Race, religion, immigration: the Rotherham sex abuse scandal consumes UK

[cbayer]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/race-religion-immigration-the-rotherham-sex-abuse-scandal-consumes-uk-20140828-109acs.html

August 28, 2014 - 8:00AM

Rotherham, England: A horrific report which exposed the failure of British authorities to prevent the sexual abuse of 1400 children has sparked a nation-wide row over race, religion, immigration and political correctness.

Some commentators expressed fear that racists would find ammunition in the report's findings, that put the blame for much of the abuse on a small group of British Asian men.

And tabloid newspaper editorials railed against the 'political correctness' of senior council workers who resisted attempts to investigate abuse claims, for fear it would be seen as racist.


Huge sex abuse scandal: a welcome to Rotherham sign seen at the entrance of the town. Photo: Getty

Members of Britain's Pakistani community have reacted with outrage amid reports officials failed to act on sex abuse cases because of concerns about racism in the northern English town of Rotherham.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/race-religion-immigration-the-rotherham-sex-abuse-scandal-consumes-uk-20140828-109acs.html#ixzz3BfVFnYq2

[intaglio]

1. What I find so reprehensible

... is that the failure to act was equally the result of racism or religious prejudice because the police and Social Services did not contact responsible Asian heritage Brits for their advice and assistance.

[cbayer]

4. There are dirty hands all over the place in this case.

Agree, it is reprehensible.

[SecularMotion]

2. It's really annoying when webpages auto-start videos

[cbayer]

3. Agree. You could always complain to them, I guess.

[T_i_B]

5. Thread from the UK forum

Plenty of info here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10886485

As I have said on that thread, far right knuckledraggers are all over this, but I don't think abuse on this scale can happen without the involvement of people outside of the Pakistani community.

[cbayer]

6. Thanks so much for that.

Obviously it didn't get a lot of play in this group, but maybe some who are interested will come on over to yours.

[T_i_B]

7. I think this issue could drag on and on....

And end up in quite a few areas of DU. It's a top news story in the UK at present.

Sad to say, it's fairly local to me as well.

[cbayer]

8. It's really not getting as much air here as I would have thought.

That's a shame, really. I am sorry that it is local for you.

[T_i_B]

9. It's not me who needs worrying about

It's the victims of sexual abuse. 1400 is a huge number for a smallish town like Rotherham.

And then there is the question of whether this is happening elsewhere.

[cbayer]

10. They are clearly priority number 1.

I also worry about the backlash against innocent muslims who may be targeted due to racism.

Bad, very bad.

[T_i_B]

11. Muslim protest against Rotherham child abuse held ‘without incident’

A response to the far right English Defence League holding a protest / punch up in Rotherham the week before

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/video-muslim-protest-against-rotherham-child-abuse-held-without-incident-1-6852473

Hundreds of people turned out in support of a Muslim youth group protest against child sexual exploitation in Rotherham today.

Speeches denounced the scandal which involved 1,400 victims of child sexual abuse in the town between 1997 and 2013 and protestors from the British Muslim Youth group gathered to make their voices heard. The demonstration, involving about 200 people, passed peacefully and no arrests were made.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the British Ramadhan Foundation, said: “The grooming gangs have not only brought shame on themselves and the community but have damaged the lives of so many promising young girls. “We want to see justice, we want to see justice for the victims and we want to see the community come together to say ‘not in our name’.

“There has been utter systematic failings in South Yorkshire Police. We want to see the system that has failed these girls changed so that people believe the victims rather than labelling them as ‘prostitutes’ or a ‘lifestyle choice.’”