Racism versus accusations of sexual exploitations and rape

[Dworkin]

this is an ongoing trial and The Guardian aren't covering it so I link to The Telegraph.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9097570/Teen-girl-acted-as-recruiter-for-Asian-sex-gang.html

But it seemed to me that on Radio 4 news tonight the emphasis was more on the racism element that the sexual exploitation/rape element. So is Racism more important than the sexual assault of women?

Perhaps Radio 4 were being legally cautious. Perhaps I'm wrong to quote this trial but often this is brought up.

It's grim isn't it. I didn't hear the radio 4 piece. I do think that with this case there is a lot of focus on the race angle and it makes me wonder how seriously this would have been pursued if the men where white / middle class etc

It is grim. And of course had they been White the judge would have said that the girls were all willing participants, despite their age.

Which doesn't help matters does it? Why do men get centre stage when they clearly inviolate the law and the body of young women?

crazy!

It's all grim.

It's grim that rape isn't taken seriously but it's also horrible when you see "I was walking down the street and a black guy started hassling me" as if his race is important.

To me they're both important issues.

What racism element?

I echo that comment. What racism element? It's about revolting men raping young and vulnerable girls.

I only skim read an article about it but it sounds like there have been racial attacks as a result - random Asian shopkeepers being targetted by white yobs using it as an excuse.

its awful but the papers are banging on about race and muslims so the EDL are now all stirred up. Not that they give a shit about men gromming young women either.

Oh.

Well, that's shit.

Still no excuse for ignoring yet another opportunity to get some public debate going on male violence against women and children. What will it take for that to ever happen?

There's 2 racism elements. It appears that the girls were racially targetted by the groomers and rapists. Now there is a racist backlash against people with no involvement. Two (and in this case three) wrongs don't make a right. Its all horrible.

There's a particularly grim undertone of "them" doing stuff with "our women" IYSWIM which leaves a particularly sour taste as I suspect if it were white men doing this there would be much less general outcry.

I know of a similar identical case in another part of the country that was never reported in case of backlash, I'm guessing thats why the Guardian are keeping quiet.

This case throw up lots of issues and needs to be reported very carefully to stop backlash in local communities.

I would like to know if the police have turned a blind eye to some of these gangs. It seems to me that society has absolutely no problem with offending, exploiting and disrespecting women.

There have been cases of white gangs doing this stuff and the cases don't attract the same media attention.

There is deffo a racist element to it all.

Agree though that in some communities white women are seen as, well, I don't really want to write the words down but YKWIM which is an issue.

However it's not exactly only men of asian origin who have a monopoly on being right bastards to women and girls.

Actually, my take on the way the trial has been reported is that it is a harrowing series of rapes/sexual assaults. Haven't read link but have listened to a lot of radio.

The way certain sections of society have reacted I don't think is down to the reporting but rather racism/fear/prejudice/neo-nazism.

The race angle of the targeting of these girls I'm not so sure about. They were targeted because they were vulnerable.

'Still no excuse for ignoring yet another opportunity to get some public debate going on male violence against women and children. What will it take for that to ever happen?'

see that needed debate isnt going to happen while the majority can sit back smugly and say 'its them moozlims innit'. Thus the issue of male violence doesnt yet addressed.

I think the counter argument was that many of these crimes were not investigated properly as police were afraid of being called racist and not being seen to be racist was more important than sexual exploitation of women.

I don't know. It's a can of worms. And case still ongoing. who knows what the outcome will be.

What Sardine said.

We could talk about this trial which has finished

I think it's probably best that I don't comment much because I am tired and when I am angry and tired I get less diplomatic.

It would be lovely to think that the EDL lot are getting on board the VAW bus, but I suspect that their reaction comes from a similar root to the rapists.

KalSkirata, quite.

Exactly KalSkirata. Great post!

Grimma your post too.

I suppose in this case it would have been even worse if they'd targetted girls in their own community... at least those white girls aren't likely to be 'honour' killed as a result of the men's crime.

However it's not exactly only men of asian origin who have a monopoly on being right bastards to women and girls.
No, but being brought up in a misogynist culture (the race is irrelevant) sure doesn't help

awful case.

we so need to protect young girls. every time someone gets away with sex with a minor because she was supposedly willing or highly sexual or etc etc etc we invite more sick arseholes to have sex with children with assurance they'll probably get away with it, especially if they pick a girl with problems.

i don't know about the racist element - i do think it's probably easier to get white men in power to give a damn about girls being raped when it's an ethnic minority doing the raping and white girls being raped.

we could do with a lot of high profile prosecutions with heavy sentences for sex with minors. unfortunately i agree that this one will not really highlight the realities of sexual violence and the commonplace predation about girl-children in general because it is able to be 'othered' through the perpetrators ethnicity and 'culture' assumptions. it's like the 'honour' killing stuff - instead of being yet more evidence of the hideously violent towards women world we live in it is seen as some exotic, othered thing that stands outside of 'normal' reality.

sorry not very articulate tonight but hope that makes sense - about the othering of it.