"I am a grooming gang survivor"

[SheWhoMustNotBeHeard]

I watched this evening's Triggernometry interview of a woman who survived the grooming ring in Rotheram. She talks about her experiences and as well as the wider issues around rape. Articulate, brave and moving.

Please be warned: if you're feeling vulnerable please don't watch as she goes into detail of her sexual, verbal, emotional, physical and racial abuse.

Thanks for sharing OP... incredibly brave and strong woman.

Thanks, OP. I will maybe try and watch later.

Having a night off social media mostly, but bookmarked to watch tomorrow.

20 mins in and I have to switch off but god this is so important. She's incredible.

I'm still a bit appalled with how reticent people were to condemn this, almost in a perverse display of political correctness.

I watched this, the interview was harrowing. I find it appalling (but not surprising) that this hasn't had more mainstream coverage. The fact that a victim.of these gangs was deemed 'a bad witness' for using a racist term is disgusting.

I watched the whole interview, and though the interviewed survivor has recovered extremely well, I could spot a few things which I also share as a childhood trauma survivor (such as an exaggerated fear reaction to some things which are objectively not that risky but remind of old things which were very risky once). So her courage and stamina are to be applauded.

I read about the cases earlier. Both the police and those responsible for child safeguarding let the young girls down. Or rather, allowed their exploitation to continue unhindered.

I got the strong feeling that this was one demographic sub-group (white and some black working class girls, largely, from dysfunctional homes, often) that could be openly treated with contempt and ignored. One police officer called the girls prostitutes who were also minors, for example. And one care home let the cars come to collect the girls every afternoon with no questions asked.

Haven’t watched it yet but thank you for posting the link, this sounds like a really important testimony.

this was one demographic sub-group (white and some black working class girls, largely, from dysfunctional homes, often) that could be openly treated with contempt and ignored.

Shameful and true, Nepeta.

Stunning interview that should have been on BBC 1 at 9pm won't be.
When you hear her talking about how it is deeply rooted in race and hatred of whites and it probably involves 500,000 girls over a 45 year period, you start to see why the government are refusing to release the results of the enquiry into it all. Governments of both sides have been complicit in this and for over two generations people of multiple professions who's job was to look out for these children have knowingly looked the other way leaving these girls to their fate.

Even when these crimes were reported they were not dealt with. This was going on in the 1990s. Men particularly were complicit in suppressing the reality and it was because the victims were female they were sexually abused and raped. The needs of vulnerable girls to be loved is huge, and by the time they realised that it was abuse it was impossible to get them out except by getting them into secure accommodation. It has been a huge problem for a long time and it has not gone away. These are truly harrowing stories.

If the intent was to avoid stoking racial/religious tensions it has actually done the opposite. By ignoring the problem it just pushes larger numbers of the white majority towards the open arms of the far right.

I’m all for cultural diversity, but expecting large numbers of people from places in the world who have not made commensurate advances re: the status of women in society to effortlessly integrate with no issue is completely blue sky thinking.

When two cultures integrate the stronger of the two (ie the one with the greater willingness to force an issue), will dominate over the weaker one. Adopting a frame of white guilt and submission over atrocities we committed as an imperial power is just going to be interpreted as a weakness to be exploited.

We have to hold fast to values that are virtues like universal sufferage, free speech, equality under the law, freedom of religion etc, or we will lose them. We can do this coupled with a fair and honest appraisal of where we have fallen short as a culture historically.

As ever we cannot do anything if we are stymied by a refusal to stare facts, evidence and truth squarely in the face. As far as these poor women go we have failed them terribly.

I'm about half an hour in (think it's one to tackle in emotionally manageable chunks).

It is horrifying that the police just refused to investigate.

This honestly makes me want to just pull the plug on the world and get off. It’s probably the most depressing thing I’ve ever listened to.

Thank you for sharing. I will try and watch it later when DD isn’t around.

Heartbreaking

I am watching this, trying to take it all in and process it. Harrowing. Also, I just went into my comments history on YT and my comment I made 20 - 30 mins ago has been removed . It was very nuanced and merely confirming something the interviewee said from my own experience of Islamic culture. Why can we not speak about our own experiences and life stories?

Same here, Diana - I could only watch it in manageable chunks. It was a lot to process.

Some of the ridiculous comments astounded me, to be quite honest.

Someone actually said that feminists were at fault for only caring about 'campaigning for the right to put pictures of their nipples on instagram'.

Someone rightly reminded him of the first rule of misogyny and he did not like that!

Bah humbhug said...." I just went into my comments history on YT and my comment I made 20 - 30 mins ago has been removed"

Watching this discussed on The Student Room where somebody who on one thread was agreeing that we live in a rape culture and men should be taught not to rape not women taught to stay safe, then literally minutes later on another thread, where grooming gangs and Dr Hills interview came up, only for the same poster to say it was down to the police incompetence and girls should get training on how to avoid being groomed, yet made no comment on the rapists.
Went back and the thread had gone.

Even now when it is supposedly up for discussion there are bad actors determined to deflect this.