The threat of UK’s grooming gangs that abuse children and Rishi Sunak’s planned crackdown

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to tackle grooming gangs and not let ‘political correctness’ get in the way.Sunak on Monday will announce a new emergency taskforce working at the heart of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) comprising experienced officers to protect women and young girls.Speaking ahead of the announcement, Sunak said for too “political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women”.But what dangers do grooming gangs pose in the UK? And how is Sunak planning to tackle this problem?Let’s take a closer look:Grooming gangs in UKAs per The Independent, an inquiry launched in 2019 found that since the 1970s, more than 1,000 children have been abused by grooming gangs in Shropshire's Telford.The inquiry stated that crimes such as rape, sexual abuse, brainwashing, and drugging had “thrived unchecked” and that sexual exploitation of children “still exists today, and is prevalent across the country as a whole”.The inquiry chairman Tom Crowther said that “obvious signs” of abuse were disregarded and children were branded prostitutes and shamed for their “lifestyles.”“Exploitation was not investigated because of nervousness about race” because the abusers were mainly reported to be Asian men, Crowther added.“Teachers and youth workers were discouraged from reporting child sexual exploitation (CSE). Offenders were emboldened and exploitation continued for years without a concerted response.”“A high proportion of those cases involved perpetrators that were described by victims/survivors and others as being Asian or, often, Pakistani,” he added.“The evidence plainly shows that the majority of CSE suspects in Telford were men of southern Asian heritage.”"The overwhelming theme of the evidence has been the appalling suffering of generations of children caused by the utter cruelty of those who committed child sexual exploitation. Victims and survivors repeatedly told the inquiry how, when they were children, adult men worked to gain their trust before ruthlessly betraying that trust, treating them as sexual objects or commodities,” Crowther added.“Countless children were sexually assaulted and raped. They were deliberately humiliated and degraded. They were shared and trafficked. They were subjected to violence and their families were threatened. They lived in fear and their lives were forever changed.”[caption id="attachment_10556201" align="alignnone" width="640"] Representational Image.[/caption]Telford isn’t alone.As per The Telegraph, a 2014 report by professor Alexis Jay concluded that 1,400 children were abused by gangs of paedophiles in South Yorkshire’s Rotherham.The newspaper said the report stated that gangs comprising men of Pakistani heritage groomed and trafficked victims as young as age eleven.

Worse, authorities did not act out of fear of being called racist.

Cases were also discovered in towns such as Rochdale, Bradford, Oxford, and Newcastle.As per The Spectator, Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said social workers who attempted to report wrongdoing were forced to attend race relations courses and warned of disciplinary proceedings ‘if they didn’t remove the fact they were identifying the person as a Pakistani male’.How will Sunak tackle this problem?Sunak said specialist officers would be deployed to assist local cops with such investigations, as per Yahoo.As per LBC, data analysts would also be employed to recognise those that are likely to commit such crimes.As per Sky News, Downing Street said ethnicity data would be deployed "to make sure suspects cannot hide behind cultural sensitivities to evade justice".The government will also introduce laws to ensure harsher punishments for the leaders of such gangs or to those involved in such outfits, as per Sky News.On Sunday, home secretary Suella Braverman, talking about grooming gangs, identified British Pakistani men as causes of concern.“What’s clear is that what we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British Pakistani men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks,” Braverman told Sky News.[caption id="attachment_12311872" align="alignnone" width="640"] British Home Secretary Suella Braverman walks at Downing Street in London, Britain March 15, 2023. Reuters[/caption]However, it is important to note that research commissioned by the previous home office showed most gangs of child sex offenders comprise majority white men under the age of 30, as per The National.The research also added that there isn’t enough proof to conclude that members of such gangs are more likely to be Asian or Black.‘Child sex abuse in Britain an epidemic’In October 2022, a seven-year inquiry concluded that child sex abuse is an epidemic in Britain and that those who work with young people should be prosecuted if they fail to report it.The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said institutions and politicians had prioritised reputations over the welfare of young people, meaning horrific acts were hidden away for decades, while there were still inadequate protection measures in place.The inquiry, one of the largest and most expensive investigations of its kind ever undertaken in Britain, said the issue was a global crisis, where children would be at risk unless urgent action was taken."The nature and scale of the abuse we encountered was shocking and deeply disturbing," its chair Alexis Jay, a social care expert, told reporters. "This is not just a historical aberration which happened decades ago, it is an ever-increasing problem and a national epidemic."The inquiry was set up in July 2014 following a series of shocking abuse scandals, some of which dated back decades, with the most notable involving the late BBC television star Jimmy Savile. After his death in 2011, he was revealed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.The inquiry has published 15 investigations and dozens of other reports, cataloguing details of appalling abuse at institutions including the Catholic Church, the Church of England, and Britain's political hub in Westminster.Reputations prioritisedThe investigations found the rich and well-connected had been treated differently to those who were poor, with "the prioritisation of reputation over the needs and safety of children"."Deference was often shown to people of prominence including councillors, MPs (members of parliament) and leading clergy by those whose job it was to investigate allegations," Jay said. "Even when they tried to investigate thoroughly, they were often told by their superiors to back off."The inquiry heard from 725 witnesses during 325 hearings which began in Feb. 2017, processing nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence. More than 6,000 victims and survivors of abuse also related their experiences to the inquiry's 'Truth Project'.Jay said the abuse involved children, babies and toddlers often carried out by someone they knew and trusted, and accompanied by extreme violence and acts of sadism, causing agonising physical pain.

"It is vile and degrading and its consequences are frequently life-long for the victims," she said.

The inquiry said a 2019 crime survey indicated there were 3.1 million victims and survivors of abuse in England and Wales, or about 7.5 per cent of the population aged 18 to 75.Jay said in any group of 200 children, 10 boys and more than 30 girls would be victims before the age of 16. Statistics showed the age of victims was getting younger, with a 45 per cent rise in offences against those aged under four in recent years.Even while it was carrying out its investigations, the scale of online abuse had risen dramatically, the inquiry said.It made 20 recommendations, with three key measures; a new law making it compulsory for certain people working with children to report abuse or face criminal action; the creation of a Child Protection Authority; and a redress scheme to provide financial help for survivors of abuse.The government said it would respond to the inquiry’s report within six months, and was committed its work "is translated into action".Lawyers who represented victims involved in the inquiry welcomed its findings, but said the recommendations did not go far enough."We will fight to strengthen these proposals as they go through parliament, so that future generations of children can secure the comprehensive protection they need," Richard Scorer, Head of Abuse Law at Slater & Gordon.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.