Dispatches: The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs

The latest Dispatches documentary, The Hunt for Britain’s Sex Gangs, was always going to be hard-hitting. The fact it was broadcast when the nation was reeling from the brutal murder of soldier Lee Rigby by Islamists in Woolwich made it doubly so.

What enraged me was the cynical methods paedophiles’ defence lawyers use to terrify victims into incoherence: one police officer spoke of these vulnerable, abused girls being "retraumatised, revictimised and violated" in court. I’m sure she was speaking advisedly – one girl spoke of cross-examination as like being raped again.

Another police officer spoke of the danger of being perceived to be racist, when all he wanted to do was to put predatory paedophiles in jail. Putting aside the fact that there’s no such thing as race, it was obvious that the rapists were of shared ethnicity. Not every abuser is a Muslim and not every Muslim is an abuser; nevertheless, as senior police officials recover from fits of cultural sensitivity like that which scuppered the trial of Charlene Downes’ (right) groomers and killers, arrests for trafficking (which can result in more convictions than rape as it takes distorted issues surrounding consent out of the question) are soaring. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has estimated that up to 10,000 children in Britain may be affected by sexual exploitation by gangs and groups.

And where those gangs and groups are street-based, chances are that they will be composed predominantly, if not exclusively, of Muslims. I don’t want to vilify people on account of their ethnicity or religion, I merely want children to be free to have a childhood. And, as English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson has said, Muslims are free to take to the street to point the finger at their co-religionists who rape children and kill soldiers. And say, “not in my name”.

Gerry Dorrian
300 words

Resources

Dispatches: The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs webpage

Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG) - The Children's Commissioner for England

Watch The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs on 4oD

Watch Tommy Robinson speak on the Woolwich terrorist attacks, the EDL's response and other issues below, or click here to view on YouTube.

Click for English Defence League website