bbc one tonight. harrowing tv that made you want to switch off but you couldn't. All credit to the writer and cast on what is a very difficult story to portray.
It was quite good in parts but I felt like it seemed very fake with the fast pace and over the top polarised characters although that was probably just for time constraints but I felt it lost its authenticity because of it
I thought it was quite good and particularly harrowing. Maajid Nawaz is discussing it right now on LBC.
Said the same to my wife. We have a 15 year old daughter so I found it difficult to watch, but know we'll end up watching parts 2&3. Also got a 11 year old son which made Little Boy Blue, the night before, seem harrowing too.
Taped it and then couldn't watch it. I intend having another go tonight but can't imagine I'm going to take it very well
The Rochdale child abuse scandal. Told from the viewpoint of three teenage victims. Watching it last night we did comment that it could open up more issues with those that are against Islam.
Opened up a can of worms today at Rotherham market, was the Labour councils fault apparently, I said ****** it was the POLICE to blame on every level for every grooming case as they didn't act upon information. No council can overpower the police like that.
It wouldnt suprise me in the slightest as you can remove rochdale as the town and replace it with a number of others. However, regardless of the religous and ethnic aspect there are a number of questions that need answering. Mostly by those employed to protect these.children. Local council Social workers. Police.
If it is factual, then it did show a serious shortcoming in the safeguarding of the kids. Failures at all levels and from what I've read about it, pretty common in all the major incidents of it around the country.
From memory rotherham council were declared not fit for purpose and had form for hiding up uncomfortable truths. It was either the Jay or Casey report which torn the council a new one. Rochdale council lacked any form of consitent management and direction in how to approach the situation from the indepenent report published after it came to light. Investigations in oxford lead to both the police.and social services being accused of.turning a blind eye.
I have always found these grooming scandals to be truly harrowing and sickening. I'm still astounded that so many young girls were allowed to be utterly violated for so long without any intervention. Equally I find it sickening and upsetting that even now, there seems to be a startling lack of interest or knowledge about the various cases. Rotherham, Rochdale, Dewsbury, Keighley, Blackburn, Burnley, Huddersfield, Blackpool, Oxford, Bristol, Aylesbury and Oxford off the top of my head. I have no doubt more will be found. The under-reporting of such cases when compared to other news stories (Jimmy Saville for example) has continually frustrated me. Even now, friends who are very aware of the news and the world around them have little knowledge of any of these cases when someone mentions it. Scary. I remember when people first started highlighting what was happening around 2007. They were derided as racists. The BNP then took the story and tried to highlight what was happening. Clearly their negative perception largely invalidated the claims and hence for a few more years the goings on were kept under the carpet. I had a friend who worked in Rotherham and they were aware back then but it just wasn't allowed to become common knowledge. I feel so sorry for the victims who were abused, ignored and then actually labelled bigots for trying to get help. A scandal of our time. Finally now we are seeing convictions, even if they tend to be under-reported. Countless victims will never get justice but at least some can now get some form of closure. But the authorities who ignored them for so long, whether that be the police, social services, councils or media, should be eternally ashamed. What was allowed to happen was evil, pure evil and I think it's rather scary that there are many people still in important jobs, with key roles to play in society, who were either too frightened or simply apathetic towards stopping this vile abuse. Even now, when these stories are discussed on various platforms, there seems to be more people anxious to divert the conversation away from any mention of the cultural aspects of the abusers, than actually showing sympathy for the victims. Genuine debate gets over-ran by extreme views from both sides. You get the EDL types who go too far with the anti-Muslim rhetoric and the other side who fall over themselves to post links to a Jimmy Saville article or say 'plenty of white groomers around' etc. All the while the actual victims are forgotten in a race to appear morally superior and as politically correct as possible. So even now perhaps we haven't learnt the lessons of the last shameful two decades. Protecting children from abuse should always, without question, take priority over any concerns over upsetting certain communties or inflaming racial tensions. Protecting children should also come above any other unfathomable reason why these girls weren't helped. The fact that this seems to not have been recognised is simply staggering and shows just how confused society has become in these supposed enlightened times.
One thing that people tend to forget is that white English men have been grooming and abusing young girls alone and in gangs for years and the council, social workers and police have been turning a blind eye to that as well. While I think there is a large element of not wanting to stir up racial problems there is and was an even bigger problem of the authorities simply not being arsed. As the show said last night a lot of it is due to lifestyle choices and that is how it was viewed. The woman in the programme was right, with a lot of the girls it was due to CHOICES but where the authorities have been wrong is in saying 'oh ok it was her choice so her fault' when that isn't true. It may be the girls choices to get involved but as children it should have been recognised WHY they made those choices and they would have then realised or acknowledged that it was due to grooming which then means they are not to blame for those choices and the groomers are. That's the biggest way they went went imo.
I mentioned last night that Maajid Nawaz covered this on LBC last night and he was scathingly critical of his own culture over this. He stated that Muslims make up approximately 5% of the UK population but 90% of men convicted of these offences are Muslim. I can't verify these figures but he is usually pretty accurate so I have no reason to doubt him. His key point was that there is a very real cultural problem in parts of the Asian community and allowing it to go unchallenged didn't help, it just gave extremists more ammunition. He believes that the more that the mainstream challenge these problems rather than turning a blind eye the more it will help. I'm a big fan of Maajid, I love his show on LBC and last night did not disappoint. I think his show will be available on podcast but this is a link to one call he had. It gets quite heated but it is well worth listening to. http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/maajid-nawaz/maajid-destroys-muslim-caller-stoning-women/
Aylesbury Brighton Burnley Chelmsford Stoke Sheffield Blackburn Nelson Sews bury Rotherham Middlesbrough Skipton Keithley Telford Preston Canterbury Manchester Reading Burton Bradford Doncaster Oldham Banbury Peterborough Brierfield Bristol Carlisle That's just the towns I know about. All have been victims of the inherent institutionalised political correctness that is rife throughout the public services.
Way back in the 80s I had a friend who was a residential social worker. She had a 14 year old girl in her care who was being abused by middle aged white Christian men. When concerns were raised with the Police, not SY may I add, the attitude was she's a little slag and gets all she deserves. That attitude was found in many other forces.
The issue shouldn't be about colour or faith. Irrespective of any stats are who does it more or less. The facts are these are underage. That's it and end of argument/debate It's illegal and downright ******* wrong Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Rochdale has had two child abuse scandals in recent memory. One with Asian/Muslim men and vulnerable girls. One with a white/Christian MP and vulnerable boys. Both were covered up or ignored by the authorities that should have helped those who needed it.
