Authorities have been hesitant to address the ethnicity of those involved in grooming gangs, as highlighted in a new report by Baroness Louise Casey.
This revelation comes following her appointment to evaluate the extent and nature of group-based child sexual abuse in England and Wales.
The report indicated that ethnicity data for two-thirds of grooming gang perpetrators is not recorded, leading to insufficient information for national conclusions about offenders.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued an apology to victims while presenting these findings to MPs and announced a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Baroness Casey stated in the report: “We, as a society, owe these women a significant debt.”
“They should never have been subjected to the horrific abuse and violence they endured as children,” she added.
Regarding ethnicity, the report noted: “We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is often avoided and remains unrecorded for two-thirds of offenders, making national data assessments impossible.”
However, it pointed out that local data from three police forces—Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire—showed “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian backgrounds among those suspected of group-based child sexual exploitation.”
Cooper commented, “Failing to address and scrutinize these issues enables the criminal actions of a minority to stigmatize entire communities.”
In a subsequent interview, Lady Casey emphasized the need for thorough data investigation, asserting it only benefits wrongdoers by concealing the true picture, and stated, “This does a disservice to both the Pakistani and Asian heritage communities, as well as the victims.”
The report concluded that ignorance and an aversion to being labeled racist led organizations responsible for child protection to overlook instances of abuse.
“We found numerous cases of organizations steering clear of the topic altogether, fearing accusations of racism, escalating community tensions, or disrupting social cohesion,” the report mentioned.
The audit criticized the authorities’ “failure” to grasp the scope and nature of the issue up to now.
“If we had addressed these issues years ago—viewing these girls as victims of rape rather than ‘troublesome teenagers’ or participants in their abuse, collecting ethnicity data, and acknowledging our shortcomings—then I doubt we would be facing this situation today,” the report stated.
Cooper informed the Commons that the government would implement all 12 recommendations from the report, which include:
- Ensure that adults engaging in penetrative sex with a child under 16 face the most severe charge of rape rather than lesser charges.
- Initiate a new national criminal operation, overseen by the National Crime Agency (NCA), to combat grooming gangs and coordinate targeted local inquiries into abuse.
- Review criminal convictions of child sexual exploitation victims and annul any where victims were criminalized instead of protected.
- Mandate the collection of ethnicity and nationality data for all suspects in child sexual abuse and exploitation cases.
- Commission research on the factors driving group-based child sexual exploitation, including social media, cultural influences, and group dynamics.
- Implement stricter standards for the licensing and regulation of taxi drivers following incidents of their involvement in trafficking victims.
Cooper stated, “To the victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and grooming gangs, I express an unequivocal apology on behalf of this and past governments, and the many public authorities that have let you down, for the unimaginable pain and suffering you have endured, and for the failure of our country’s institutions over many years to keep you safe.”
She further emphasized, “Baroness Casey’s initial recommendation is that we must view children as children. She concludes that too many grooming cases have been dismissed or reduced from rape to lesser charges because a 13 to 15-year-old is perceived as being in love with or consenting to sex with the perpetrator.”
The report focuses on “group-based child exploitation” by grooming gangs, defined as involving “multiple perpetrators coercing, manipulating, and deceiving children into sexual activities, creating an illusion of consent.”
Casey’s audit describes the “grooming gangs model” of abuse, which often involves “a man targeting a vulnerable adolescent child—typically those in care, or with learning or physical disabilities” and “grooming them into believing they are their ‘boyfriend’.”
“Eventually, they pass them to other men for sex, utilizing drugs and alcohol to ensure compliance, often resorting to violence and coercion for control,” the report indicated.
The report noted that taxis were frequently used by grooming gangs to transport vulnerable children.
“Girls often went missing… for extended periods,” Casey remarked, noting that “Several victims bore children fathered by their abusers.”
This audit is described as “the latest in a long series” of efforts examining child sexual exploitation, according to Casey’s report.
While many children did not report their abuse at the moment, the report indicated that those who did were often “ignored, criminalized, and even arrested.”
Fiona Goddard, a survivor of grooming in Bradford, shared with BBC News that the “vast majority” of her abusers were “Pakistani men.”
She stated, “I do not think this was merely a misunderstanding regarding the crime or the victims.
“I believe that this crime occurred because of the race of the perpetrators and the identity of the victims.”
Prior to the report’s release, the Home Office announced that a nationwide policing operation targeting grooming gang members would be coordinated by the NCA.
According to the Home Office, the NCA will collaborate with police forces to investigate cases that “were previously not pursued through the legal system.”
Downing Street said that the comprehensive national statutory inquiry would specifically examine how various agencies failed young girls at the local level.
A national statutory inquiry is a government-initiated investigation into issues of significant public concern, which possesses legal authority to compel witnesses to testify.