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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

The continuing war against women - Report on the Newcastle "grooming gang"

42 replies

Kikashi · 23/02/2018 13:28

A report has been issued on the Newcastle "grooming gang". Rather than the 270 victims that were talked about in court the gang in all likelihood abused more than 700 girls. The abusers were arrogant and operated scot free for a long time despite some girls going to the police. Surprise, surprise they were not believed and the police decided to tackle the issue by instigating punishments for the girls "bad behaviour" rather than investigating and persuing their rapists. This included some of the girls being placed in "secure accommodation" thus basically criminalising then for having the courage to report having been raped, groomed and sexually abused.

I totally despair. 700 underage girls raped and sexually assaulted multiple times and passed around like garbage and that was the response by the police in this supposedly equal and enlightened age to silence them, decide they were liars and lock them up.

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DaisyDrip · 23/02/2018 13:45

This breaks my heart. All those young girls lives blighted. How the heck do they get past this? Why were their voices not listened to earlier?

I'm a Geordie by birth although I don't live in Newcastle now. It's almost guaranteed some of those innocent young girls are daughters/granddaughters of people I grew up/went to school with. Utterly, utterly heartbroken. I hope the monsters who did this rot for eternity.

QueenLaBeefah · 23/02/2018 13:47

Utterly shocking (and heartbreaking).

whoputthecatout · 23/02/2018 19:09

I was particularly Angry at this quote from the BBC report

"Mr Spicer said the perpetrator he spoke to "displayed no regret" and "spoke in a derogatory manner about a lack of morals in British girls".

It really got to me. So these creatures can apparently behave like feral alley cats with no morals whatsoever, yet cast aspersions on the morals of women. Why does no one ever question the morals of men?

Double standards are alive and well. Bastards.

Wishfulmakeupping · 23/02/2018 19:13

Absolutely sickening and they’ll be more to come it’s been well known this has been happening since in the early 90s in many north west towns such as Blackburn and Burnley I dread to think how many young girls have gone through this. There is a real sense of entitlement amongst these men and a common perception of how worthless they view English girls to be.

OlennasWimple · 23/02/2018 19:19

The news report I heard on BBC radio today said that more needed to be done in other cities too because it was felt that there is likely to be the same problem elsewhere.

700 in Newcastle alone.

I feel sick.

thebewilderness · 23/02/2018 19:35

Unfortunately if you scratch the surface of most cultures you come up against the common belief that that is what women and girls are for.

Geronimoleapinglizards · 23/02/2018 19:56

I'm horrified by this too.

shedalight · 23/02/2018 20:04

Terrible. It goes on and on and still the authorities continue to target vulnerable girls and women, not the perpetrators.

cista · 23/02/2018 22:26

This is happening in many deprived areas, not just Newcastle and Rotherham. The problem is that it also attracts the likes of "Britain First", which then scares anyone else of commenting because they don't want to be seen as racist. For example, the BNP infamously exposed the Rotherham gangs in a documentary years before it came out, but because it was the BNP, nobody cared. Sad

foodiefil · 23/02/2018 22:34

The girls raped in their school uniforms.

The girls put in custody instead of the rapists.

This is being repeated over and over again. They were the victims but they were treated like the criminals.

Desperately sad.

God bless these girls, I hope you can somehow get over this ordeal and live as normal a life as possible

NapQueen · 23/02/2018 22:58

In the words of a police officer on that force "it became too big".

Fucking atrocious.

Original poster
Kikashi · 25/02/2018 14:06

Another inquiry rumbling on. 1500!!! potential victims - 4 abusers have been convicted and 5 more cases are pending. The police want to go after the gangs but don't have the manpower or resources.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/25/rotherham-abuse-inquiry-needs-100-more-officers-operation-stovewood

A lot of the abuse was several years ago so time is of the essence in being able to trace the rapists. The headline cost tot he police and Home office is always highlighted with these big investigations but the social costs are huge for society and the victims have had their lives stolen - wracked with addiction issues, depression, MH issues, suicide and further abuse - violent partners, prostitution etc. The abusers aren't simply jailed for a few years and then everything is okay.

Something really needs to urgently be done to stop this abuse happening in the first place and if it means facing the anger of men in some communities and accusations of racism then so be it. Are these girls lives not worth that?

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whataboutbob · 25/02/2018 17:59

I agree Kikash I, but before even looking at the cultures which spawn this attitude towards vulnerable white girls, people in all walks of life ( police, social work, media and just commentators generally) self censor and spawn safe homilies such as “sexual abuse happens in all communities” and “Islam prohibits sex outside marriage let alone sexual abuse”. Few in public life want to grasp the nettle and start exploring the beliefs prevalent to some degree amongst Muslims ( especially sub continental Asian) , that: 1) a good “ clean”woman is a virgin until her wedding day 2) women who aren’t are dirty and fair game, and 3) most western women belong in the second category.
Before everyone has a fit or mumsnet rushes to delete my post ( thus rather proving my point above) let me add that I grew up in a Muslim country, was sexually harassed and abused, have read the coran and have also come across these beliefs articulated in a casual way amongst several colleagues of sub continental origin, women included.

holycheeseplant · 25/02/2018 18:00

The reporting on this has been dire. I'm up here and it was reported on locally, I know professionals involved in the case but I really noticed a lack of reporting in the wider press and last summer and now - just not that much. It's a huge scandal, affecting vulnerable adults as well.

hipsterfun · 26/02/2018 20:54

have also come across these beliefs articulated in a casual way amongst several colleagues of sub continental origin, women included.

When I was younger I heard these beliefs articulated by other young people. I understood it was not something I was permitted to talk about.

shedalight · 26/02/2018 21:06

It seems that women are so rarely believed when speaking about abuse / safety and these girls and women are clear examples of this. The scale is unbelievable.

Given the size and scale the police / government have got to put some level of investment into sorting this.We are prepared to put millions into historic abuse (and I'm not arguing that we shouldn't) but while abuse is happening in plain sight now, there aren't the resources?

TallulahWaitingInTheRain · 26/02/2018 22:28

The girls weren't dismissed by the police because Asian men thought they were dirty slappers who asked for it. They were dismissed by police because white men thought they were dirty slappers who asked for it.

Ethnicity is a red herring here. The problem is male privilege.

thebewilderness · 26/02/2018 22:31

The girls weren't dismissed by the police because Asian men thought they were dirty slappers who asked for it. They were dismissed by police because white men thought they were dirty slappers who asked for it.

A little louder for those singing lalala race.

ChattyLion · 26/02/2018 22:36

Agree Talulah it’s a male privilege across all cultures that has allowed this abuse of girls and women to flourish to the frightening and massive extent it has across the country.

TallulahWaitingInTheRain · 26/02/2018 22:42

I would like to add that my language in the above post is direct because I am so fucking angry about what these innocent girls have been subjected to.

Flowers to any survivor who sees this.

Mouthandtrousersall · 26/02/2018 22:48

The police and the rapists colluded on this. This is the same all over the country.

Men in authority will always protect adults from children's accusations. They do it instinctively. They believe the child is bad and the adult must be protected. Look at Saville. I believe its because they see their own image and instinctively act to protect other men, in the way they would want to be believed and protected, man to man.

They did this to my young son, his friend told a teacher my son was talking to a paedophile online and the school called the police and had the two children arrested. To protect the paedophile. I had to go all the way up to the school governors to try to get them to explain why they arrested the children to protect the adult. They literally could not explain themselves. They just tried to cover it up.

Not sure that adults have any understanding of children at all.

BlindYeo · 27/02/2018 00:30

1) a good “ clean”woman is a virgin until her wedding day 2) women who aren’t are dirty and fair game, and 3) most western women belong in the second category.

A little louder for those who are singing lalala it's nothing to do with culture.

Of course it's men. But it's ALSO cultural attitudes (not race). Culture shapes everyone. There are better and worse cultures when it comes to attitudes to women. If you don't think so, hop on over to Afghanistan with your bikini for your next holiday.

I cannot understand how anyone can say culture is a red herring in these specific cases. Yes there are other factors. But Asian men picked predominantly on white girls. 'White meat'. Their strategy, their decision.

What if it had been a grooming gang scandal involving thousands of Asian girls being specifically targeted by white men? Would you say 'oh it's not cultural, it's just men again.' Would you say the whiteness of the men and the brown skin of the girls was a red herring then?

Those white girls deserve a full analysis of why these things happened to them. Not just a politically correct one.

thebewilderness · 27/02/2018 00:36

The culture of the police is to be more interested in the accusation than the crime. I learned this when I was seven in 1953.

thornyhousewife · 27/02/2018 04:12

This is happening in Portsmouth, too.

Tallulah - there are many reasons why the police and local authorities cover this up. One is the lack of value placed on working class girls. Another is fear of being accused of racism.

It is assumed by the police (and others in authority) that this is an open secret and if you hang around with these men then this is what you deserve.

In the short term, we should be open as a society about this problem and reach potential victims before the perps do.

In the long term, many cultural attitudes need to change.