THE SPECTATOR | Published January 19, 2025
Pakistani-origin men are up to four times more likely to be reported to the police for child sex grooming offences than the general population in England and Wales, the first national police scheme data appeared to suggest last week.
The perpetrators of three of the most gruesome child abuse scandals in modern British history, in Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford, were overwhelmingly of Pakistani origin. While sexual abuse takes place across demographics, not enough attention has been paid to the way these grooming gangs have been inspired by the anti-women customs of Pakistan.
There is a gory mix in the country of Islamic supremacism, primitive tribalism and violent misogyny
The majority of British-Pakistanis have their origins in Mirpur, a city in northern Pakistan. But while Mirpur is a part of Kashmir, its inhabitants predominantly share their customs, language, and culture with Punjabis, Pakistan’s majority ethnic group.
Certain attitudes dominate Pakistan. There is a gory mix in the country of Islamic supremacism, primitive tribalism and violent misogyny, which encourages some men to prey on girls. That many of these girls are underage has little sway on these men, since both their religious beliefs and customs see all females who have reached puberty as being fully grown women. This translates into a rape culture that in recent decades has seen young British girls being mercilessly violated. Sexual harassment by Pakistani men has been reported elsewhere as well, including in Turkey.
Pakistan’s sexist culture in built on skewed notions of ‘honour’ and ‘morality’, with women deemed property of men, and required to be under male supervision or custodianship.
Traditionally, ‘honourable’ women keep themselves segregated and limit their visibility in public. Any transgressions by women are considered immoral, and often result in violence. Islamic modesty codes which ask women to cover up so they are not harassed further fuels the idea that female ‘honour’ is linked to the lack of a woman’s visibility. Islamic traditions establishing sexual slavery also encourages the ‘loverboy’ abuse strategy.
In many cases, the Pakistani grooming gangs in the UK targeted Caucasian non-Muslim girls because they are lower in the ‘honour’ scale. This is exacerbated by the ‘white woman fantasy’ prevalent across Pakistan. European women are often fetishised in the pop culture of Pakistan, and often depicted as lusting after desi men. Many Pakistani novels, films and TV shows feature western and westernised women being ‘loose’. Similarly, Pakistani grooming gangs have deemed British girls ‘easy meat’ or ‘fair game’.
In Pakistan, rape culture and the belittling of sexual abuse isn’t just a feature of rural or tribal areas. Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf accused women of ‘using rape for moneymaking’, while Imran Khan, as prime minister, blamed the way women dress and their lifestyle choices for the rise in rape cases across the country. Khan continues to enjoy massive popularity among overseas Pakistanis, including in the UK. His playboy lifestyle during his cricket days – and later political career as a born-again Muslim – is often considered by young Pakistani men as the ideal life template.
In the UK, of course, there is ongoing uproar over the fact that horrific child abuse was able to continue for decades, in part because of political correctness and a fear of igniting racial tensions. It is only now that Pakistani grooming gangs are being accurately described as such. They are no longer being dubbed as ‘Asian’, or ‘South Asian’ – since it is evident that an overwhelming number of culprits come from one particular country.
While the failure of the British authorities to protect young girls from grooming gangs is lamentable, there is something currently missing to stop these crimes happening in the future. There needs to be a much greater backlash to these crimes within the Pakistani community. While many progressive and liberal Pakistanis condemn sexist violence at home, when these crimes take place in Britain, they join their predominantly conservative fellow community members in a conspiracy of silence. Ostensibly this is because they are afraid of racism and ‘Islamophobia’. For many of these progressives in Pakistan, upholding the myth of cultural equivalence is more important than providing justice to the victims and prevention of these monstrous acts. It would be far better to speak up against these crimes, instead of looking to pin the blame elsewhere.
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SOURCE: www.spectator.co.uk
RELATED: UK to launch rapid inquiry into Pakistani grooming gangs amid global outrage after Starmer-Musk clash
THE ECONOMIC TIMES | Published January 19, 2025
The UK government has unveiled a series of new local inquiries into grooming gangs, following mounting public scrutiny over its response to widespread child sexual exploitation. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed that five local inquiries, including one in Oldham, will be supported with £5 million in funding. These investigations will be informed by lessons learned from previous high-profile cases and aim to hold local authorities accountable for their failures in protecting vulnerable children.
The announcement came amid pressure from victims’ advocates and political figures who have been calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, a contentious issue that has sparked a heated debate across the UK.
Previous Failures and the Need for Action
The issue of grooming gangs has been a longstanding problem in the UK, with several towns and cities exposed for their inadequate handling of child sexual exploitation cases. Investigations into incidents in Rotherham, Telford, Oldham, and Manchester have revealed systemic failures that left children vulnerable to abuse for years.
In 2014, the Alexis Jay report revealed that 1,400 children had been sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, sparking national outrage. Despite the findings, calls for further action grew as more cases emerged, highlighting a pattern of neglect across various regions. More recently, in 2020, a report in Manchester revealed that social workers and police had been aware of the abuse but failed to take action. Similarly, an inquiry in Oldham (2022) found that agencies tasked with safeguarding children had failed to protect them, leaving survivors frustrated by the lack of comprehensive investigations.
These cases, among others, have prompted calls for a national inquiry to fully understand the scale of the problem and ensure justice for the victims. However, the government has faced criticism for rejecting such calls, instead focusing on local reviews to address these issues.
New Local Inquiries and National Review
In response to growing concerns, Yvette Cooper has announced a series of local inquiries, which will be based in areas like Oldham and four other yet-to-be-named locations. The reviews will be assisted by £5 million in funding and guided by Tom Crowther KC, who led the Telford grooming gang inquiry. The focus of these reviews will be on the systemic issues that allowed grooming gangs to operate with impunity, and they will aim to provide detailed, localised findings to support reforms at the grassroots level.
Cooper also revealed plans for a “rapid audit” to examine the scope and nature of gang-based sexual exploitation across the country. This audit will assess cultural and societal drivers behind the offending and review demographic data, including the ethnicity of the perpetrators and their victims. The audit is expected to take three months and will be overseen by Baroness Casey, who is also leading an independent commission on adult social care.
“We will look at the scale of the problem, the nature of exploitation, and the demographics of the gangs involved,” Cooper said in the House of Commons. “We also want to ensure that we understand the cultural drivers that lead to this kind of offending.”
Calls for a National Inquiry
Despite these steps, many MPs and victims’ advocates remain unconvinced by the government’s response. The Conservative shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, condemned the announcement as “wholly inadequate” and demanded a full national inquiry. He argued that the local inquiries lacked the legal powers necessary to compel witnesses to testify under oath and said that the government’s approach was insufficient given the scale of the problem.
“It’s totally inadequate for the government to back just five local rape gang inquiries,” Philp said. “Up to 50 towns are affected, what about the rest? Don’t they matter?”
Sarah Champion, a Labour MP for Rotherham, echoed these concerns, arguing that the local inquiries would not be able to deliver the comprehensive solutions required to tackle the issue. She and other senior Labour figures, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, have called for a more robust investigation that could look at the wider systemic problems and hold those responsible to account.
Additionally, Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, entered the debate, criticising the government for not taking stronger action. Musk questioned whether the government’s plan would adequately address the problem, writing on social media, “I hope this is a proper investigation.”
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SOURCE: www.economictimes.com
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