A victim of grooming gangs in Rotherham has told Suella Braverman the government “needs to be helping all victims of exploitation” after the home secretary singled out “British Pakistani males”.
New measures announced by ministers include a police Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce, a potential mandatory reporting duty for adults working with children and the analysis of “police-recorded ethnicity data”.
A Home Office report published in 2020, after The Independent exposed that it was being withheld from the public, concluded that grooming gangs come from “diverse backgrounds” and no link to ethnicity could be proved.
But in a series of media interviews, the home secretary singled out “British Pakistani males” and claimed they “hold cultural values totally at odds with British values”.
Rotherham survivor and whistleblower Sammy Woodhouse, whose abuser was of Pakistani descent, raised concern over the statements on Monday.
Following a meeting with Ms Braverman, she told The Independent: “One thing I really made clear to her is we need to be helping all victims of exploitation, not just [those abused by] Pakistani gangs.
“We only talk about white girls – what about boys, what about Black girls, what about Pakistani victims? Everyone can be a victim and anyone can be a perpetrator.”
Rishi Sunak did not repeat the home secretary’s focus on British-Pakistani offenders during the pair’s visit to Rochdale, where he vowed to “stamp out” grooming gangs.
Ms Woodhouse said his ambition would “take a lot more” than the measures so far announced, adding: “I've met politician after politician making a lot of promises. I just want action now, I’ve been saying the same thing for 10 years.”
Repeating warnings made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse last year, the campaigner said children were still being abused across the UK.
“We have a system that is not fit for purpose, it doesn’t support victims whatsoever,” she added.
“You've got police that don’t investigate, the Crown Prosecution Service who don’t take it further, you’re considered lucky to even get in a courtroom.
“There are waiting lists for years for support, getting counselling can be used against you in court.”
Ms Woodhouse has been calling for a legal change to mean that grooming gang victims left with criminal records as a result of their abuse can have them wiped, as well as reforms to stop rapists using family courts to access their victims’ children.
She was not consulted about the changes announced this week, and charities warned that promises must be “backed up with funding” for specialist investigations and services amid chaos in the criminal justice system.
Sir Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “It’s vital we remember that any child can be a victim of child sexual exploitation and adult perpetrators do not just come from one background.
“Sexual predators will target the most vulnerable and accessible children in society and there must be a focus on more than just race so we do not create new blindspots that prevent victims from being identified.”
When asked about the home secretary’s comments, the Home Office pointed to high-profile abuse in Rotherham, Telford and Rochdale, which was committed by gangs of mainly British-Pakistani men, but acknowledged wider data was challenging to obtain.
A 2020 report, which was commissioned by Sajid Javid as home secretary, found that while some cases suggested an over-representation of Black and Asian offenders, it was “not possible to conclude that this is representative of all group-based offending”.
The document said there were issues with the data used in existing research and a “potential for bias and inaccuracies”, adding: “Research has found that group-based child sexual exploitation (CSE) offenders are most commonly white.”
Downing Street sought to emphasise that an “evidence-based” approach will be taken to tackle “all aspects” of abuse after the prime minister met senior police officers, local authorities and others working on child sexual exploitation in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Asked if the focus on British-Asian grooming gangs was appropriate, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: “All forms of child sexual exploitation carried out by whomever are horrific and wrong, but with the specific issue of grooming gangs we have had several independent inquiries look at the incidents here in Rochdale, in Rotherham and Telford.
“What is clear is that when victims and other whistleblowers came forward their complaints were often ignored by social workers, local politicians, or even the police. The reason they were ignored was due to cultural sensitivity and political correctness. That is not right.”
He insisted the new measures would “make a big difference in helping us root out the evil perpetrated by grooming gangs”, after making a series of crime-related announcements in the lead-up to May’s local elections in England.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said the new child sexual exploitation taskforce would “enhance action” against grooming gangs.
Police leaders said they had already made “significant improvements” responding to the abuse following a series of damning inquiries showing that victims were not believed or protected.
Deputy chief constable Ian Critchley, the national lead for child abuse, said: “Child abusers come from all parts of our society and sadly most abuse happens in the home; police forces target all offenders – no matter who they are or where they come from.”
The government has said it would introduce laws to increase prison sentences for members and leaders of grooming gangs, but no timetable has been set.
Its announcement on the creation of a legal duty on teachers and social workers to report abuse comes over a year after the move was recommended by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Its chair, Prof Alexis Jay, said she would be “working with the government to ensure that the full package of the Inquiry’s recommendations in its final report is taken forward to better protect children from sexual abuse in the future”.
