London : British MP Rupert Lowe has reignited discussion around the UK’s grooming gangs and their conduct in his latest speech in the Parliament. He presented findings of an independent inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation. The testimonies describe severe abuse, alleged police misconduct, and rape with broken bottles and racial targeting of white British girls. In his speech, Lowe read out statements from survivors with several testimonies pointing at the belief that race played a role in victim selection.
What were the survivors quotes he mentioned in his speech?
Among most disturbing testimonies, he cited, one of the survivor was quoted saying that she got pregnant. “I was raped by probably 600 or 700 different men.” Another one described violence involving a child: “They put a cigarette out on the baby’s face.” Yet another survivor recalled: “He took the bottle of Jack Daniels and he forced it up inside me. I was about 12 or 13.” A survivor alleged rape by “multiple police officers” in different parts of the country. One survivor said that her Christian faith was mocked by her abusers. They allegedly said, “Where is your God now? Has your God forsaken you?” One survivor said: “Race DID play a part. Throughout my exploitation. The other girls I encountered or were abused along side me, were almost all exclusively White.” Another recalled seeing multiple girls being transported together: “It was all White Girls. In a van. I remember seeing 15-20 girls locked in dog cages.”
What is the UK grooming gangs scandal?
The grooming gangs scandal was first uncovered in UK in around 2002. The gang men, mostly of Pakistani heritage, were involved in a series of child sexual exploitation cases across several places in the country. The issue came to mainstream when in 2010, five men were convicted of sexually abusing girls aged between 12 and 16 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Investigations in places including Rochdale, Rotherham, Oldham, and Telford revealed organised groups of men grooming, trafficking and abusing vulnerable girls, often over many years. Reports alleged that in many cases authorities were involved and did not acted on complaints by victims and whistleblowers.
