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→‎Far right protests: 'English Defense League'? Don't be ridiculous, the EDL wouldn't use US spelling
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===Far right protests===
===Far right protests===
Protestors from far right parties like [[British National Party]] and [[English Defense League]] have held demonstrations with placards like:"Our girls are not Halal meat."<ref name=dh120628/><ref name=indegrooming/> About ten people were arrested during the protests and defense lawyers complained of intimidation. In another incident around the start of the trial, the involved takeways in Heywood were attacked by about a hundred youths.<ref name=dm120510/>
Protestors from far right parties like [[British National Party]] and [[English Defence League]] have held demonstrations with placards like:"Our girls are not Halal meat."<ref name=dh120628/><ref name=indegrooming/> About ten people were arrested during the protests and defense lawyers complained of intimidation. In another incident around the start of the trial, the involved takeways in Heywood were attacked by about a hundred youths.<ref name=dm120510/>


===Hindu and Sikh objections===
===Hindu and Sikh objections===

Revision as of 12:26, 28 June 2013

The Rochdale sex trafficking gang was a group of men who preyed on under-age teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. They were convicted of sex trafficking on 8 May 2012; other offenses included rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.[1] 47 girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the police investigation.[2][3][4] The men were all British Pakistanis (except for one from Afghanistan) and Muslim, and the girls were White; this has led to national discussion of whether the crimes were racially motivated, or, conversely, whether the early failure to investigate them was linked to the authorities' fear of being accused of racism.[5]

Gang members

12 men were originally charged: of the nine men convicted, eight were of British Pakistani origin and one was an Afghan asylum-seeker; of the three others who were not convicted, one was cleared of all charges, the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of the second, and the third was not present at the trial after fleeing to Pakistan while on bail.[1][6][7] Most of them were married and well-respected within their community.[2] One gang member convicted of sex trafficking was a religious studies teacher at a mosque and a married father-of-five. The men were aged between 24 and 59 and knew each other in various ways. Two worked for the same taxi firm and another two worked at a takeaway restaurant; some came from the same village in Pakistan and another pair shared a flat.[8] The gang worked to secure underage girls for sex.[9][10]

Abuse

The abuse occurred in 2008 and 2009 and was centered around two takeaways in Heywood near Rochdale. Despite one of the victims going to the police in 2008 to report the grooming, and the detectives involved giving her their support, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute two of the men at the time, invoking the witnesses' credibility. As a result of the CPS dropping the case, the police halted their on-going investigation, which was only resumed when a second girl made complaints similar to the previous victim's in December 2009.[11] The CPS's original decision was overturned in 2011 when a new chief prosecutor for the region, Nazir Afzal (himself a first generation British-Pakistani),[12] was appointed.[2]

The victims were vulnerable teenagers from deprived, dysfunctional backgrounds who were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people regularly congregated, such as takeaway food shops. One of the victims, a 15-year-old known as the Honey Monster, acted as a recruiter for the gang, procuring girls as young as 13 for the gang's use. The victims were coerced and bribed into keeping quiet about the abuse through a combination of free alcohol and drugs, food, small sums of money and other gifts.[1][2]

The oldest member of the gang to be eventually convicted, Shabir Ahmed,[13] was for a while the main trafficker of the victims: on one occasion he ordered a girl, then 15, to have sex with a member of the gang, Kabeer Hassan, as a "treat" for his birthday — Hassan then raped the girl.[14] Abdul Aziz, a married father of three, took over from Shabir Ahmed as the main trafficker and was paid by various men to supply underage girls for sex.[14]

Although some of the victims willingly had sex with their abusers, others were physically assaulted and raped by as many as five men at a time,[1] or obliged into having sex with "several men in a day, several times a week".[6] The victims were plied with drugs and alcohol and were passed around to friends and family,[15] being taken to various locations around the north of England, including Rochdale, Oldham, Nelson, Bradford and Leeds.[1] The abusers paid small sums of money for these encounters,[1] one 13-year old victim recounting that, after being forced to have sex in exchange for vodka, her abuser immediately raped her again and then gave her £40 to not say anything about the incident.[15] Among the incidents that police recorded were: a 15-year old victim too drunk to recall events being raped by 20 men, one after the other; another victim so drunk that she was sick over the side of the bed as she was being raped by two men.[2] One thirteen-year-old victim had an abortion after becoming pregnant.[6]

Trial and sentences

Some gang members told the court the girls were willing participants, and happy having sex with the men. Their ring-leader, 59-year-old Shabir Ahmed, claimed the girls were "prostitutes" who had been running a "business empire" and it was all "white lies". He shouted in court, "Where are the white people? You have only got my kind here."[2][9][16] Shabir Ahmed's threatening behaviour and calling Judge Gerald Clifton a "racist bastard" resulted in his being banned from the court for the sentencing hearing.[13] The Judge described this outburst as "nonsense" and explained that their present predicament was due to their "lust and greed".[7] Judge Clifton told the convicted gang members: "All of you treated your victims as though they were worthless and beyond any respect – they were not part of your community or religion."[17]

The trial concluded in May 2012 with the following convictions:[17]

Name Sentence Conviction
Kabeer Hassan 9 years Rape, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Abdul Aziz 9 years Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Abdul Rauf 6 years Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspircay to engage in sexual activity with children
Adil Khan 8 years Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Mohammed Sajid 12 years Rape, Sexual activity with a girl under 16, Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Mohammed Amin 5 years Sexual assault, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Hamid Safi 4 years Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Abdul Qayyum 5 years Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children
Shabir Ahmed[18] 19 years Rape, Aiding and abetting a rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking for sexual exploitation, Conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children

Second sex ring

Following the break up of the first sex ring, in May 2012 the police made arrests in relation to an earlier child sexual exploitation ring in Rochdale. Nine men between 24 and 38-years-old were arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a child.[19] About a dozen more cases involving Asian Muslims in Northern England are under investigation.[20] A 2012 report by the Deputy children's commissioner said that 33% of child sex abuse was committed by Asians in Britain, where Asians are 7% of the population, but concluded that it was "irresponsible" to dwell on the data.[21]

Reaction and public debate

The case raised a serious debate about whether the crimes were racially motivated.[19] There were suggestions that police and social work departments failed to act when details of the gang first emerged for fear of appearing racist, and ignored vulnerable white teenagers who were being groomed by Pakistani men.[22][23][24] Tim Loughton, the Minister for Children and Families, stated that while there was no evidence that any ethnic communities condoned child sexual abuse, he was concerned that some had been slow to report it to the police, and urged police and social workers not to allow "political correctness around ethnicity" to hinder their work to apprehend such crimes.[25]

Since late 2011 the Office of the Children's Commissioner has been making a two-year inquiry into child sexual exploitation by street gangs.[26] After the sentencing of the Rochdale gang, the UK’s Department of Education announced new funding for a specialist foster care scheme to help protect vulnerable children in residential care, as some of those who had been victims of the gang had been.[27]

The Times report of 5 January 2011

A report compiled by The Times and published on 5 January 2011, related to convictions for a particular form of child sex grooming in the North and the Midlands: of the 56 offenders convicted since 1997 for crimes relating to on-street grooming of girls aged 11 to 16, three were white, 53 were Asian of which 50 were Muslim, most were from the British Pakistani community.[22] Furthermore, The Times article alleged: "with the exception of one town there is scant evidence of work being undertaken in British Pakistani communities to confront the problem" of "pimping gangs" largely consisting of "members of the British Pakistani community".[22]

These findings have been questioned by the researchers Ella Cockbain and Helen Brayley, from whose work for the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science The Times report had drawn much of its evidence.[28] "The citations are correct but they have been taken out of context," Cockbain told The Independent; "Nor do they acknowledge the small sample size of the original research, which focused on just two large cases." Cockbain and Brayley expressed concern that "findings were being overextended from a small, geographically concentrated sample to characterise an entire crime type".[26]

Coalition for the Removal of Pimping

Hilary Willmer, representing a Leeds-based support group for parents of sexually exploited girls, the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (Crop), was quoted as saying "The vast majority [of] perpetrators are Pakistani Asians",[28] with sources inside Crop claiming a percentage as high as 80 per cent (although, The Independent noted, "Kurdish, Romanian and Albanian gangs were also involved"). Willmer added: "We think this is the tip of the iceberg", though she cautioned against treating the matter as a race crime. "It's a criminal thing."[28] But by May 2012, according to The Independent, Crop had "gone suddenly silent" concerning the percentage of abusers of Asian origin who had come to the organization's attention: Willmer explained to the paper: "We've been accused of being a cover for the BNP".[26]

Child protection organizations

In 2011 the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre launched a five-month investigation as to whether there was any link between racial profile and the crime of underage grooming. The organization defined underage grooming as any situation where a child or young person received some gift in exchange for sexual favours. It also drew statistics from such organizations as Barnardo’s; however, the findings were considered inconclusive by expert academics since, as a result, not all the figures had been compiled in the same way, and ethnicity had not always been noted with each reported crime.[26] Furthermore, as Ella Cockbain and Helen Brayley pointed out, "There is no criminal offence of 'on-street grooming'. Consequently, it is very difficult to measure the extent of this crime based on court statistics."[26] Further research has been pursued since late 2011 by the Office of the Children's Commissioner.[26]

Wendy Shepherd, child sexual exploitation project manager with Barnardo's in the north of England, said that since she started working with the organization, there has “a shift from the men selling children in ones or twos to something that is much more organised in groups and networks. The networks of men come from different backgrounds: in the North and Midlands many have been British Asians; in Devon it was white men; in Bath and Bristol, Afro-Caribbeans; in London, all ethnic mixes, whites, Iraqis, Kurds, Afghans, Somalis.” She noted that white males who are predators on the street tend to work alone. She added: "The danger with saying that the problem is with one ethnicity is that then people will only be on the lookout for that group – and will risk missing other threats."[26]

The former head of Barnardo's, Martin Narey, said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For this particular type of crime, the street grooming of teenage girls in northern towns … there is very troubling evidence that Asians are overwhelmingly represented in the prosecutions for such offences."[29] However Narey rejected the idea that such gangs were specifically targeting white girls, but instead suggested vulnerable girls on the street were more likely to be white since Asian girls were subjected to strict parenting and so were more likely to be kept off the streets.[29]

Response from Muslim spokesmen

In a BBC documentary investigating the grooming of young girls for sex by some Pakistani men, Imam Irfan Chishti from the Rochdale Council of Mosques deplored the practice of sex grooming, saying it was "very shocking to see fellow British Muslims brought to court for this kind of horrific offence."[30][31] Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, accused elders of the Pakistani community of "burying their heads in the sand" on the matter of sexual grooming. He said that of 68 recent convictions involving child sexual exploitation, 59 were of British Pakistani men and it was a significant problem for that community. He said the actions of criminals who thought "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community."[3][32]

Sayeeda Warsi, the co-chairperson of the Conservative Party, said in an interview with the Evening Standard, that "You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first," and added, "This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out against." She described the Rochdale case as "even more disgusting" than cases of girls being passed around street gangs, as the Rochdale perpetrators "were grown men, some of them religious teachers or running businesses, with young families of their own.” [33]

Nazir Afzal, who as the newly appointed chief crown prosecutor decided to bring the case to trial, said that gender, not race, was the key issue: "There is no community where women and girls are not vulnerable to sexual attack and that's a fact."[34]

Far right protests

Protestors from far right parties like British National Party and English Defence League have held demonstrations with placards like:"Our girls are not Halal meat."[20][26] About ten people were arrested during the protests and defense lawyers complained of intimidation. In another incident around the start of the trial, the involved takeways in Heywood were attacked by about a hundred youths.[7]

Hindu and Sikh objections

Hindu and Sikh groups have objected to media use of "Asian" description saying that the culprits were "almost always of Pakistani origin". They contend that clouding the issue by calling them "Asians" is unfair towards other Asians and is detrimental to a frank discussion.[35][36][37][38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Bunyan, Nigel (8 May 2012). "Rochdale grooming trial: gang convicted for sex trafficking". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Carter, Helen (8 May 2012). "Rochdale child sex ring case: respected men who preyed on the vulnerable". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Rochdale grooming trial: Nine found guilty of child sex charges". BBC News. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  4. ^ Bunyan, Nigel (8 May 2012). "Rochdale grooming trial: how the case unfolded". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Rochdale child sex ring: did political correctness delay justice?". TheWeek.co.uk. 28 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Carter, Helen (8 May 2012). "Nine men found guilty of sexually abusing vulnerable girls in Rochdale". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Tozer, James; Parveen, Nazia (10 May 2012). "Asian grooming gang detectives hunt for forty more men who may have had sex with underage girls". Daily Mail.
  8. ^ Ward, Victoria; Bunyan, Nigel (9 May 2012). "Members of paedophile gang treated victims as 'worthless'". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Gang To Be Sentenced Over Child Sex Crimes". Sky News. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  10. ^ "Profiles Of Child Sex Abuse Gang Members". Sky News. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  11. ^ Burnell, Paul (8 May 2012). "Rochdale child sex grooming case originally dropped". BBC News. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  12. ^ Brown, Jonathan (21 May 2012). "Nazir Afzal: 'We tackled grooming gangs. Now we have to confront forced marriage among Travellers'". Independent.co.uk.
  13. ^ a b "Rochdale paedophile ringleader is named". Press Association. London: The Guardian. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Rochdale child sex ring: nine men jailed". Press Association. The Guardian. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  15. ^ a b Lewis, Jamie (8 May 2012). "Rochdale Child Sex Ring: 'Master', 'Tiger' and Seven Others Guilty of Rape and Trafficking". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  16. ^ Mcginnes, Jamie (8 May 2012). "'Child sex victims were prostitutes with enough business acumen to win The Apprentice', man at centre of sex gang trial tells court". Mail Online. London: Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  17. ^ a b "77 years jail for Asian brutes who preyed on 'white trash' girls for sex". Daily Express. 10 May 2012.
  18. ^ "Rochdale grooming leader guilty of child rape". BBC News. 21 June 2012.
  19. ^ a b Henry, Julie (12 May 2012). "Arrests made in second Rochdale sex grooming scandal". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  20. ^ a b "British sex grooming cases spark racial tensions". Associated Press. Daily Herald. 29 June 2012.
  21. ^ "Report 'downplays sex abuse by Asian men'". Agence France-Presse. Google.com. 21 November 2012.
  22. ^ a b c "Revealed: conspiracy of silence on UK sex gangs". The Times. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  23. ^ Bunyan, Nigel (8 May 2012). "Rochdale grooming trial: Police accused of failing to investigate paedophile gang for fear of appearing racist". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  24. ^ Bunyan, Nigel (8 May 2012). "Rochdale grooming trial: Asian grooming gangs, the uncomfortable issue". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  25. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (3 July 2012). "Politics Live with Andrew Sparrow". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h Vallely, Paul (10 May 2012). "Child sex grooming: the Asian question". Independent.co.uk.
  27. ^ Topping, Alexandra (6 June 2012). "Sexually exploited children are at further risk in care, says Barnardo's". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  28. ^ a b c "Child sex trafficking study sparks exaggerated racial stereotyping". The Guardian. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  29. ^ a b Siddique, Haroon (9 May 2012). "Grooming offences committed mostly by Asian men, says ex-Barnardo's chief". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  30. ^ "Rochdale featured in sex grooming documentary". Rochdale Online. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  31. ^ Stanley, Emma (8 May 2012). "Heywood: Rochdale town at the centre of child sex ring". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  32. ^ Shafiq, Mohammed (9 May 2012). "An obsession with racism that left vulnerable girls at the mercy of sex predators". Daily Mail.
  33. ^ "Full interview with Baroness Warsi". Evening Standard. 18 May 2012.
  34. ^ Martinson, Jane (9 May 2012). "Why the Rochdale 'grooming trial' wasn't about race". The Guardian.
  35. ^ "Complaints over use of 'Asian' label in grooming cases". BBC News. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  36. ^ Singh, Hardeep (8 June 2012). "It's time to stop using the word 'Asians'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  37. ^ Phillips, Melanie (9 May 2012). "The Rochdale sex ring shows the horrific consequences of Britain's 'Islamophobia' witch-hunt". Mail Online. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  38. ^ Kaul, Sarju (8 May 2012). "UK Hindus, Sikhs protest 'Asian' label for culprits". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 30 September 2012.

External links

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