Yet another abuse of girls scandal in Telford going on for 40 years!

[rowdywoman1]

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-worst-ever-child-grooming-12165527

Up to 1,000 girls repeatedly abused for up to 40 years in Telford. What on earth have the police and other organisations been doing?

I think bottom line is these girls are seen as disposable by lots of men, and women too.

3 girls murdered I mean it's just beyond belief.

CSA one thing but not to bother with murder is just crazy.

Feminists often say that the authorities aren't interested in crime against women until we're dead - all too often and depending on what "sort" of women / girls they are, they don't seem to care when they're actually dead either.

I think the failure of the authorities with regard to on street grooming is much more a combination of sexism and classism (who cares about underclass "slags") than it is about a fear of appearing racist. Those girls are/were acceptable victims because of their sex and their social class.

Some of the fallout is racist - in that people who are racist jump on this particular offence to justify their racism. Those people don't care about the offences where the same type of girls suffer but the perps are white. Because those people are also sexist and classist in addition to being racist.

I think it's that they were incapable of even seeing these girls of being victims of any crimes. They saw them as active - as prostitutes, as tarts, etc. It probably didn't even cross their minds to apply the word "rape" to what was being done to them - they viewed the trafficking and rape as "consensual" or possibly even instigated by the girls for their own gain.

This of course comes from the classism and the sexism. I don't think they were seen as "acceptable victims" though as I don't think they were seen as victims at all.

Here’s some background about what happened in Rotherham. Warning: it is very upsetting reading and the police and local council behaved utterly terribly.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal

It’s likely the situation. In Telford was similar.

This of course comes from the classism and the sexism. I don't think they were seen as "acceptable victims" though as I don't think they were seen as victims at all.

Yes, actually and horribly - I think you are right.

And just to throw another cat amongst the pigeons.

I was remembering that not all of the girls affected were in care etc - some came from stable loving families who were not living in poverty or risk factors like that. These girls were also not protected. One mother spoke of how she repeatedly went to the police, to other agenices, begging for help, and got nowhere.

Then I was thinking about how there is a strong class element to who is "known" to the authorities. Wealthier families are better at not drawing the attention of people like SS for a variety of reasons. Richer families are very keen on not getting them or their children involved with SS / police etc and are good at doing so. Similar maybe to how the report talks about girls from other backgrounds that were off the radar as their families had strong feelings about "dishonour" and so didn't report...

These children were ignored but they were visible, they were on the radar of these authorities. A lot of children are not and have families who for whatever reason keep well away.

I have no doubt that in these cases most of the girls were indeed from vulnerable backgrounds - care / poverty etc

However I wonder if there are things going on amongst other groups that are just kept much more firmly hidden from view.

As a PP mentioned, there have been mutterings for ages that all these scandal after story after scandal around CSA are just the top of the iceberg, that it cuts across society in all directions, and that some of the people involved are very powerful.

Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist, but just what I was thinking.

Doesn't fit their multiculti utopian agenda. The msm are covering it up too, methinks.

Having read the Rotherham case on wikipedia and the apparent disinterest/ ineptitude of the police, I wouldn't be surprised if they are involved themselves. The fact it was so well hidden for such a long time suggests more than just worries about racism or thinking the girls were all "tarts" to me. I think they had a vested interest in keeping it quiet.

Yes, I would venture it's money. And pressure for votes. Just my guess

Having just read that Wikipedia link, I had never come across mention of the Weir Report before, the way that was handled, just that aspect of the suppression of that report, speaks hideous volumes in regards to how the abuse of vulnerable girls and women is viewed and dealt with in this country.
And people say that we no longer need feminism?

I think money is part of the point - police used to have targets and would channel resource in that direction,

They also like to focus on high profile arrests / conviction or those that will make them look good in the community / etc. They want to show they are doing a good job and therefore focus on the areas where it is more straightforward to do that.

CSA, drugs, children who on the surface seem "no good", possible accusations of racism, none of this in those days was of much interest to the general public, who also saw these girls in a similar way to the police.

What was in it for the police to look into any of this? It was messy, hardly anyone cared about the victims and the ones who did no-one listened to etc

People often claim that girls are cared for more than boys, looked after more carefully etc. That society cares about them more.

I don't think that's really true, is it?

In my experience girls are written off very quickly as being "no good" and with girls / women I think there is still this virgin/whore thing and once you're in the whore category that's it, you're not worth anything and you never will be.

I think that boys are given second chances more, and thought of as worth more in the first place? At work they always say that part of the problem with women progressing is that women are judged on what they have done in the past, men are judged on their future potential. I think this is probably true about lots of things.

Someone said rape trials - the past of the woman is always brought up, and the potential future that will be lost for the man.

The fact that the woman's future might well have been altered irreperably by an attack is not deemed relevant, nor is the man's past sex life (even if pertinent).

These girls, once they were in the "tart" box, that was that, they were worth nothing, entirely disposable, why bother?

Three murders I just can't get over that.

I grew up in Wellington (I think it's this really small, rural edges town rather than wider Telford...which makes it more shocking). I am now in my mid 40s and not lived there for most of my adult life. When I was a teen in the late 80s/early 90s the Pakistani community was confined to a couple of streets and a handful of takeaways and shops. People were openly racist and the children did not integrate well at school. We only went to that street to buy alcohol underage. You could get thunderbirds at age 13. Not anywhere else in town..The Young men seemed to mostly drive taxis and were known for selling 'skunk'. That's why we spoke to them. It's shocking to think like that now but that's how everyone behaved. Yes young girls were propositioned. There was an overwhelming culture of young girls and older men, not just confined to the Asian community and white girls. Lots of poverty. I know of many in hindsight child abuse issues. At the time we did not see it like that. It's only in the last 5-10years I have started to understand that's what it was. When the child abuse things started coming out I remember arguing with my London colleagues in the pub once 'isn't that just how things used to be between young girls and older men??'. I now realise I lived in an area where it was rife. I myself did not escape the advances of much older men (16 yrs to a 35 year old, not asian.i thought it was consential!).
It's really confusing to read about this as it seems so long ago, a different life.

I can’t get over that Lucy was pregnant again when he killed her her mum and sister ! He was charged but not for rape even though she was 14 when she had his child her poor father left looking after her baby. I think it is institutialism at its worst so awful

I think in these cities they need to introduce curfews. The police need to actively target girls who are hanging around with older men, pull them over and take the girls home. ID cards for teens, more youth programs so kids have more productive ways to spend their time than hanging around getting drunk and high. It’s not an unsolvable problem. Look at what happened in Iceland when they introduced similar measures. However, they need money and support to do this. So, they probably won’t bother, which is a real shame. Perhaps it can be done on a local level if towns/cities want to make a difference.

Curfews for the men would be even better

I’m reminded of the late Golda Meier:

“When Golda Meir was asked to place a curfew on women to help end a series of rapes, Meir replied by stating, “But it is the men who are attacking the women. If there is to be a curfew, let the men stay at home.”

SnibbleAgain - you may be interested in this Twitter thread:

twitter.com/SpareMuggeridge/status/973846209646485504

This thread took off better than mine did, so here I am...asking if you can all sign this:

www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-telford-needs-an-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-exploitation

Thanks!

I’ve signed the Telford inquiry petition but I really hope that this sparks an inquiry at a national level- it’s common knowledge in a lot of north west towns and cities that this has been happening since the 1980’s and the public services have not been held accountable there must be lots more Telfords perhaps on a smaller scale but I think there needs to be a nationally acknowledgement of failures and for the abusers of the past to be brought to justice now. I want justice for these victims and a change in culture and policy so it doesn’t happen again.

Thank you, signed.