted from this

Guardian editorial on it. It looks like it was not so much about individuals worried about being called racist, but was about something else.

"The question of ethnicity is particularly contentious. Rotherham is a very white, poor, working-class town with a growing but still small – less than 10% – black and minority ethnic population of which less than a third is Muslim. In last May’s local elections, Ukip won most votes and became the official opposition on the council. A march by the English Defence League during the campaign drew 500 supporters. On Tuesday, one of the first on Twitter with a gloating tweet was Nick Griffin of the BNP. In that context it is understandable that the Labour council was sensitive to the reputation of its Muslim community. But it led to a terrible misjudgment: the subordination of the safeguarding of abused and exploited children – who were mainly, but not only, white – to the protection of the standing of one particular community. When the then Labour MP Ann Cryer, the anti-forced-marriage campaigner, began reporting accounts of young Pakistani-heritage men hanging about school gates in 2003, she was bitterly criticised. So, more recently, was the Times reporter Andrew Norfolk, whose painstaking investigation has done so much to bring the exploitation to light. Ethnicity did play a part in the Rotherham abuse, not because this particular pattern of abuse is restricted to a particular group (the behaviour is typical of many gangs) but because many of those who might have taken action feared the wider, societal, consequences if they did."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/27/guardian-view-rotherham-child-abuse-scandal

Handcream, according to their own site Nazir Afzal is still Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) for the North West Area - and a good thing too

JustTheRightBullets I agree with a great deal of what you say, but really can't leave unchallenged your assertion that front line police aren't afraid of being seen as racist. I can't speak for Rotherham, but through community work I know a lot of police in our area, all of whom would agree that a politically motivated charge of racial bias is just about the worst thing which could happen to them, career-wise

'Claig - it's a very different case, with a much more 'socially acceptable' victim. So not really comparable.'

Are you saying that our police do not take seriously the sexual abuse of 11 year old schoolgirls? I don't believe it.

I don't believe they think these schoolgirls are not "socially acceptable" victims.

This is starting to look more sinister and possibly to with with politics trumping the care and rights of victims and the arrest of criminals.

Not all of the victims in this case were in care, but were living at home and their parents complained to the police and their parents were terrorised by this organised gang and still it was not stopped.

How many heads have rolled? How high up does the responsibility for this really go?

Below the age of consent doesn't appear to be a concept these police officers have heard of does it?

'But that's what this report says.'

Yes, but why? Did the report get to the bottom of why?

From the report

"By far the majority of perpetrators were described as 'Asian' by victims, yet throughout the entire period, councillors did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community to discuss how best they could jointly address the issue. Some councillors seemed to think it was a one-off problem, which they hoped would go away. Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so ."

Did the report question the managers and ask them why they gave this direction?

Has the report asked whether similar handling of these type of cases occurs in other parts of the country or was it localised to certain areas of the country and if so what did those areas have in common?

are you saying that we had to be careful who we prosecute so as not to give 'meat' to far right political groups?

Not at all Op. In fact I think had they dealt with it immediately it would have been better for all involved and would have stopped people from sidetracking and making this become an issue about race. Like you I believe any person regardless of their race should be prosecuted if they commit a crime. However I think that the way this debate is being framed in the media as being about a poor (socioeconomically speaking) Asian community having undue influence or whatever over the council/police because of fears of racism is very divisive. More so are attempts to attribute this crime to something inherently wrong with the culture of pakistani community rather than this being about disgusting evil predators exploiting poor vulnerable girls. Even if what claig posted above is true that:

Ethnicity did play a part in the Rotherham abuse, not because this particular pattern of abuse is restricted to a particular group (the behaviour is typical of many gangs) but because many of those who might have taken action feared the wider, societal, consequences if they did.

That is not the fault of the Pakistani community. Police and council officials should have had a greater desire to protect vulnerable children and should have acted immediately rather than pussy footing around to avoid upsetting people but that is their fault and they alone should be held to account for that.

councillors did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community to discuss how best they could jointly address the issue.

Why did they need to engage with the Pakistani community though to address the issue? They just needed to arrest the individuals involved. That would have sent the message to the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes that their behaviour was unacceptable. It didnt require talks or whatever with the community just arrest the perps. By ignoring it they probably sent them the message that they could continue what they were doing as no one cared about those poor girls.

Where I used to live, the concern was that a perceived racist incident sparked a riot. So less a fear of undue influence/conspiracy theories and more worry about things being smashed and set on fire.
It shouldn't have stopped the authorities from doing their jobs properly, whatever the sensitivities or ethnicities involved. I think a huge reason was that the girls were seen as worthless and hopeless cases, not like 'real' children. The fact that they were groomed meant that many resisted attempts to prevent them being abused, because they didn't see it as abuse at first and probably by the time they did, the girls had already been labelled trash by those that should have been most active in their protection.

peacefuloptimist quite right to point out that abusers come from all walks of life. But you did seem to say that given racial tensions in Rotherham it was right for police to be careful not to offend or inflame. Sadly this contributed to giving a terrible criminal minority undue protection. The best way forward is for good people from all communities to come together. Did you read the poster from Rotherham refer to the victim blaming going on by a local Pakistani woman on TV? That does show there may be a wider issue regarding how young, white non-muslim women are seen, doesn't it?

As for the police it's sad that it doesn't entirely surprise me but my normal low opinion notwithstanding, that 11 year old's story was shocking.

Weren't the police also asked by community leaders to allow them to handle issues of domestic abuse or have I mixed that up?

Anyway for sure it's the police's responsibility to deal with crimes and their contempt for these girls and their families was disgusting. Will there be police officers held accountable for this?

I can remember posting when anyone even daring to mention the affects of immigration on housing, jobs and local services were called ‘racist’,

That still happens on MN routinely TBF. It happened in the run up to the Euro elections. (Only some posters obvs).

It is a defecit of sophistication in thinking.

But you did seem to say that given racial tensions in Rotherham it was right for police to be careful not to offend or inflame.

AFewFallenLeaves if thats the impression I gave from my comments I regret that because thats not what I think. The best way for them not to inflame in my opinion would have been for them to just deal with the perpetrators as normal criminals and just arrest them when they had evidence that they were committing these crimes. I suspect the reason they didnt has more to do with their low opinion of the poor victims rather than fears of creating racial tension. What I meant by my comment is that their fears that some would play up the race of the sexual abusers to inflame racial tensions to a certain extent has come true. There are some particularly on the far-right and even some mainstream newspapers who are framing this story in terms of race when the significant factor is police/local council negligence. If you have crystal clear evidence that a group of individuals has committed a crime and from the reports you can see that they clearly did then if you chose not to act you are guilty of willful negligence. Whatever reason they had for that whether it was genuinely a fear of stirring up racial tensions or lack of concern for the victims due to their backgrounds the finger should be pointed firmly at the council and police as well as the perpetrators of the crimes when apportioning blame not the wider Pakistani community who would have been as shocked and horrified by these crimes as anyone else. I think the comment of the Pakistani lady on the radio was clearly unacceptable if that is indeed what she said but should be taken to represent her own narrow mindedness not as representative of the whole pakistani community. However, sadly her attitude again is unfortunately not exclusive to her as didnt the report state that some in the council and in the police also had a similarly low opinion of the young victims that they had somehow consented to it through their actions. Its such a repulsive case and I can understand claig why its difficult to accept that the police could have colluded in or willfully turned a blind eye to such horrendous child abuse but turning a spotlight on it and addressing it head on is how it can be prevented from ever happening again. I hope these sorts of grooming gangs whether white, asian, black etc, will never ever be ignored by the authorities again.

Listening to the coverage on R4, I can't understand why certain police officers and other officials aren't being arrested for perverting the course of justice.

In Western Australia community leaders (male natch!) were left to manage Aboriginal communities and abuse of women and children went unchecked.

There should never be no-go zones for policing whatever the tensions. You leave the vulnerable with nowhere to turn. Which thought leads back me to those police officers who threatened to arrest a distraught Dad, and did arrest a drunk underage girl while doing nothing about the adult men she was found with. I do not know how they live with themselves - what a dereliction of duty as both officers and human beings.