The fact remains that any act in which the powerful prey on the vulnerable is despicable and constitutes

an abuse of power, and it should be condemned on those terms rather than framed as a debate about culture. The one thing we know about paedophilia is that it crosses the race, religious, cultural and colour divide. Whether it is Roman Catholic priests preying on young boys, white males travelling to the Far East seeking out prepubescent teenagers, sex traffickers, or internet pornographers, what they have in common is not their culture but a willingness to abuse their own positions of power or wealth in order to exploit the vulnerable, be it in the streets of Rochdale or the bars of Bangkok.

The conviction of eight white men in Scotland for a series of horrific sex offences against children and babies at the same time as the Rochdale conviction of nine Asian men for grooming young girls, should sound a cautionary note to anyone Black of white - attempting to racialise the issue.

This is borne out by the data from the West Yorkshire Police following a freedom of information (FOI) request submitted by JUST West Yorkshire. The evidence clearly highlights that in West Yorkshire more white men committed sexual offences and grooming in comparison to Asian men.
West Yorkshire Grooming Offences Arrest in the last 3 years WHITE NORTH EUROPEAN BLACK ASIAN Grand Total Charge No Yes Grand Total West Yorkshire Sexual Offence Arrests in the last 3 years Breakdown by Ethnicity UNKNOWN WHITE NORTH EUROPEAN WHITE SOUTH EUROPEAN BLACK ASIAN CHINESE, JAPANESE, SE ASIAN ARABIC OR NORTH AFRICAN Grand Total Total 47 1 5 53 Total 42 11 53 Total 5 3353 46 329 888 19 73 4713

The national figures highlight that 93% of the perpetrators of paedophilia are white, while Black and Asians who constitute 13% of the UK population are responsible for 7% of the cases. Notwithstanding the above statistics, the fact remains that Black or white, there are predatory men committing criminal acts against vulnerable young girls and how we tackle this must surely be a priority. A number of Muslim organisations have been vocal in their condemnation of grooming and the public statement made by ten Muslim Imams in Bradford of their intention to work with police chiefs to develop a plan of action to safeguard girls is laudable. While such statements are useful they can have the unwitting effect of validating the spurious link between the Muslim community and the Rochdale perpetrators. We saw this happen in the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7 killings when many Muslim organisations eager to distance themselves from the atrocities, embraced the Prevent and CONTEST war on extremism and war on terror initiatives. This played into a narrative that legitimized the demonization of the Muslim community and led to the introduction of legislation that undermined civil liberties and human rights. If intervention strategies are going to be meaningful they need to tackle both the predatory behaviour of pedophiles and the factors that lead to young girls becoming vulnerable. In an excellent study undertaken by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centreentitled Out of Sight Out of Mind, the research highlights that children who go missing and spend time in the care system are most at risk of grooming and this includes Bangladeshi teenagers as well as White young women. The risk factors that contribute to young women falling prey to their sexual predators range from educational disengagement, mental health, socioeconomic disadvantage, learning difficulties, substance misuse, chaotic family life and neglect. (eop.police.uk/.../ceopdocs/ceop_thematic_assessment_executive_su...) There also remain institutional barriers that need to be addressed if victims are to have confidence in the criminal justice system. Of the 17,000 reported cases of sexual offences involving children under 16, just 4,000 went to trial last year, according to the CPS. That's just under a quarter of all reported cases. Research from the NSPCC estimates that a third (34%) of children who are sexually abused do not tell anyone at all about it, let alone report it to the police. Both the Rochdale and Scotland child grooming cases requires that we ask those we have entrusted with safeguarding our children - the police, criminal justice agencies, social and care workers, GPs and families whether they have exercised their duty of care diligently? The solutions cannot be found in rhetorical flourishes but through sustained joined-up interventions that bring together agencies, communities and families in a collaborative enterprise. Only when we stop seeing the issue of grooming in ethnically and culturally divisive terms can we start acknowledging our joint responsibility as a community in working together to stop the scourge of young blighted lives.