BRITAIN’s Home Office has found that Grooming Gang perpetrators come from a “diverse” range of backgrounds, despite a clear majority of Pakistani origin offenders.
The Home Office review into one of the UK’s most under-reported social issues was accused of being “watered down” after a lengthy delay as campaigners warn that the problem “has not gone away”
The review that was ordered under Sajid Javid was blasted by current Home Secretary Priti Patel who said she was “disappointed” in the investigation.
The report reveals: “During our conversations with police forces, we have found that in the operations reflected, offender groups come from diverse backgrounds, with each group being broadly ethnically homogenous.”
The probe was a response into the shocking gang rape and forced prostitution of dozens of criminal gang networks profiting from the sale of underage sex in working-class communities across the UK.
Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford were all highlighted in the reveiw – and the ‘men’ behind the child abuse networks were made up of men from Pakistani origin.
Campaigners fighting for justice say that the review has been “watered down” after fears of being accused of racism and a “politically correct” climate following the Black Lives Matter protests in the UK.
Ms Patel said: “Some studies have indicated an over-representation of Asian and Black offenders. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the ethnicity of offenders as existing research is limited and data collection is poor.”
“This is disappointing because community and cultural factors are clearly relevant to understanding and tackling offending.”
“Therefore, a commitment to improve the collection and analysis of data on group-based child sexual exploitation, including in relation to characteristics of offenders such as ethnicity and other factors, will be included in the forthcoming Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.”
More follows.
