Grooming gang moral panic in the United Kingdom

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The grooming gang panic is a moral panic about groups referred to by the conflated terms Asian, Pakistani and Muslim men who sexually abuse young girls in the United Kingdom. Right-wing and far-right activists, as well as more mainstream individuals, helped popularise the terminology in the 2010s. [1] [2] [3] [4] For a general overview unrelated to ethnicity, see Child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom § Group based child sexual exploitation.

Contents

Public concerns about South Asian grooming gangs began after multiple high-profile child sex abuse scandals perpetrated primarily by South Asian men, including the Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal in late 2010, in which 1,400 girls as young as 11 were found to have been raped, trafficked, abducted, beaten, and intimidated by men predominantly of Pakistani heritage over a period of 15 years with limited prosecution. [5] It was later exacerbated by the Rochdale child sex abuse case in 2012 and the Telford child sexual exploitation scandal in 2023, in both of which predominantly South Asian men ran grooming and sex trafficking rings, the victims of which were predominantly white English girls and women. [3] [6] [7]

The statistics have been disputed. A report from the Home Office in 2020 concluded that any causal link between sexual assault and South Asian ethnicity “could not be proven”, in part due to lack of a strong basis in data, as many of the police officers involved did not record the ethnicity of the arrestee. [8] The report suggests there is likely no one community uniquely predisposed to offending, but added that “some studies suggest an over-representation of Black and Asian offenders relative to the demographics of national populations.” [8] White people, who make up a majority of the UK's population, also likely make up a majority of the perpetrators of sexual assault and group-based sexual assault crimes in the UK. [9] [10] Despite the lack of evidence, British media outlets have reinforced the stereotype by disproportionately reporting on South Asian group-based sexual assault crimes at the expense of other similar cases involving white abusers. [3] : 45 

Origins

Jay in 2016 Alexis Jay s300.jpg
Jay in 2016

Public concerns for South Asian "grooming gangs" began in the United Kingdom following the conviction and imprisonment of five Asian men for child sex crimes in November 2010 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. [11] While other similar crimes have been reported by the British media in previous years, past reports of Asian crimes were comparatively low-profile and less focused on the race of the suspects. [6] [2]

The Rotherham incident was labelled the "Asian grooming case" by The Yorkshire Post in 2010, with the Conservative broadsheet The Times further using the term "on-street grooming" in a 2011 article about the scandal. [2] [6] The case was brought back into public attention in 2012 after The Times reported, based on confidential sources, that public authorities were reluctant to investigate the mostly South Asian suspects in the case due to concerns that doing so would exacerbate community tensions. The report led a growing number of people to believe that there was a widespread trend of sexual abuse of girls in the UK and contributed to a growth of British right-wing groups such as the British National Party and UKIP in later years. Public outrage was further exacerbated when professor Alexis Jay published a report in 2014 which stated that at least 1,400 children were sexually abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The report, which partially focused on issues related of race, especially in its section titled "Issues of Ethnicity", led the general public to debate the role of race, ethnicity, gender and institutional failures in the facilitation of child sexual abuse. [2] [6]

Following Jay's report, TheDaily Express railed against alleged "Muslim gangs" that operated in Rotherham. In an article published by The Telegraph, Allison Pearson criticised the Muslim and Pakistani community for their alleged roles in sexual abuse crimes. In her article, Pearson stated that the "leaders of the Pakistani Muslim community – essentially a Victorian society that has landed like Doctor Who's Tardis on a liberal, permissive planet it despises – are at pains to deny that the grooming gang's behaviour has anything to do with ethnic origin or contemptible attitudes towards women". Another article by The Daily Mail criticised BBC News for not bringing enough attention to the fact that the Rotherham suspects were Asian. Ultimately, both tabloid and broadsheet outlets have focused on the ethnic aspect of Jay's 2014 report, the Rotherham scandal grew to receive international attention and the controversy contributed to the racialisation of child sexual abuse in Britain, with South Asian and Pakistani men being perceived as a threat to White and South Asian girls. [6] [2]

Aside from the Rotherham case, other crimes involving group-based sexual assault have also contributed to public concerns about South Asian grooming gangs, such as the Rochdale child sex abuse case [6] and the Telford child sexual exploitation scandal. [3]

Analysis

Media coverage

British media has previously been accused of perpetuating Islamophobia by "conflating the faith of Islam with criminality, such as the headlines 'Muslim sex grooming'", as well as pursuing sensationalist coverage. [12] In one academic paper, media outlets, including The Times , The Daily Mail's Mail Online, The Guardian and The Telegraph, were accused of boosting the moral panic by creating "Folk devils" from a perceived masculine threat in young South Asian men, especially in the wake of various high profile sex abuse scandals. [3]

Statistics

A study published by the Home Office in 2020 stated that "research has found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white". The report cited a study conducted by CEOP in 2013 which found that considering the ethnicity of offenders across all groups, of the 306 offenders for which data was made available by police forces, 75% were Asian, but cautioned that this data could be unreliable due to a large volume of missing data. [13] The study also said that it was "difficult to draw conclusions about the ethnicity of offenders as existing research is limited and data collection is poor", and that, "based on the existing evidence, and our understanding of the flaws in the existing data, it seems most likely that the ethnicity of group-based child sexual exploitation offenders is in line with child sexual abuse more generally and with the general population, with the majority of offenders being white." [14] [13]

One report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse argued that the lack of good-quality data into the ethnicity of sex abusers prevented concrete conclusions. [15] The report found "a misplaced sense of political correctness or the sheer complexity of the problem" were likely preventing high quality data on the ethnicity of the abusers from being well characterised. [15]

Suella Braverman wrote in a 2023 opinion piece that "grooming gang" members in the United Kingdom were "groups of men, almost all British-Pakistani, who hold cultural attitudes completely incompatible with British values". In response, the Independent Press Standards Organisation issued a correction stating that Braverman's article was "misleading", since it did not make it explicit that she was talking about the Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford child sexual abuse scandals in particular. [10]

Political reactions

The Muslim Council of Britain has called on investigations to "adhere to the facts of the matter, rather than deploying deeply divisive, racially charged rhetoric that amplifies far-right narratives and demonises an entire community." [16]

Rishi Sunak has called arguments against using the term "grooming gangs" as political correctness that fails victims. [17] Other Conservative Party politicians, such as Home Secretary Suella Braverman, argue that use of the phrase "grooming gang" is simply "unfashionable facts." [16] In response, many organisations called on her to withdraw her comments due to amplifying far-right ideologies. [16]

In response, researchers and organisations, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) have argued that focusing primarily on South Asian men simply fuels "misinformation, racism and division.” [16] [18] NSPCC argues that "a singular focus on groups of male abusers of British-Pakistani origin draws attention away from so many other sources of harm". [18]

Etymology

The word "grooming" is loosely used to describe "the tactics used by child sex offenders in their efforts to sexually abuse children", although it has no universal definition. [1] The term "grooming gang" is a media construct and does not correspond to any legal or scientific concept. It is most often used in a "racially loaded" manner to describe groups of child sexual abusers. [19]

See also

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The relationship between race and crime in the United Kingdom is the subject of academic studies, government surveys, media coverage, and public concern. Under the Criminal Justice Act 1991, section 95, the government collects annual statistics based on race and crime.

The Rochdale child sex abuse ring involved underage teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child in May 2012. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet and other operations to investigate further claims of abuse. As of January 2024 a total of 42 men had been convicted resulting in jail sentences totalling 432 years. Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the initial police investigation. The men were British Pakistanis, which led to discussion on whether the failure to investigate them was linked to the authorities' fear of being accused of racial prejudice. The girls were mainly White British.

Shaun Wright is a British politician. He was the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2014. He was the first person to hold the post, to which he was elected as a Labour Party candidate on 15 November 2012. As he held a senior position in child services during the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, he faced continual calls to resign. This resulted in his resignation from the Labour Party on 28 August and from his post on 16 September 2014.

The Derby child sex abuse ring was a group of men who sexually abused up to a hundred girls in Derby, England. In 2010, after an undercover investigation by Derbyshire police, members of the ring were charged with 75 offences relating to 26 girls. Nine of the 13 accused were convicted of grooming and raping girls between 12 and 18 years old. The attacks provoked fierce discussion about race and sexual exploitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal</span> Sexual abuse scandal in Rotherham, England

The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal consists of the organised child sexual abuse that occurred in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Northern England from the late 1980s until 2013 and the failure of local authorities to act on reports of the abuse throughout most of that period. Researcher Angie Heal, who was hired by local officials and warned them about child exploitation occurring between 2002 and 2007, has since described it as the "biggest child protection scandal in UK history", with one report estimating that 1,400 girls were abused by "grooming gangs" between 1997 and 2013. Evidence of the abuse was first noted in the early 1990s, when care home managers investigated reports that children in their care were being picked up by taxi drivers. From at least 2001, multiple reports passed names of alleged perpetrators, several from one family, to the police and Rotherham Council. The first group conviction took place in 2010, when five British-Pakistani men were convicted of sexual offences against girls aged 12–16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazir Afzal</span> British solicitor (born 1962)

Nazir Afzal is a British solicitor and former prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The Oxford child sex abuse ring was an alleged group of 22 men who were convicted of various sexual offences against underage girls in the English city of Oxford between 1998 and 2012. Thames Valley Police launched Operation Bullfinch in May 2011 to investigate allegations of historical sexual abuse, leading to ten men being convicted. Upon further allegations in 2015, Thames Valley Police then launched Operation Silk, resulting in ten more different men being convicted and Operation Spur which resulted in two more convictions. The term itself and the investigation has been heavily criticized by Muslims and left wing members for being highly racially motivated and Islamophobic. Some have put the blame on media and the police for ignoring such crimes if they really happened for so long Some have even questioned the narrative of grooming gangs as similar events elsewhere in India and Nigeria have instead been blamed as a conspiracy by right-wing Hindus and Christians.

The Telford child sexual exploitation scandal is an ongoing scandal spanning over several decades in the United Kingdom involving a group of Pakistani men who were convicted of engaging in sexual contact with local female minors between 2007 and 2009 in Telford in the English county of Shropshire. While media reports had suggested there were 100 or more victims and around 200 suspects, the Sunday Mirror reported in March 2018 that up to 1,000 may have been affected, with some even murdered, in incidents dating back to the 1970s. Social workers and police cast doubt on this report, denying that Telford had a "discernible problem compared to other towns".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom</span>

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The Bristol child sex abuse ring was a group of 13 men who committed sexual offences against underage teenage girls in Bristol, in Southwestern England. In November 2014, they were convicted of offences including rape, paying a child for sex, causing or inciting child prostitution, sexual acts with children and sex trafficking.

Operation Doublet is an investigation set up in 2012 by Greater Manchester Police into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and other areas of Greater Manchester, England. It has resulted in 19 men being jailed for child sexual offences, rape and trafficking.

The Peterborough sex abuse case involved 10 men who committed sexual offences against under-aged girls, some as young as 12, in the English city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. In a series of trials in 2014 and 2015, they were found guilty of rape, child prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Police had been alerted by the Rotherham and Rochdale child abuse cases to the possibility of abuse taking place.

The Banbury child sex abuse ring was a group of six men who committed serious sexual offences against under-aged girls in the English town of Banbury, Oxfordshire. In March 2015, they were found guilty of offences including rape and sexual activity with a child over a period extending from 2009 to 2014. Police in Banbury had drawn on the lessons of Operation Bullfinch, which targeted sexual abuse in nearby Oxford.

The Halifax child sex abuse ring was a group of men who committed serious sexual offences against under-aged girls in the English town of Halifax and city of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It was the largest child sexual exploitation investigation in the United Kingdom. In 2016, the perpetrators were found guilty of rape and other crimes in several separate trials at Leeds Crown Court. In total, as many as a hundred men may have been involved in child abuse. Twenty-five suspects were charged by West Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service and 18 of these were found guilty, totalling over 175 years of prison time. A further nine men were convicted in February 2019 for grooming two underage girls in Bradford and sentenced to over 130 years in prison. The majority of those charged and later convicted come from the town's Asian community; there were fears that their arrests might impact race relations in the town.

The Newcastle sex abuse ring were a gang of seventeen men and a woman who sexually abused adolescent girls and young women from 2010 to 2014 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, after plying them with alcohol and drugs. The men were of Albanian, Kurdish, Bangladeshi, Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, Eastern European and Pakistani heritage who were aged between 27 and 44. A British man of Indian heritage was also charged for conspiracy to incite prostitution and supplying drugs to a victim. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 25.

Andrew Mark Norfolk is a British journalist and chief investigative reporter for The Times. Norfolk became known in 2011 for his reporting on the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal and other cases of on-street child grooming. He won both the Paul Foot Award and Orwell Prize for his work, and was named 2014 Journalist of the Year.

The Huddersfield grooming gang was a group of men who were convicted of sexual offences against girls in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It is the largest gang ever convicted for sexual abuse in the United Kingdom. The offences took place between 2004 and 2011, and the men were charged following the Operation Tendersea inquiry by the police. The trials began in April 2017 and 20 men were convicted in 2018 in three separate trials. Since then, further men have been convicted in a series of trials, bringing the total number of perpetrators convicted to 41 by August 2021.

Sammy Woodhouse is an activist against child sexual abuse. She was a victim of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, which she helped expose by giving an anonymous interview to Andrew Norfolk of The Times. Woodhouse has actively supported pardoning child sexual abuse victims for crimes they were coerced into committing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Oliver</span> English detective constable and whistleblower

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References

  1. 1 2 Gill, Aisha K.; Day, Aviah Sarah (30 November 2020). Ramon, Shulamit; Lloyd, Michele; Penhale, Bridget (eds.). "Moral Panic in the Media: Scapegoating South Asian Men in Cases of Sexual Exploitation and Grooming". Gendered Domestic Violence and Abuse in Popular Culture. Emerald Publishing Limited. pp. 171–197. doi:10.1108/978-1-83867-781-720201011. ISBN   978-1-83867-782-4 . Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cockbain, Ella (2013). "Grooming and the 'Asian sex gang predator': the construction of a racial crime threat". Race & Class. 54 (4): 22–32. doi:10.1177/0306396813475983. ISSN   0306-3968.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Gill, Aisha K; Harrison, Karen (1 July 2015). "Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media's New Folk Devils?". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 4 (2): 34–49. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i2.214. ISSN   2202-8005. The British media's construction of a specifically South Asian notion of hegemonic masculinity began long before the recent spate of high-profile cases of child sexual exploitation and grooming. The Ouseley report on the Bradford race riots (Ouseley 2001),and the Cantle Report on the Oldham, Burnley and Bradford riots (Cantle 2001), focused on cultural difference as the primary causal factor for these events, maintaining that British South Asians and white Britons led 'parallel lives'. Media coverage of the riots described angry young men who were alienated from society and their own communities, and had become entangled in a life of crime and violence, a vision that provided the bedrock for the construction of what Claire Alexander calls the 'new Asian folk devil' (2000).
  4. ↑ Cockbain, Ella; Tufail, Waqas (19 December 2020). "A new Home Office report admits grooming gangs are not a 'Muslim problem'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077.
  5. ↑ "Rotherham abuse scandal: How we got here". BBC News . 22 June 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tufail, Waqas (5 October 2015). "Rotherham, Rochdale, and the Racialised Threat of the 'Muslim Grooming Gang'". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 4 (3): 30–43. doi: 10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i3.249 . ISSN   2202-8005.
  7. ↑ Bindel, Julie (23 February 2024). "The UK's grooming gangs and the lessons never learned". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  8. 1 2 Symonds, Tom (4 April 2023). "Grooming gangs and ethnicity: What does the evidence say?". BBC. Retrieved 31 August 2024. it is likely that no one community or culture is uniquely predisposed to offending
  9. ↑ "Grooming gangs come from 'diverse backgrounds', says Home Office as review finally published". The Independent. 15 December 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Suella Braverman UK-Pakistani grooming claim misleading, says press regulator". BBC News. 29 September 2023.
  11. ↑ "Five men guilty in Rotherham Asian grooming case". The Yorkshire Post. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Why the British media is responsible for the rise in Islamophobia in Britain". The Independent. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  13. 1 2 "Home Office - Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation - Characteristics of Offending" (PDF). Home Office - Gov.uk. December 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  14. ↑ Waterson, Jim (28 September 2023). "Braverman's claim about ethnicity of grooming gangs was false, regulator rules". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  15. 1 2 Dearden, Lizzie (6 February 2022). "Fight against grooming gangs hindered by fear of being branded racist, says official". The Independent. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Suella Braverman describes grooming gang comments as 'unfashionable facts' after backlash". Sky News. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Rishi Sunak criticises political correctness over grooming gangs". 3 April 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  18. 1 2 Walker, Peter (25 May 2023). "'Inaccurate' grooming gang claims putting children at risk, Sunak and Braverman told". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  19. ↑ Cockbain, Ella; Tufail, Waqas (2020). "Failing victims, fuelling hate: challenging the harms of the 'Muslim grooming gangs' narrative". Race & Class. 61 (3): 3–32. doi:10.1177/0306396819895727. ISSN   0306-3968.

Bibliography

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