The National Secular Society has welcomed an independent inquiry into ‘grooming gangs’ which will examine how religion and culture have played a role in responses to group-based child exploitation and abuse.
The inquiry was launched last year in response to multiple cases of groups of men sexually abusing, raping and trafficking children around the UK. A Serious Case Review into one incident found a significant proportion of people convicted were of “Pakistani and/or Muslim heritage”.
But a national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse in January found “many examples of organisations” avoiding examining the disproportionality in ethnic or cultural factors, while police forces reported local authorities “would discourage them from publicising the successful conviction of perpetrators of group-based child sexual exploitation due to fears of raising tensions”.
The inquiry is consulting on its draft terms of reference, which say it should examine “how ethnicity, religion or culture played a role in responses at a local and national level, as well as other issues of denial”.
It will also “consider the background (including ethnicity, religion and culture) of perpetrators and victims”.
Responding to the consultation, the NSS highlighted how “fear of criticising religion, particularly Islam, may have played a role” in the responses to grooming gangs.
It highlighted how high-profile figures who spoke out against grooming gangs, including MP Sarah Champion, former MP Ann Cryer, and investigative journalist Andrew Norfolk, were accused of racism or ‘Islamophobia’.
The NSS said the issue demonstrates the dangers of the Government’s plans to adopt a definition of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim hate. It said grooming gang cases “illustrate how bad actors can weaponise such a definition to silence the reporting of, and discussion about, grooming gangs”. A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims pushing a definition of Islamophobia suggested using the term “grooming gangs” in relation to Muslims is Islamophobic.
Several grooming gang victims and survivors have said religion played a role in their abuse, the NSS said. Some reported their perpetrators quoted scripture as they beat their victims and forced victims to learn the Quran, wear Islamic dress and enter Islamic marriages. One victim said: “Religious ideas about purity, virginity, modesty and obedience are taken to the extreme until horrific abuse becomes the norm”.
In its Mission and Misogyny report published in September, the NSS found examples of Islamic charities saying women must obey their husbands, must cover themselves extensively, may not refuse to have sex with their husbands, and may be beaten by their husband.
Some victims and survivors also reported that the fact they are not Muslim contributed to their targeting for abuse. According to the Network of Sikh Organisations, perpetrators viewed Sikh girls as “easy targets, due to matters of honour and shame within the community”.
NSS: Failure to explore religion and culture in grooming gangs risks “harming social cohesion by fuelling extremism”
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: “We recognise that the issue of grooming gangs has been weaponised by the far-right to demonise all Muslims.
“While this is deplorable, it is vitally important that the role of religion in the phenomenon of grooming gangs, and authorities’ responses to grooming gangs, be questioned openly and robustly.
“Only by understanding all factors that play a role in these crimes will we be able to ensure they cannot happen in the future, and the most vulnerable and marginalised girls in UK society are protected.
“A failure to explore these issues unflinchingly will also risk harming social cohesion by fuelling extremism and ‘two tier justice’ narratives.”