Abused women and children cannot be used as pawns in power politics - Karen Ingala Smith

[IwantToRetire]

... We cannot allow the response to sexual and domestic violence and abuse to be hijacked by those with the deepest pockets, the loudest voices and those with nefarious agendas, however compelling they sometimes are. We cannot refuse to make the links between child sexual exploitation, pornography and prostitution. A society that condones the purchase of ‘consent’ to sexual access is one where men’s entitlement and women’s objectification and where sexual exploitation is normalised.

We need to believe that men’s violence against and abuse of women, girls and children is not inevitable and act accordingly. Whilst our goals and actions must be across party political divides, they must be set without prejudice, be victim-centred and implemented with determination. Abused women and children cannot be used as pawns in power politics.

Full article https://kareningalasmith.com/2025/01/08/abused-women-and-children-cannot-be-used-as-pawns-in-power-politics

Great article!

Baroness Jay reported in 2022 and the Tories did zero when they had the opportunity to push forward its recommendations. Their political opportunism to exploit this now for their own ends is shameful. However, the current spotlight might provide an impetus to see these recommendation acted on.

I love this woman, she cuts through all the bullshit.

I dont agree with all her points, but thought the way she has written about what is happening is helpful.

What is so depressing is that even if somehow we work out how commissions, investigations, etc., never seem to achieve change, is that we / the politicians aren't addressing the real underlying issue.

By the time the police, social workers, etc., get along it is for the women and girls involved too late.

Throughout all communities, men and boys feel entitle to use women and girls.

I want us to have a trial, as Gisèle Pelicot in many ways made her court case, where men are put on trial.

Picking up the shattered lives of women and girls is too little, too late.

Its like all the people who go on about why haven't they stopped knife crime. When the real question is why are so many boys and young men carrying knifes.

All these men just scoring points against each other now, are doing what always happen.

We never get to the root of the problem.

Male entitlement and exploitation of women.

Here's a slightly differenct angle by Hannah Barnes

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/society/2025/01/tommy-robinson-elon-musk-grooming-scandal

Full article also at https://archive.is/bx4Qq

The baroness Jay report only covered 6 towns. It covered Saville, the church and only a small section on grooming. Only one grooming victim was spoken to. It did not investigate Pakistani Muslim grooming/rape and torture gangs.

I think they should action the reports recommendations AND carry out a national enquiry.

The sentencing remarks are horrific, I cannot believe that a majority of fathers are disgusted by what happened to the girls. I also think some men will have been moved by the father’s interviews. Also the victims statements. The media attention and arguing politicians may finally give the survivors the enquiry they deserve and allow many men to be arrested and charged. The men I have spoken in real life are either truly horrified or very good actors.

If anyone reading this hasn’t read the sentencing remarks I recommend you do read them. Many victims want an enquiry. The parents of victims want an enquiry. Let them have one. It’s the least the government can do. And lock up any one complicit, MPs, police, councillors.

Some people are saying this is still happening to girls - so I am grateful to anyone discussing this as it may save lives.

Rosie Duffield voted No this evening - that was very disappointing. The lack of support for a national enquiry from women has actually disappointed me the most. Labours votes this evening are a disgrace and I am glad that Tice has said public ally that Reform they will fund an enquiry. Yes it’s politics but it was also politics that allowed people to cover up mass gang rapes in 50 towns in modern western Britain. If reform are happy to fund raise for it I am happy to donate.

The chair of the Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children published in November 2023, Prof Alexis Jay, told the BBC Radio Four Today Programme that lack of data means it is “impossible to know whether any particular ethnic group is over-represented as perpetrators of child sexual exploitation by networks” and that one of the review’s recommendations was improved data collection. It should be unacceptable that this was ever the case, more so that it remains the case because the review recommendations still have not been implemented.

I wonder if this will make them realise how important recording innate characteristics such as sex and race are?

Sorry just reread I should have said Prof Jay and typo on publicly auto corrected - it’s been a very long day at work

May have been posted elsewhere but just adding it here.

Comment from Safe School Alliance
https://safeschoolsallianceuk.net/2025/01/07/grooming-gangs-and-safeguarding-failures/

@user23124 i hope so. We need to stop being afraid to record data correctly and we need to speak the truth.

Free speech is so important to democracy and the term Far Right is used to stop conversation, debating and questioning.

If someone says Far Right now I just wonder what they are trying to hide or stop me questioning.

I see Starmer abstained tonight. So can’t be accused later on but applied the whip to his constituents and put them in the firing line of their angry constituents. Wonder if he was open and honest about that prior to them voting.

Great article by Karen ingala smith.
buti don’t understand why Safe schools alliance made a statement- they’ve never done anything to highlight the grooming gangs. Bandwagon jumping is not a good look, not in the face of such terrible crimes of violence against girls

There have been inquiries, there really is no great mystery about why police forces (who only a few years before spoke openly about Peter Sutcliffe moving on to "innocent" victims after a student was murdered) weren't terribly interested in investigating offences against girls they regarded as "slags".

As to Reform 's "independent" inquiry, with no power to summon and question witnesses what on earth could it find out that others haven't? No one reputable would head up any such inquiry.

We need rapists held to account, is an enquiry really the way to get this? Politicians covered up a scandal…let’s blow the lid on that. An enquiry can take 10 years…what is best for these victims? I think it’s really complicated….

Yes their remit is something else thats quite different but extremely important also. I can understand its helpful sometimes to see connections etc, or lend support as an individual, but mission creep in organisations has caused a lot of mess in the past. Not everyone/every organisation needs to respond immediately to every issue.

Their remit is safeguarding. This is a wide and deep safeguarding failure.

She might have proofed this. This section links to the IICSA report from October 2022:

"The chair of the Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children published in November 2023, Prof Alexis Jay..."

Her link takes you here: www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/inquiry/final-report.html not to a different repost from more than a year on.

What else is incorrect in this?

@Atissues
"And lock up any one complicit, MPs, police, councillors."

Hmmmm... to do that you would really need a law making failing to report safeguarding concerns an offense. Like the one recommended by the Jay Inquiry we already had. The recommendations that will be delayed being implemented if we do another inquiry.

Also, have you read the details of the bill that is meant to be going through parliament right now? The one that Kemi Badenoch threatened not to block if they didn't add an amendment about another inquiry. Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024-25 - House of Commons Library

This bit for example:

• providing a statutory framework under which children could be deprived of their liberty in settings other than just a secure children’s home

This means that when say a 14 year old is "going out" to meet her boyfriend (read be sexually abused) she can be stopped. Because before that wasn't happening. And either because they were desperate for affection and thought their "boyfriends" cared about them, or because they were shit scared of them or a combination of those things, tweens and teenagers were just walking out of foster homes late at night and the terrible abuse you read about was happening.

But now apparently, we shouldn't make any changes until Elon Musk is happy.

The Bill is here:

publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0151/240151.pdf

Absolutely this. What’s astonishing to me is that so many people are surprised by the institutional misogyny of the police, judiciary and social care system.

Thanks!

I just feel like this is a real time demonstration of why nothing ever changes!
Its like Me Too - started with very horrible crimes being uncovered (after years), led to an enormous outpouring of similar stories and public outrage an idea that "something must be done", more horrible things from the film industry came to light. Cathartic sharing of stories online. Then it turned into a discussion about representation in the film industry etc (fine) but got more and more complicated with different agendas. Then some people felt it had gone "too far". It turns out wearing times up pin badges doesn't do anything in itself. Backlash against the movement. The "Times UP" organisation collapsed on itself under accusations of racism etc.

Or Black Lives Matter in the US. Huge public anger, demonstrations, some demonstrations turn violent. Turns into an argument about whether white people can suffer racism. No-one quite knows what defund the police should mean. Lots of kneeling. Backlash against the kneeling. The organisers of BLM (organisation not the message) turn out to have used the money to buy mansions. Police violence against black people in America continues.

Its not like there were no positive outcomes from those movements. But the whole "we need to have a discussion about X..." and also a discussion about the discussion and people pledging allegiance online and accusing anyone expressing a dissenting opinion of "complicity" doesn't actually change anything (except potentially delay legislation).

Or the people shocked to read the details because they assumed that it just involved the girls being given nice things in exchange for sex.🙄 I think incredibly naive views of what "sex work" at the best of times entails, or what men who would be using children for sex would be like. Of course they would be depraved. They were having sex with children. I didn't need to read the horrific details in the closing statements to know it was horrific. But some people seem really outraged that the BBC didn't detail every single thing in its report. Its like I can hear a news report about someone being stabbed 17 times and know it was awful without the BBC describing every wound in detail. Not saying the trial details should be supressed. Just that a news reporter saying "girls were used for sex and tortured" is not a cover up.

@biscuitandcake absolutely and all the while everybody is trying to sidle round the massive elephant in the room which is that some men just really really hate women. And that isn’t race dependent whatever Reform want us to believe.

A lot of words there to essentially say "I don't want a public inquiry".

We don't need another enquiry. We need to implement the findings of previous enquiries, not set up yet another talking shop.

I see Starmer abstained tonight. So can’t be accused later on but applied the whip to his constituents and put them in the firing line of their angry constituents. Wonder if he was open and honest about that prior to them voting.

Is this true?! Even as somebody who thinks he is the most useless flip flopper that is astonishing.

How can he be taken seriously.

I am referring to his handling of events and telling MPs what to do etc., rather than the actual issue.

How has he ever held positions of responsibility.

With all the shit going on in the world and here in the UK, its not just that's he's pointless but that he has become an obstruction to anything every being done.

What a two faced hypercrite.

Did MPs just vote against a grooming gangs inquiry?