Rape case councils brand the term ‘Asian gang’ racist – as it’s revealed Pakistanis are four times more likely to be child groomers_Nhy
Council areas where British-Pakistani men raped young white girls have endorsed an Islamophobia definition which labels the phrase ‘Asian grooming gangs‘ racist.
Oxford, Newcastle, Manchester and Calderdale are local authorities backing a report that critics believe will silence whistle-blowers raising the alarm about child abuse.
This report says that using the term ‘Asian grooming gangs’ is a repetition of ‘age-old stereotypes and tropes about Islam’ of ‘sexual profligacy and paedophilia, or Islam and violence’.
This, the report concludes, ‘heighten[s] the vulnerability of Muslims to hate crimes’, the Times reports.
Labour has adopted this definition and the report, produced by the all-party parliamentary group for British Muslims, which is co-chaired by the health secretary, Wes Streeting.
It comes as new unreleased data suggests Pakistanis are up to four times more likely to be responsible for child sex grooming offences reported to police than the general population
Figures from all 43 police forces in England and Wales show that 13,7 per cent of child sexual exploitation offences reported in the first nine months of last year involved people from Pakistan, the Telegraph reports.
The year before, they accounted for 6.9 per cent of the grooming crimes reported to the police.
Manchester City Council, pictured, is one of the stories backing the report
Oxford City Council also backed the report who branded the term ‘Asian gang’ as racist
Calderdale City Council is also among the list of local authorities
Newcastle is also one of the local authorities backing a report that critics believe will silence whistle-blowers raising the alarm about child abuse.
The data shows this is proportionately two to four times higher than the general population where Pakistanis make up for 2.7 per cent, data from the 2021 census shows.
The figures were revealed by the team running the first national police project to track and analyse ‘group-based’ child sexual abuse cases which includes the ethnic backgrounds of offenders.
The police launched the ‘Hydrant Programme’ in response to criticism from the 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by Alexis Jay, which highlighted a ‘widespread failure’ to gather reliable data on offenders, victims, and crimes.
The government is considering adopting an official definition of anti-Muslim discrimination for nationwide use, but critics argue it could function as a ‘blasphemy law’.
This comes amid the ongoing row after Elon Musk, right, accused the Prime Minister, left of being ‘complicit’ in the failure to protect victims and prosecute abusers while Starmer the director of public prosecutions
This comes amid the ongoing row after Elon Musk accused the Prime Minister of being ‘complicit’ in the failure to protect victims and prosecute abusers while Starmer the director of public prosecutions.
The PM hit back at the tech billionaire, saying his record shows he took on the issue head-on
This came after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips rejected calls from Oldham Council for a government inquiry into historical grooming gangs in the town, with Ms Phillips saying the council should lead an inquiry instead.
Earlier this week grooming gang victims spoke out to demand a public inquiry and tougher sentences for abusers amid a social media war waged against Sir Keir Starmer by Elon Musk.
Sarah Wilson was groomed and raped by paedophiles in Rotherham for five years from the age of 11 – with one attack taking place in a school playground.
She wrote on X: ‘Jess Phillips needs to hang her head in shame!!! Anyone who denies an independent investigation has a lot to hide.’
Sammy Woodhouse was just 14 when she met her rapist, Arshid Hussain, who was jailed for 35 years in 2016. Hussain, known in Rotherham as Mad Ash, was reportedly contacted by the council about care proceedings.
This came after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, pictured rejected calls from Oldham Council for a government inquiry into historical grooming gangs in the town
She told LBC: ‘We have report, after report, after report telling us the same thing. We know what’s happening in this country because people like myself have been giving thousands of interviews to the mainstream media telling you about it.
‘What’s not happening is action – there’s not enough paedophiles being taken through the courts and when they are, they’re walking free. There’s no professionals being held to account.’
Mr Musk, 53, has said Ms Phillips ‘deserves to be in prison’, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said a full national inquiry into organised grooming gangs is ‘long overdue’.
As previously reported, child groomers will get tougher prison sentences as part of a crackdown on the ‘most vile and horrific of crimes’, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced this week.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Ms Cooper said the Government would legislate to make grooming an ‘aggravating factor’ when offenders are sentenced.
‘The punishment must fit the terrible crime,’ she told MPs, as she outlined a series of measures to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Ms Cooper addressed MPs amid a furious row over the issue, which returned to the spotlight after Labour came under pressure to establish a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
