UK Police Accused of Covering Up Grooming Gang Ethnicity
A national audit in the UK has revealed that police and councils deliberately concealed the ethnicity of grooming gang perpetrators, fearing accusations of racism. The audit was commissioned following public pressure and published on Monday.
Key Findings of the Audit
The audit, led by Baroness Casey, found that ethnicity data was often either uncollected or suppressed in two-thirds of cases involving "group-based child sexual exploitation." The report challenges a 2020 Home Office report that claimed the majority of predators were white, stating that it used flawed data.
Casey's examination of data from three police forces revealed that men of Asian ethnicity were over-represented as perpetrators, warranting further investigation.
"It is not racist to want to examine the ethnicity of offenders," Casey stated, advocating for mandatory recording of ethnicity and nationality for all suspects in grooming gang cases.
Recommendations and Actions
The audit urges for a deeper examination of cultural factors influencing child sexual exploitation. Recommendations include:
- A national inquiry
- Stricter charging for offenders
- Exclusion of convicted sex offenders from the asylum system
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reversed his previous opposition and announced a national inquiry, committing to implementing all the audit's recommendations.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper announced that henceforth “anyone convicted of sexual offences be excluded from the asylum system and denied refugee status”.
