A rape survivor who was abused by dozens of men has called on the prime minister to apologise for the delay in calling for a national inquiry into the grooming scandal.
“Elizabeth”, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, was abused by a gang of men in Rotherham from the age of 14.
She was also trafficked to other cities and says she was raped by so many men over the course of more than three years she doesn’t know the exact number.
She says all her abusers were of Pakistani heritage.
After Louise Casey’s explosive report revealed the ethnicity of perpetrators had been shied away from by the authorities, Elizabeth says Sir Keir Starmer owes survivors an apology “not just for holding back on the inquiry, because he could have done this six months ago, but also for the insults that followed”.
She says it was incorrect of the prime minister to accuse people of jumping on a “far-right bandwagon”.
“Survivors and families have not done that. You have whistleblowers, you know, it’s concerned people wanting justice for child abuse,” she says.
She also believes that had the authorities been prepared to confront concerns about the ethnicity of offenders and investigate communities more closely, she could have been spared the abuse she suffered.
“Going back, the intelligence, everything, I should never have been a victim,” she says.
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Many are angry it has taken 11 years for politicians to accept the issue
Shockingly, in Rotherham, the truth has been known for more than a decade.
In 2014 a report by Alexis Jay, who went on to chair a national inquiry into the wider issue of child sexual exploitation, found there were at least 1,400 victims of grooming in the town, with the perpetrators predominantly of Pakistani heritage.
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Data dismissed ‘Asian grooming gangs’
Many here, including Elizabeth, are angry it has taken 11 years for politicians to accept the issue, despite scandals emerging in a number of towns and cities across Britain.
“It’s a question still that needs to be answered. I do think it was because they wanted to be politically correct,” she says.
‘They silenced the wrong people’
She’s disappointed but unsurprised by the revelation that Whitehall officials wanted to help the authorities in Rotherham cover up the scandal: “It does explain a lot because I’ve always thought that how organised Rotherham was – how possibly could they have pulled it off themselves?”
She believes the result of years of denial by the authorities has meant perpetrators were protected.
She describes the survivors of grooming as “Britain’s darkest secret”, adding, “they silenced the wrong people and we need the truth. Why did they do it?”.
Sir Keir ‘frustrated’ with politicians who ‘shout and scream but do nothing’
Sir Keir said he gets “frustrated” with politicians who “shout and scream but do nothing” as he defended past comments about a grooming gangs inquiry.
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Rigby challenges PM: Grooming gangs & Middle East
Speaking to Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister was asked if he regretted saying in January that those calling for a national probe into paedophile rings were “jumping on a far-right bandwagon” – given he has now agreed to one.
Sir Keir said he was “really clear” he was talking about the Tories, who were demanding an inquiry they never set up when they were in government.
He said: “I was calling out those politicians. I am frustrated with politics when people shout and scream a lot and do nothing when they’ve got the opportunity to do it. It’s one of the worst aspects of politics, in my view.”
