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special to the tribune
‘Pak men-led gangs raped 1,400 UK girls in 16 years’
Shyam Bhatia in London

The horrifying tales of young white girls being abducted, raped and beaten up by gangs comprising mostly Pakistani men have sent jitters across the UK.

A report, commissioned by Rotherham Borough Council, revealed that more than 1,400 girls from the Rotherham area were subjected to sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013.

Council leader Roger Stone has resigned saying: “Like any right-minded person, I am disgusted by the child sexual exploitation and abhor the lifelong damage that it wreaks upon the lives of all those affected by it.”

The systematic failure of police and social workers to protect the victims in and around the Yorkshire town of Rotherham has been documented by Professor Alexis Jay, an academic and former chief social work adviser to the Scottish Government.

“It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse the child victims suffered,” she says in her report, adding: “They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten up and intimidated.”

The Jay report highlights how the reluctance of the local Yorkshire authorities to take any action was almost as bad as the actual violence itself. In many cases the local police regarded some child victims with contempt and some girls even tried to commit suicide.

In one well-documented case, the victim known as Child H was only 12 years old when she was found drunk in the back of a taxi with a man who had clicked her indecent pictures on his phone. The police refused to act despite the full co-operation of the girl’s father.

A few months later when the same girl was found in an abandoned house with a group of older men, the police arrested her for being drunk and disorderly.

Another victim on the condition of anonymity has been quoted as saying: “It’s great that it’s all out in the open. It feels like I’m finally getting a bit of justice for what happened to me…People have been sexually abused and sexually assaulted in the worst way possible. They’ve had their dignity taken away from them, their self respect, everything in life worth living for. So many lives have been ruined.”

A spokesperson for the National Council for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said: “Many of these children were already extremely vulnerable and the way they were let down by agencies entrusted to protect them is appalling. “It is hard to imagine the damage caused to the victims who were preyed upon with almost impunity over many years due to reluctance to address what was widely happening,” the spokesperson added.

Rotherham Borough Council report

* A report, commissioned by Rotherham Borough Council, reveals that more than 1,400 girls from the Rotherham area were subjected to sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013

* Council leader Roger Stone steps down. He says he is disgusted by the child sexual exploitation and abhors the lifelong damage it wreaks upon the victims

* Professor Alexis Jay (pic), who wrote the latest report, says it's hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse the child victims suffered.