Sammy Woodhouse

Last updated
Sammy Woodhouse
Born20 June 1985 (1985-06-20) (age 37)
Known forActivism against child sexual abuse
Notable workJust A Child: Britain's Biggest Child Abuse Scandal Exposed
Children2

Sammy Woodhouse (born 20 June 1985) [1] is an English activist against child sexual abuse. She was a victim of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal, [2] which she helped expose by giving an anonymous interview to Andrew Norfolk of The Times . [3] Woodhouse has actively supported pardoning child sexual abuse victims for crimes they were coerced into committing.

Contents

Childhood and abuse

Sammy Woodhouse grew up with her two older sisters in Rotherham. Her family had a caravan in Cleethorpes. Woodhouse competed with her dance team until it was disbanded. [1] [4]

When she was 14 years old, Woodhouse was groomed by 24-year-old child-grooming gang leader Arshid Hussain, who had been married and had two children. Hussain started raping Woodhouse a month after they met and subsequently raped, assaulted, and beat Woodhouse on a daily basis. According to her, Hussain would threaten her with a gun and threaten to kill her family. Woodhouse said that Hussain colluded with some police officers and that she was charged with crimes she and Hussein committed jointly. For example, when she turned 15, Hussain forced her to rob a post office. The police raided Hussain's house a few days later, while he and Woodhouse were in bed. Hussain was not arrested, but Woodhouse was charged with possessing a baton. [1] [4] [5] A few months later, Hussain made Woodhouse fight a girl, and Woodhouse was convicted of assault. [6]

Woodhouse became pregnant twice when she was 15 years old; Hussain pressured her to have an abortion the first time. Woodhouse's mother died several days after Hussain was injured badly in a gang incident. She missed much of her education and had a criminal record, so began working as a model, stripper and lap dancer. After another abusive relationship, Woodhouse moved back to live with Hussain, who was in a wheelchair, with her second son. However, his family wanted to take her older son, so she fled again. [1] [4] [5]

Woodhouse kept being abused for years, including an assault by Hussain in public, which was dismissed by the police, and her flat was set on fire. Her family members had to move because they were also continuously threatened and terrorized. When she understood in 2012 that she had been groomed, Woodhouse developed depression, suicidal thoughts, and an eating disorder. [1] [4] [5]

Woodhouse anonymously approached The Times in 2013, leading to the Jay inquiry, which played a crucial part in exposing the scale and nature of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. [7] The report by social worker Alexis Jay found that more than 1,400 children were victims of child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. [1] Woodhouse has said that she was shocked when she learned the number of victims. [1]

Hussain was convicted of multiple crimes, including serial rape and abduction of multiple girls, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. [2] [3]

In March 2017, Woodhouse revealed her name on a BBC programme. [5] In mid-2017, Woodhouse was one of hundreds of child sexual abuse victims who were initially denied compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. [2]

Woodhouse's son became involved in crime and drugs, and she attempted to place him in care. According to Woodhouse, Rotherham City Council invited Hussain to meet their son despite his conviction for rape. [4]

Activism

Woodhouse conducts speaking events at schools and elsewhere, explaining to teenagers, the police and social workers how to recognise that someone is being groomed. [4]

Woodhouse wrote a book, Just a Child: Britain's Biggest Child Abuse Scandal Exposed, which was released in April 2018. [8] [9]

In November 2018, over the first three days, more than three hundred thousand people signed a petition by Woodhouse and Labour MP Louise Haigh, which called for the amendment of the Children Act 1989 to "ban any male with a child conceived by rape from applying for access/rights". [3] [4] [8] [10] [11] [12]

This story is about myself, about my son, about the man that raped me, and about the fact that Rotherham Council have offered him to apply for parental rights for my child.

— Sammy Woodhouse, a viral video [8]

Sammy's Law

Woodhouse supports Sammy's Law, a bill named after her, which would pardon child sexual abuse victims for crimes they were coerced into committing; the bill would also remove the crimes committed by the children from their criminal records. The bill was supported by Vera Baird, the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, by Alan Billings, the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, by Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, and by Simon Bailey, the Chief Constable of the Norfolk Constabulary, among several other chief constables and crime commissioners. [13] [14] [15] [6] Woodhouse has met with Conservative MP Victoria Atkins. [6]

In 2018, a High Court action was won by Woodhouse and two other women with juvenile offence records that are provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service. They were represented by solicitor Harriet Wistrich. In 2019, the government said that it would appeal the decision. According to Woodhouse, the government has "done nothing" to tackle the issue. [6]

Related Research Articles

Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature, is the rape of a single victim by two or more violators. Gang rapes are forged on shared identity, religion, ethnic group, or race. There are multiple motives for serial gang rapes, such as for sexual entitlement, asserting sexual prowess, war, punishment, and, in up to 30% of cases, for targeting another race, ethnic group or religion.

Child grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child under the age of consent, and sometimes the child's family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. Child grooming is also used to lure minor children into various illicit businesses such as child trafficking, child prostitution, cybersex trafficking, or the production of child pornography.

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 to investigate further claims of abuse with 19 men so far being convicted. Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the 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.

Punishment for rape in Pakistan under the Pakistani laws is either death penalty or imprisonment of between ten and twenty-five years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment is either death penalty or life imprisonment. DNA test and other scientific evidence are used in prosecuting rape cases in Pakistan.

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> Organised child sexual abuse scandal in Rotherham, England between the 1970s and present

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 the 2010s 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". 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. From January 2011 Andrew Norfolk of The Times pressed the issue, reporting in 2012 that the abuse in the town was widespread and that the police and council had known about it for over ten years.

The Oxford child sex abuse ring was a 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 Telford child sexual exploitation scandal was a scandal in the United Kingdom. Originally, a group of men were convicted of grooming local children for sex between 2007 and 2009 in Telford in the English county of Shropshire. While media reports had suggested 100 or more girls had been affected and around 200 perpetrators were suspected, the Sunday Mirror reported in March 2018 that up to 1,000 girls may have been abused, 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> Overview about child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom

Child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom has been reported in the country throughout its history. In about 90% of cases the abuser is a person known to the child. However, cases during the second half of the twentieth century, involving religious institutions, schools, popular entertainers, politicians, military personnel, and other officials, have been revealed and widely publicised since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Child sexual abuse rings in numerous towns and cities across the UK have also drawn considerable attention.

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 Keighley child sex abuse ring was a group of twelve men who committed serious sexual offences against two under-aged girls in the English town of Keighley and city of Bradford, West Yorkshire. In December 2015, they were found guilty of rape and other forms of sexual abuse by a unanimous jury verdict at Bradford Crown Court. They were sentenced in February 2016 to a total of 130 years in jail. The main victim, who had been targeted by ten of the men, was aged between 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks between 2011 and 2012. The alleged ringleader of the gang was named as local drug-dealer Ahmed Al-Arif Choudhury, who was not among those found guilty in court and is believed to have fled abroad.

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.

After a sexual assault or rape, victims are often subjected to scrutiny and, in some cases, mistreatment. Victims undergo medical examinations and are interviewed by police. If there is a criminal trial, victims suffer a loss of privacy and their credibility may be challenged. Victims may also become the target of slut-shaming, abuse, social stigmatization, sexual slurs and cyberbullying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne Senior</span> British youth worker

Jayne Senior, MBE, is a British youth worker and manager of the Swinton Lock Activity Centre near Mexborough in South Yorkshire, England.

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.

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 sex 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 men convicted to 41 by August 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Oliver</span>

Margaret Oliver is an English former Detective Constable with the Greater Manchester Police. She is known as a whistleblower for exposing the poor handling of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring case by her own force.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Woman abused by Rotherham gang leader speaks". BBC News . 20 March 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Halliday, Josh (11 September 2017). "Compensation body told Rotherham abuse victim she 'consented'". The Guardian . Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Norfolk, Andrew (28 November 2018). "Rotherham rape victim reveals new care scandal". The Times. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thomson, Alice (1 December 2018). "Sammy Woodhouse: 'He was Prince Charming. When he raped me, I felt like it was my fault'". The Times . Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Woodhouse, Sammy (1 April 2017). "Sammy Woodhouse on the Rotherham abuse scandal: 'Girls speaking out has changed things'". The Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Emine Saner. Rotherham . Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Norfolk, Andrew (18 March 2019). "Child sex abuse survivors claim ministers are still punishing them". The Times. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "The Times view on Sammy Woodhouse and the Rotherham care scandal". The Times . 28 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 "Rapist given chance to see his victim's child by local authority". The Daily Telegraph . 27 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Dennison, Gareth (23 March 2018). "Rotherham rape gang survivor Sammy Woodhouse releases book about her ordeal". The Rotherham Advertiser. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "'Rapist rights' petition hits 200,000". BBC News. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Sammy Woodhouse: Rotherham 'rapist offered role in child's life'". BBC News. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Norfolk, Andrew (27 November 2018). "Jailed rapist given chance to see his victim's child". The Times. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  13. ↑ Halliday, Josh (3 October 2017). "Police back 'Sammy's law' to pardon crimes of grooming victims". The Guardian . Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Halliday, Josh (8 October 2017). "Top police officer backs 'Sammy's law' pardons for grooming victims". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "Police chiefs back 'Sammy's Law' appeal". BBC News. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
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