Rotherham what can we do?

[batgirl1984]

I live in Rotherham. Once the media coverage stops and everyone has calmed down from the strong emotions and moral outrage, what can we actually do to protect our children? (All the children of our town, not just mine). In years we can choose not to reelect Shaun Wright but what can we do to challenge the misogyny that means those trying to protect children from being raped are ignored? The women this happened to will need support, how do we make sure it stops now? Has anyone got any experience of successfully preventing this?

The laws are already in place, so senior people within social services and police HAVE to do their jobs, so those below them do theirs - as they are our carers and justice of last resort.

Political correctness is to blame.

Jel, I'm not sure it is. That feels like a smokescreen. The whole 'we would be accused of racism' thing doesn't ring true. No one is reporting that people of any particular ethnicity are under arrested for any other crime. I think its just a way to detract from the fact that the powers that be weren't willing to act, for whatever reason.

Another reason the authorities failed to act is money. It costs the Local Authority, Police and other agencies a lot of money if they have to investigate crime and support the victims etc. Much better to look the other way and pretend there is no problem.

Anyone who has any dealings with Local Authorities knows that LAs frequently let down their council tax payers and do so with impunity as their complaints procedures find in their favour and the supposedly independent watchdog - the Local Govt Ombudsman is actually staffed with ex council employees.

The only way to change this is to take legal action. They need to understand that it will cost more in legal claims and compensation than it would to sort out the problem in the first place.

That's a really hard question with no simple answer. Sadly this current case is a small part of a jigsaw, agencies have failed time after time to protect our vulnerable children regardless of the perpetrators. Catholic church, Salive and co, Care homes, Gangs from all ethnic backgrounds.

First we need to open up our eyes. The 'We believe you' campaign needs to mean all victims. Sexual assault and rape victims need to be believed. Even if they are to young to tell us, I wish I had a better memory for details if a toddler is taken to the Doctors and treated for a STD alarm bells should start ringing, obviously, but this was ignored with tragic consequences in a case a few years ago. If every body believed how widespread this was in every community we would be more vigilant at grass roots and those in power would be unable to sweep it under the carpet or distract us as I think they are using this report for. Rochdale has ether been very brave and forward thinking in releasing this report or has been thrown to the wolves to distract us from Butler Sloss missing files enquiry/operation Yewtree/Cliff Richard/etc. These are really all the same thing vulnerable children being let down by the very people who should be protecting us, we need to stop seeing them as separate. If we only deal with each group of criminals at a time another one will move in in their place.

Sorry Rotherham not Rochdale.

Social workers have admitted that they were too scared to do their jobs properly and report these men for fear of being accused of racism.

Why is that do you think batgirl?

Lemon, yes, because they fear they would have been accused of racism. But why? That fear must have been for a reason. Its not normal to be accused of racism for doing your job. It feels like that fear was put onto workers for political reasons. I want to know why and how that was and how we can stop that kind of manipulation continuing.

Lemon, yes, because they fear they would have been accused of racism. But why? That fear must have been for a reason. Its not normal to be accused of racism for doing your job. It feels like that fear was put onto workers for political reasons. I want to know why and how that was and how we can stop that kind of manipulation continuing.

It feels like blackmail 'If you do your job and protect these girls we will expose you as a racist.'

Exactly.

It has to be time to stop this culture of silencing. But it's not going to happen unfortunately.

The Leftwingers will accuse us all of racism when we try to point out the facts. And then the whole cycle will begin again..

"Former Labour MP MacShane: My leftie views kept me quiet

Former Rotherham MP Dennis Macshane said he did not look further into the town's child abuse sex scandal because he is a 'true Guardian reader and liberal leftie' and 'did not want to rock the multi-cultural boat'

Political correctness stopped left-wing politicians and council officials from doing more to expose the abuse scandal, Rotherham’s former MP said yesterday.

Denis MacShane accepted he should have done more but said his own ‘liberal leftie’ background made him reluctant to speak out over abuse allegations against Muslim men.

The shamed former Labour politician, who was jailed over the expenses scandal and is no longer a member of the party, said: ‘I should have burrowed into this. Perhaps, yes, as a true Guardian reader and a liberal leftie I suppose, I didn’t want to raise that too hard.’

Mr MacShane blamed a ‘culture of not wanting to rock the multi-cultural unity boat’ for the failure by numerous agencies and individuals to expose the child exploitation.

He has previously admitted that he, like other politicians, had feared losing Muslim votes if he aired ‘the dirty secrets about bad practices in the Kashmiri Muslim community’.

The damning report into the scandal said council staff feared they would be branded racist if they discussed the allegations with the Pakistani community – even though the victims had described the majority of the men involved as Asian."

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736204/A-raft-abuse-files-crime-tsar-says-didnt-Shaun-Wright-urged-quit-Labour-continues-shift-blame-scandal.html

I don't buy the argument that Labour were scared of losing Muslim votes, because it seems that Labour had a large majority and the Muslim population is about 3.5% or so, so not very large compared to non-Muslim voters.

Claig, that quote you posted reads like a cover up. You say you don't buy it, I feel like its a cover up for something. Does anyone have any idea what?

I think it is possibly a cover up and political, but not for the reasons that they are claiming about being scared of losing Muslim votes, as if Muslim voters would not vote Labour if they exposed disgusting criminal gangs sexually abusing young girls. What an insult to Muslim voters. I don' think that is what it is about.

Scardycat, yes, we believe you needs to mean all victims. On the news there was a woman outside the new council office saying if any young people in Rotherham are being abused they need to come forward. But these girls did, some of their parents did, and they were betrayed. I feel angry about that, and I want to channel it into something constructive but I don't know what I can do.

There will be a cover up.

All the Leftie boys and girls are quiet now but they'll be back in the next day or two, when it's all died down, accusing people of racism when they point out the truth.

Claig, yes, if gangs of women fitting my exact demograph were doing something illegal and disgusting I wouldn't be angry if they were apprehended, I expect most groups of people would feel the same!

This needs a full public inquiry and everybody working in all of these public services needs to be interviewed in public. This is a disgrace and scandal that is far worse than phone hacking. Children sexually abused, doswed in petrol, beaten and threatened and our public services and councillors did not stop it. How can things just continue as normal?

The reason why this happened needs to come out and everybody involved needs to be held accountable.

"The report said that the figure of 1,400 was a “ conservative estimate ” and admitted “no one knows the true scale of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham over the years”. It also said that in more than a third of cases the children involved were already known to the authorities, but they failed to intervene."

www.channel4.com/news/1-400-children-sexually-abused-in-rotherham

It is staggering. How did it go on for so long and on such a scale and have similar things happened elsewhere?

Only a handful of people have been jailed and yet teh scale of this is enormous.

'I feel like its a cover up for something. Does anyone have any idea what?'

I think this may be part of the reason

"Mr MacShane blamed a ‘culture of not wanting to rock the multi-cultural unity boat’ for the failure by numerous agencies and individuals to expose the child exploitation."

I think they may have feared rocking the boat and strengthening parties like the BNP. I think they may have feared losing some of the white vote in the area.

I think this was about an organised network and gang of criminals and low-life cab drivers etc, but was not about the Pakistani community.

The most shocking thing is that councillors and care services and public services were aware of some of what was going on and did not stop it.

The reason why needs to be discovered. I think it is about more than just the usual calls for "training" and may be a cover up of some sort.

Claig what exactly do you mean by have similar things happened elsewhere? If you mean almost exactly the same thing happening then yes. Blackpool has a known problem along with many, mostly Northern (?) run down towns, I hope that is a fair description, I don't mean to offend. If you mean are there other groups of Adults targeting vulnerable children then yes on every level of our society targeting any age or gender.

'have similar things happened elsewhere? '

What I mean is have there been similar large scale organised gangs doing this and have their been similar coverups where the authorities were aware of what was going on and did not intervene?

Similar things have happened elsewhere

"Rotherham was not the only community in the North and the Midlands to have uncovered such abuse. There have also been arrests or prosecutions of groups of men in 11 towns and cities, including Oldham, Rochdale and Derby.

"In the other cases, overwhelmingly, they were men of Pakistani origin and we need to understand why this has been happening," said Mr Norfolk."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28934963

Is there something in common between all these cases?

Did most or even all of these cases occur under Labour administrations?

"Rotherham sex abuse scandal: Derby Labour MP defends under-fire Shaun Wright"

Asked whether Labour is backing its £85,000-a-year commissioner, a spokesman said: “The report into child abuse in Rotherham was devastating in its findings.

“Vulnerable children were repeatedly abused and then let down.

“In the light of this report, it is appropriate that South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright should step down.”

Derby North MP Chris Williamson said he disagreed with his party’s stance as he did not think Mr Wright was to blame for the scandal.

Mr Williamson said: “I’m not sure his stepping down would achieve anything.

“Elected members are lay people and are reliant on the advice provided to them.

“ What’s important now is to look at the procedures and to implement any changes that need to be made ”

Margaret Beckett, the Labour MP for Derby South, said she had recently returned from holiday and did not know enough about the case to be in a position to comment.

However she did say Mr Wright has “got to think about his position and discuss it with others”.

Children as young as 11 were sexually exploited by gangs of men – almost all of them of Pakistani origin – but council officials and police have been accused of suppressing evidence to avoid being accused of racism.

Mr Williamson said he was appalled at that excuse.

He said: “If that is the case, it’s completely wrong and totally unacceptable.

“That can never be grounds for not upholding the obligations of the council and not doing your job.

“In all situations, staff must put the safety and well-being of children first.”

Despite the criticism, no council employees will face disciplinary action and child protection staff who have left are working elsewhere in the country.

www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Rotherham-sex-abuse-scandal-Derby-Labour-MP/story-22836686-detail/story.html

Changes to proedures and training etc is just not good enough. This must be one of the biggest abuse scandals ever and victims were let down by the authorities and the State. A lot of people must be held accountable for what happened and we must find out exactly what lay behind the fact that it was not brought to light and stopped earlier. Anything else is an insult to the victims, their parents and the whole country.