Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation in British Asian-Muslim concentrated neighbourhoods: a comprehensive review

Fully mapping and analysing the Current State of GbCSE, in Britain.

Covering: 1 | Executive Summary; 2 | Key Definitions and Characterisations; 3 | Bogus Academia and Home Office Failure; 4 | GbCSE, by Location; 5 | Revised Additions

A comprehensive map of Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, and British Asian-Muslim concentrated neighbourhoods. Links to each location in this report, below.

1 | Ten-Point Executive Summary

1. Since early reports from at least the 1970s to the present day, underage child rape grooming gangs have been operated by a disproportionately large minority of the British Asian-Muslim population (predominantly, but not exclusively, of Pakistani-origin).¹ Broadly consistent with academia, the Centre will hereon refer to this series of scandals as Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, GbCSE, in Asian-Muslim concentrated neighbourhoods.²

2. Asian-Muslim GbCSE has become a contentious political issue. The Right have no qualms addressing the full truth of this danger (to women and wider society). Whereas the Left fear that sensationalist reporting could exacerbate ‘racism’. Claims that “the majority of overall CSE are white men” distract to the point of completing downplaying this abuse (epitomised by Dr E. Cockbain).³

3. There are two main issues with the Leftist appraisal of Asian-Muslim GbCSE:

   1. No research contests that the profile of overall ‘individual’ CSA perpetrators, is different to Group-based CSE perpetrators. But, if the profile of Asian-Muslim GbCSE perpetrators is ignored, the specific socio-economic-religious-cultural factors leading to more abuse, will continue unabated.

   2. This specific Leftist paradigm (the fear of being perceiving racist, and the fear of upsetting ‘community’/race relations) has in fact, resulted in more abuse, cover-ups, injustice, turning of a blind eye, and prolonged suffering.⁴

4. There are two ways of quantifying the nature and scale of GbCSE, the first is the racial disparities. Of the cases that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre had access to (in 2011), data on 49% of offenders was incomplete; of the remaining 51%, ethnic data was unavailable for 38%, 30% were White, and 28% were Asian.⁵ Comparison to the whole population: White, 87%; Asian, 8%.⁶

5. The second dimension to profiling GbCSE, are the disparities in religious background. In 2020, researchers from Reading and Chichester University found that 83% of GbCSE perpetrators have a Muslim background, and 17% with a non-Muslim background.⁷ Comparison to the whole population: Muslim, 6%; Non-Muslim, 94%.⁸

6. Based on the above disparities, CSER can quantitatively conclude that the incidence of the British Asian-Muslim demographic involved with GbCSE is greater than the rest of the British population, by a factor of 10x to 100x. Given this, the Centre has mapped out (above) a comprehensive list of 59 towns / boroughs with proven and credible cases of Asian-Muslim GbCSE (links below).

7. The start of 2025 has been marked with international outrage at the complacency of successive British governments, from Priti Patel’s disappointing report⁹ on CSE to Jess Phillips declining to set up a Government-led Public Inquiry into CSE in Oldham and beyond.¹⁰¹¹ The list of locations reviewed by this Report sets out a clear starting point for a full and honest Public Inquiry, to begin looking at.

8. Documentation for decades of abuse to the present day is patchy. One particular avenue of inquiry that would serve the public interest, would be understanding the scale of how many local authorities failed its children with cover-ups: ignoring whistle-blowers; political/financial advantage gained from turning a blind eye; and failed policing - prioritising community relations over justice.

9. Nine out of the ten most concentrated British Muslim local authority areas have had at least one GbCSE scandal. This becomes fourteen for the top twenty; the six exceptions include Slough, Redbridge, Brent, Ealing, and Westminster. These ethnically pluralistic areas with a higher Indian or Black population, have no recorded Asian-Muslim GbCSE, perhaps due to threat of inter-ethnic mob backlash, i.e. Leicester (2022) and Brent (2023).¹²¹³ Equally those areas have fewer of the usual victim profile (young white girls).

10. In light of the Starmer Government’s early release programme including for sexual assault, and Britain’s generous approach to parole, many GbCSE perpetrators have either been released, or are due to be.¹⁴ The next logical step in the GbCSE discourse, must be policy-, solutions-, and deterrence- focused; open to removing parole, indefinite IPP sentences, deportation of dual national criminals, and capital punishment for serious crimes.

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2 | Key Definitions and Characterisations

2.1 Grooming Gangs / Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation

• For the past thirty to fifty years, Britain has faced an endemic of grooming gangs - abusing vulnerable underage girls, in a systematic manner.

• The general dynamic involves groups of older men ‘making friends’ with underaged girls (early to mid teens), often progressing to plying victims with alcohol, drugs, money, and attention.

• Physical and sexual abuse is a feature, and in the vast majority of cases, victims were raped and/or trafficked for sex for several men.

2.2 Profile of Perpetrators

• The general perpetrator of GbCSE, is overwhelming dominantly by the Asian-Muslim demographic, accounting for 83% of cases.¹⁵

• It is noted: whilst it is widely known that the majority of perpetrators have a Pakistani-Muslim origin, it is not exclusively so. Individuals with similar socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic background are also involved.

• The over-representation of perpetrators with a Muslim background is understood to have multivariate causes: including, repressive sexual standards on the in-group, a perception of non-believers being promiscuous, tight family networks, and a culture of shame (preventing whistle-blowing/reporting family members of sexual abuse), are all reasons for this proliferation.

• The profile of these men range from unemployed to working in the ‘night time economy’ - taxi drivers, kebab shops and takeaway-restaurants.

2.3 Asian-Muslims, as a term.

Figure, as presented by Sutcliffe and Bhatti-Sinclair (2020), reflecting each demographic’s population size, and overlap in the context of Britain.

• The media have at different points used the phrase, Asian / Pakistani / Muslim Grooming Gangs; there are many reasons why one concoction or another might be more accurate or useful than another. However in line with academia, the Centre chooses the term, Asian-Muslim.¹⁶

• Beyond the terms ‘Asian’ and ‘Muslim’, data in this field is patchy at the granular level; some police forces and local authorities are better at collecting and publishing data on GbCSE than others.

• Racial data on perpetrators and victims, under the broad categories of white, Asian, black, etc, is generally collected more comprehensively than individual ethnicities or nationalities.

• Data on religious background is also more readily available, especially sorting for Muslim and Non-Muslim.

2.4 Profile of Victims

• The victim profile of Asian-Muslim Gb-CSE is “predominantly white female”. A redacted West Midlands Police Report, revealed this figure was around 79% in 2010.¹⁷

• The racial disparity between victim and perpetrator has been cause for concern. In the same report, West Midlands Police revealed their private fears of community tensions, which begs the question why action was not taken sooner?

• Documentary maker, Charlie Peters, who presented Grooming Gangs: Britain’s Shame, notes the racial dimension can not be overlooked.¹⁸

• The general pattern involves vulnerable underage girls (often from difficult family backgrounds) targeted from outside schools and/or from childrens’ care homes.

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3 | Bogus Academia and Home Office Failure

The most common push back denying the phenomenon of Asian-Muslim GbCSE from the Left of civil society, stem from research by Dr E. Cockbain et al. Cockbain argues, “there is no credible evidence that any one ethnic group is over-represented in cases of child sexual exploitation”, and that conclusions can not be drawn until there is a “large-scale, nationally representative and robust data”.¹⁹²⁰ (Complacent, much?)

Although this view has been objectively debunked, it has been with little success.

Following the Home Office paper on GbCSE (2020), Cockbain celebrated that it had endorsed her assessment.²¹ Further inspection of the same paper found Cockbain’s work referred to twenty nine times - little wonder the conclusions matched.²²

Sutcliffe and Bhatti-Sinclair contests Cockbain’s conclusions, reflecting: if the disproportionate involvement of Asian-Muslim GbCSE offenders, is due to a “careful selection of the cases, coupled with small sample, leading to sampling error.. [then] over time, as sample size increase, the proportions should fall”.²³ This has not happened in over a decade of GbCSE research, pointing to a real phenomenon.

Even taking figures from Cockbain’s own analysis (2013)²⁴ of two studies, CEOP (2011) on localised grooming and OCCE (2012) on child sexual exploition in gangs and groups²⁵²⁶, shows that the incidence of Asian involvement in GbCSE is a 9-10x factor higher than the white population. Both studies had incomplete datasets; just 31% of suspects in the CEOP sample included data on race (49% white and 46% Asian). This was at 26% for the OCCE study (43% white and 33% Asian).

Moving away from studies with incomplete data, further trends start to emerge.

• CEOP (2013) conducted a study on GbCSE data held across police forces in England and Wales; from the responses, the offenders were 75% Asian, 17% white, 5% black, and 3% Arab.²⁷

• West Midlands Police’s Problem Profile, Operation Protection Report (2010) revealed that their suspects for GbCSE were 79% Asian, 12% white, and 5% African Caribbean.²⁸

• Rafiq and Adil (2017) from the Quilliam Foundation found that nationally, across those convicted of GbCSE, 84% were Asian.²⁹

• Sutcliffe and Bhatti-Sinclair (2020), similarly found that 83% of all those prosecuted for GbCSE had a Muslim background.³⁰

• Moreover, in Offender and Victim Networks in Human Trafficking (2018) authored by Cockbain, 80% of offenders in the book’s review of police operations were Asian Pakistani, with Asian Other adding another 13%. The chapter concludes “I cannot offer a clear and definitive explanation.. and I am loath to speculate beyond the data”.³¹

The Centre’s comprehensive review concludes that Asian-Muslims constitutes ~80% of GbCSE in Britain, with more a granular assessment to follow in due course. [82.8%, +/- 2.14% MOE, at a 95% confidence level]

Cockbain maintains that there is “no credible evidence for a far-right stereotype” of Asian-Muslims disproportionately dominating GbCSE, despite a decade of research showing the contrary.³² In 2023, Cockbain doubles down further, writing in the Guardian: “asserting that GbCSE perpetrators are almost all British Pakistani” is “overt racism”.³³ Despite even the Jay Inquiry criticising fear of being seen as racist as an mentality that hobbled authorities from taking action, this post-truth attitude is sadly still present in academia and public life.³⁴

Far from settling the issue of grooming gangs and setting the course ahead to permanently ending this abuse, the Home Office report on GbCSE has cast more doubts, encouraging more complacency and downplaying. It is deeply disappointing that the then-Home Secretary, Priti Patel willingly foreword-ed and put her name to such a flawed report - legitimising bogus academia and poor conclusions.

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4 | Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation Scandals, by Location.

(1) Accrington, Hyndburn.

Three male relatives, and an unrelated female older teenager, lured two sixteen year old girls for a night out to go clubbing, only to be taken to an empty house in Accrington, and raped.³⁵

(2) Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Six men found guilty of running a child sex ring, abusing two schoolgirls, which “went on for years, and involved rape and child prostitution”.³⁶

(3) Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Five men and a teenager, subjected seven underage girls to sexual abuse after grooming them.³⁷

(4) Barking, London.

Five men groomed and raped young girls while running a child prostitution ring. They preyed on ‘vulnerable’ girls, befriending them, offering alcohol and drugs, before carrying out sexual assault.³⁸

(5) Birmingham, West Midlands

Two men groomed a young girl, before sexually assaulting and raping her.³⁹

(6) Blackburn, Lancashire

A girl was abused from the age of ten, alongside others, whilst living in a children’s home, by several men, who were convicted in 2007, and deported to Pakistan in 2011.⁴⁰

(7) Blackpool, Lancashire

A fourteen year old was murdered by a fast food shop owner, who joked that she been “chopped up” and had gone into the kebabs, Preston Crown Court heard.⁴¹

Charlene was one of a number of young white girls who went to have sex with older men who worked in the fast food shops, Tim Holroyde QC, prosecuting, told the jury.⁴²

Her body has not been found since.⁴³

(8) Bradford, West Yorkshire

Nine men jailed for raping and abusing two girls aged fourteen, who were living in a children’s home. The men began using drink, drugs, and violence to groom and sexually exploit them.⁴⁴

(9) Brierfield, Pendle

Six men in a drugs gang passed around a fourteen year old girl, sexually exploiting and raping her.⁴⁵

(10) Bristol

Thirteen men were found guilt of enforced prostitution and rape of vulnerable girls, some as young as thirteen years old. Fourty-nine other suspects also being investigated.⁴⁶

(11) Burnley

A man from Burnley along with a wider group of ten across the Lancashire-Greater Manchester area was jailed for child sexual exploitation. His victims ranged from thirteen to twenty-three, at the time.⁴⁷

(12) Burton-on-Trent

Seven men have been jailed, after being found guilty of sexually exploiting three girls thirteen, at the time of the offenses.⁴⁸

(13) Bury

Two men jailed for a total of eight child sex offences against two teenage girls, aged fourteen and fifteen at the time.⁴⁹

(14) Calderdale

Twenty men have been jailed for the rape and sexual abuse of four young girls, between the ages of twelve and sixteen, in West Yorkshire.⁵⁰

(15) Chelmsford

Five pizza shop workers and friends, sexually abused and exploited teenage girls - plying them with drugs.⁵¹

(16) Chesham

A court heard how a supermarket worker groomed a girl for sex, from the age of just thirteen, claiming they were engaged. In total, two teenagers were exploited by a wider group of eleven men from Buckinghamshire.⁵²

(17) Colne, Pendle

A group of girls, some as young as thirteen were groomed by a ring of nine men. Some of them were runaways or in care. They were plied with alcohol, raped, and ferried between various men.⁵³

(18) Coventry

Ten men charged with offences, including rape and trafficking, in relation to alleged abuse of five teenagers.⁵⁴

A gang of five men who trafficked six teenage girls for sex abuse, have been jailed.⁵⁵

(19) Derby

A gang of men from Derby has been convicted of systematically grooming and sexually abusing at least twenty-seven teenage girls, between the ages of twelve and eighteen.⁵⁶

(20) Dewsbury, Kirklees

Three brothers have been jailed for grooming and sexually abusing teenage girls, between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, in West Yorkshire.⁵⁷

(21) Halifax

Two teenage girls were groomed and sexually abused by sixteen men.⁵⁸

(22) High Wycombe

A group of ten men groomed and raped a girl of eleven years old, across a five year period.⁵⁹

(23) Huddersfield

Twenty men have been found guilty of being part of a grooming gang that raped and abused fifteen girls, some as young as eleven years old.⁶⁰

(24) Ipswich

Four men targeted a thirteen year old girl and used her as a "sex slave".⁶¹

(25) Keighley

Eleven men were found guilty of sexually abusing a girl aged thirteen.⁶²

(26) Leeds

Ten men were found guilty of sexual offences committed against an underage girl. She was groomed, systematically abused and sometimes forced to have sex against her will by the defendants, who all knew she was underage.⁶³

(27) Leicester

Six men have been jailed for paying a 16-year-old girl for sex, which took place across multiple locations in the city, including in a flat above a restaurant.⁶⁴

(28) Liverpool

Three men deliberately targeted four teenage girls, debilitating them with drink and drugs at house parties, before sexually assaulting them.⁶⁵

(29) Luton

Two men jailed for raping and abusing a young girl under the age of thirteen years old. They had manipulated and groomed the girl into taking part in sexual activity with each of them, by paying her attention, empathising with her, playing board games, and buying her sweets and gifts.⁶⁶

(30) Manchester

57 victims identified, along with ninety-seven men working in the restaurant industry, identified as persons of interest related to systematic child sexual exploitation. This follows the death of Victoria Agogolia, who died of a drug overdose after reporting she had been raped, and injected with heroin by an older man.⁶⁷

(31) Middlesborough

Two men and a 17-year-old boy, was jailed for grooming and sexually exploiting two fourteen year old girls.⁶⁸

(32) Nelson

Nine men groomed and sexually abused several girls. They were given plenty of alcohol, before they were raped and trafficked.⁶⁹

(33) Newcastle

Four men convicted (three jailed) for child sex exploitation of two victims, aged thirteen and fourteen.⁷⁰

(34) Newham, London

Five men groomed six girls into a child prostitution ring.⁷¹

(35) Nottingham

Five men charged with grooming three girls.⁷²

(36) Oldham

A girl on reporting she had been sexually assault, was ignored by the police. She was then picked up by another male, posing as a taxi driver, who then took her to a property where she was raped by multiple individuals. Only two of the group were ever arrested.⁷³

(37) Oxford

Seven men were found guilty of grooming, and subjecting six girls (aged between eleven and fifteen) to rape, torture, and extreme sexual violence.⁷⁴

(38) Peterborough

Two men, and three teenagers groomed five girls with gifts, money, drugs, and alcohol, before subjecting them to violence, intimidation, sexual assault, and rape.⁷⁵

(39) Plymouth

Three men have been found guilty of raping girls, one under the age of fifteen.⁷⁶

(40) Preston

60 more vulnerable young girls from care homes are feared to have fallen victim to grooming gang. One victim reveals she was doused in petrol as punishment for speaking out.⁷⁷

(41) Ramsgate

Four men who "saw an opportunity to fulfil their depraved sexual desires" was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl. She was looking for directions, but instead was accosted to one of the men’s home, where she was raped.⁷⁸

(42) Redbridge, London

Five men charged for running a child prostitution ring across East London, involving six victims, all girls between sixteen and eighteen.⁷⁹

(43) Redditch

Six men charged with sex offences against seven girls under the age of sixteen (one as young as thirteen), when one of the men befriended her. Over time, abuse and assault took place in parks, abandoned houses, cars, alleyways, woodlands.⁸⁰

(44) Rochdale

Nine men was convicted of being part of a child sexual exploitation ring. A blotched 2008 police investigation allowed abuse to continue for more years. One teenager was forced to have sex with 20 men in one night.⁸¹

(45) Rotherham

Widespread child sex abuse plagued the town for more than 15 years; 1,400 children in the town were targeted by grooming gangs during the period.⁸²

(46) Rusholme

Children as young as 12 were targeted⁸³ by a network of up to 97 Asian men in the town, who would pick them up from homes ‘in plain sight’ before abusing them in houses and above restaurants on the Curry Mile.

(47) Sheffield

Five men have been sentenced to a total of 74 years for various offences, relating to the rape and sexual exploitation of a teenage girl.⁸⁴

(48) Skipton

Six men, operating mostly out of a takeaway shop, groomed and raped a girl in her early teens. They faced a total of thirty-one charges.⁸⁵

(49) St Helens

A fourteen year old girl living at Briars Hey Children’s Home (which clsed 2005) told police that she and others were groomed, sexually assaulted, and raped, by a ring of taxi drivers.⁸⁶

(50) Stoke

A gang of seven men regularly trafficked young girls to be lined up and sexual abused by other men. A hundred girls were victims in this way across a three year period.⁸⁷

(51) Telford

1,000 children groomed but unease about race meant Telford sexual exploitation ignored, an public inquiry later finds.⁸⁸

The most notorious consequence of this, was the murder of the Lowe Family in Telford. A twenty-four year old Ashar Mehmood groomed fourteen year old Lucy Lowe. When things went sour, he burnt the Lucy’s house - killing Lucy, her unborn child, his sister, and mother; only the father survived, and technically, her first child, who wasn’t in the house.⁸⁹

(52) Tower Hamlets, London

To a recent IICSA inquiry (2022), the Metropolitan Police in Tower Hamlets said there were no cases or issues with child sexual exploitation by networks in the borough. This was consider doubtful, as there are existing reports that vulnerable children in Tower Hamlets are attending parties in hotels with adult men, where they were plied with alcohol and drugs, and expected to take part in sexual acts.⁹⁰

In 2018, the East London Advertiser reported that the police had to stop a suspected child sex party at a kebab shop, in Bethnal Green.⁹¹

(53) Wirrall

Two shop worker brothers who groomed nine young girls with free sweets and mobile phone top-ups have been jailed for years of abuse, across a five year period.⁹²

(54) Yeovil

Two men have been jailed for sexual offences against six girls, all under eighteen, some as young as fourteen. One police officer noticed that, “The men systematically abused these young children over a number of years - slowly eroding their confidence and making them think these crimes were acceptable”.⁹³

5 | Revised Additions: GbCSE Scandals, by Location.

(55) Barrow

Three brothers guilty of child sex offences between 1996 and 2010. They faced a total of fifty-nine charges. One of the victims was six-seven when the abuse, lasting several years.⁹⁴

(56) Carlisle

A takeaway boss was jailed for 15 years after paying under-age girls for sex and inciting others to become child prostitutes.⁹⁵ One victim, who can no longer have children, recounted the abuse she suffered from the perpetrator and his three staff in court. She additionally revealed to the Sunday Mirror that she was passed to “at least 20 other Asian men in Carlisle”.⁹⁶

(57) Gateshead

Seventeen men and one woman have been found guilty of involvement in a sex grooming network, plying young women and girls with drink and drugs, before assaulting them.⁹⁷

(58) Hull

Thirty-four men and woman arrested for rape, sexual assault, and exploitation. The media reported victims being chained to radiators, receiving death threats from abusers, and coercive control.⁹⁸

(59) Stockport

Three man jailed for running a grooming gang, exploiting two girls, aged fourteen and sixteen.⁹⁹

References

1. Mcloughlin, P. (2016). Easy meat : inside Britain’s grooming gang scandal. Nashville, Tennessee: New English Review Press.

2. Bhatti-Sinclair, Kish and Sutcliffe, Charles M., Group Localised Child Sexual Exploitation Offenders: Who and Why? (February 29, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3248665

3. Cockbain, E. and Tufail, W. (2020). Failing victims, fuelling hate: challenging the harms of the ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ narrative. Race & Class, 61(3), pp.3–32. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396819895727.

4. The Independent. (2022). Fight against grooming gangs hindered by fear of being branded racist, says official. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grooming-gangs-iicsa-racist-fears-b2007649.html.

5. Davies, P. (2011). Out of Mind, Out of Sight - Breaking down the barriers to understanding child sexual exploitation. Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. https://basw.co.uk/sites/default/files/resources/basw_95410-10_0.pdf.

6. Office for National Statistics (2011). 2011 Census - Office for National Statistics. [online] Ons.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census.

7. Ibid, 2.

8. ONS (2021). Census - Office for National Statistics. [online] Ons.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census.

9. GOV.UK. (2020). Group based child sexual exploitation characteristics of offending. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-characteristics-of-offending.

10. Singh, H. (2020). Victims of grooming gangs have been failed again. [online] The Spectator. Available at: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/victims-of-grooming-gangs-have-been-failed-again/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

11. Heale, J. (2025). Labour rejects calls for Oldham grooming gang inquiry. [online] The Spectator. Available at: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/labour-rejects-calls-for-oldham-grooming-gang-inquiry/.

12. Lowbridge, C., Lynn, J. and Martin, D. (2022). Large-scale disorder breaks out in Leicester. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-62943952.

13. BBC. (2022). Peckham: Man interviewed by Met Police after shop restraint. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66790189‌.

14. Vock, I. and Atkinson, E. (2024). Government defends early release scheme after freed prisoner charged with sexual assault. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnvdy22gje4o.

15. Ibid, 2.

16. Ibid, 2.

17. Oldham, J. (2015). Police knew grooming gangs were targeting Birmingham schools five years ago but did not alert public. [online] Birmingham Live. Available at: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-knew-grooming-gangs-were-9518461 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

18. Peters, C. (2025) [X-Twitter] 4 January. Available at: https://x.com/CDP1882/status/1875542394957131858 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

19. UCL (2020). Analysis: A new Home Office report admits grooming gangs are not a ‘Muslim problem’. [online] UCL News. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/dec/analysis-new-home-office-report-admits-grooming-gangs-are-not-muslim-problem.

20. Cockbain, E. (2018). Offender and victim networks in human trafficking. London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

21. Ibid, 20.

22. Ibid, 9.

23. Ibid, 2.

24. Cockbain, E. (2013). Grooming and the ‘Asian sex gang predator’: the construction of a racial crime threat. Race & Class, [online] 54(4), pp.22–32. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396813475983.

25. Ibid, 5.

26. Berelowitz, S., Firmin, C., Edwards, G., and Gulyurtlu, S. (2012). ‘I thought I was the only one in the world’. [online] The Office of the Children’s Commissioner Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups. Available at: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/i-thought-i-was-the-only-one-in-the-world/.

27. CEOP (2013) Threat Assessment of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. London: The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. Available at: https://www2.nphs.wales.nhs.uk/childprodocs.nsf/61c1e930f9121fd080256f2a004937ed/6a612dc9acd9714880257a54003609a2/$FILE/CEOPThreatA_2012_190612_web.pdf.

28. Ibid, 17.

29. Rafiq, H. and Adil, M. (2017) Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation: Dissecting “Grooming Gangs”, Quilliam Foundation.

30. Ibid, 2.

31. Ibid, 20.

32. Ibid, 19.

33. Cockbain, E. (2023). Not even Suella Braverman’s own department agrees with her about ‘grooming gangs’. The Guardian. [online] 4 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/04/suella-braverman-grooming-gangs-child-seual-abuse-home-secretary-prejudice.

34. Jay, A. (2014) Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham 1997-2013. Rotherham: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Available: https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/279/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-exploitationin-rotherham [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

35. BBC. (2011). Stephanie Knight detained for aiding rapes. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-14762853.

36. BBC. (2015). Aylesbury child sex abuse trial: Six men found guilty. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33656802.

37. BBC. (2015). Banbury ‘social media party’ sex abuse gang jailed. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-32332946.

38. www.standard.co.uk. (2013). Child prostitute ring ‘groomed and then raped vulnerable girls’. [online] Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/child-prostitute-ring-groomed-and-then-raped-vulnerable-girls-8644315.html.

39. RJ Corporate Communications. (2024). Two men sentenced for sexual assault. [online] West Mercia Police. Available at: https://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2024/july/two-men-sentenced-for-sexual-assault/.

40. Irwinmitchell.com. (2019). Woman Abused In Blackburn With Darwen Council Childrens Home. [online] Available at: https://www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/newsandmedia/2024/april/lawyers-settlement-for-woman-abused-while-living-in-blackburn-with-darwen-council-childrens-home [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

41. Bradshaw, C. (2007). Schoolgirl ‘murdered by shop owner’. [online] Lancashire Telegraph. Available at: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1424133.schoolgirl-murdered-shop-owner/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

42. Ibid.

43. BBC. (2014). Charlene Downes murder: Police offer £100k reward. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-30336055.

44. BBC. (2019). Bradford grooming: Nine jailed for abusing girls. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-47388060.

45. BBC. (2012). Sexually exploited girl, 14, 'passed between' Brierfield men. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-18413976.

46. BBC. (2014). Bristol sex gangs jailed for grooming girls. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30078503.

47. The Newsroom. (2014). Rapist jailed for 16 years as sex gang convicted. [online] Burnley Express. Available at: https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/rapist-jailed-for-16-years-as-sex-gang-convicted-783133.

48. ITV News. (2022). Seven men jailed for 51 years combined for sexually exploiting teenage girls in Burton. [online] ITV News. Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-08-03/seven-men-jailed-for-51-years-for-sexually-exploiting-teenage-girls-in-burton [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].‌

49. GMP. (2021). Brothers jailed for child sex offences in Bury. [online] Greater Manchester Police. Available at: https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2021/may/brothers-jailed-for-child-sex-offences-in-bury/.

50. BBC. (2024). Calderdale rape and sex abuse investigation sees 20 men jailed. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgev3rq0gzo.

51. Lucas, J. (2016). Iranian ‘sex gang’ members guilty of child sexual exploitation and supplying teenage girls with drugs, three men cleared of sex offences. [online] Echo. Available at: https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/14971418.iranian-sex-gang-members-guilty-of-child-sexual-exploitation-and-supplying-teenage-girls-with-drugs-three-men-cleared-of-sex-offences/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

52. Grant, P. (2015). Chesham man Sajad Ali accused of grooming 13-year-old girl says ‘we were engaged’. [online] Bucks Free Press. Available at: https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/13335538.chesham-man-sajad-ali-accused-of-grooming-13-year-old-girl-says-we-were-engaged/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

53. The Newsroom. (2012). Teen girls in “grooming” case abused in Nelson and Colne by sex gang. Burnley Express. https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/teen-girls-in-grooming-case-abused-in-nelson-and-colne-by-sex-gang-2755810‌.

54. Guardian (2013). Group of men accused of sexually exploiting teenage girls charged. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/02/men-sexual-exploitation-teenage-girls-charge-coventry [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

55. BBC. (2017). ‘Despicable rats’ Coventry sex abuse ring jailed. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-38759383.

56. BBC. (2010). Derby sex gang convicted of grooming and abusing girls. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-11799797.

57. BBC. (2022). Dewsbury brothers jailed for grooming and abusing girls. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-62929345.

58. BBC. (2019). Halifax grooming gang members lose sentence appeal. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-47475311.

59. BBC. (2013). High Wycombe grooming case: Girl ‘repeatedly raped by group’. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-22626994.

60. BBC. (2018). Huddersfield grooming: Twenty guilty of campaign of rape and abuse. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45918845.

61. BBC. (2013). Gang used girl as sex slave in Ipswich, court hears. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-21048865.

62. The Newsroom (2015). 11 men guilty of sexually abusing white schoolgirl in Keighley. [online] Yorkshire Post. Available at: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/11-men-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-white-schoolgirl-in-keighley-1807221 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

63. NF General (2013). Leeds Grooming Gang 4 members jailed 51 yrs 6 yet to be sentenced. [online] Sex Offenderrs Registry. Available at: https://www.sexoffendersregistry.co.uk/leeds-grooming-gang-4-members-jailed-51-yrs-6-yet-to-be-sentenced/.

64. BBC. (2013). Leicester child prostitution trial: Six men jailed. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23896937.

65. Eve, C. and Hadfield, C. (2024). Grooming gang caught out after what schoolgirl saw in BBC drama. [online] Liverpool Echo. Available at: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/grooming-gang-caught-out-after-29781086 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

66. Carr, S. (2020). Two men jailed for raping and abusing a young girl in Luton almost two decades ago. [online] Luton Today . Available at: https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/crime/two-men-jailed-for-raping-and-abusing-a-young-girl-in-luton-almost-two-decades-ago-1887242 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

67. BBC. (2023). Victoria Agoglia: Family seek new inquest into grooming death. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-64242921.

68. BBC. (2014). Middlesbrough grooming: Trio jailed for child sex offences. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-26167790.

69. Ibid, 32.

70. Northumbria Police (2024). Three men jailed following complex investigation into child sexual exploitation. [online] https://www.northumbria.police.uk/. Available at: https://www.northumbria.police.uk/news/northumbria/news/convictions-and-sentencings/three-men-jailed-following--investigation-/.

71. Dearden, L. (2013). Chadwell Heath sex ring trial jury retires to consider verdict. [online] Ilford Recorder. Available at: https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/21209958.chadwell-heath-sex-ring-trial-jury-retires-consider-verdict/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

72. BBC. (2019). Middlesbrough grooming: Trio jailed for child sex offences. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-50333707.

73. Jones, A. (2022). Oldham Child Sexual Abuse: Major Police Investigation Launched. [online] Farleys Solicitors. Available at: https://www.farleys.com/oldham-child-sexual-abuse-major-police-investigation-launched/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

74. Laville, S. (2013). Oxford gang found guilty of grooming and sexually exploiting girls. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/14/oxford-gang-guilty-grooming-girls [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

75. Welch, J. (2014). Peterborough sex gang's 'sophisticated' grooming tactics. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-25659042.

76. BBC. (2024). Three men guilty of raping girls in Plymouth. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6yg667nl7o.

77. Cardy, P. (2014). At least 60 more young girls from care homes feared victim of ‘new child-sex ring’. [online] The Mirror. Available at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/least-60-more-young-girls-4177106 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

78. BBC. (2017). 'Depraved' men guilty of teen gang rape in Ramsgate. [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-40062428.

79. Ibid, 50.

80. Gough, M. (2022). Redditch: Six men in their 20s charged with sex offences against seven teenage girls. [online] ITV News. Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-01-11/six-men-on-trial-charged-with-sex-offences-against-seven-teenage-girls [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

81. BBC. (2012). Rochdale grooming trial: Nine found guilty of child sex charges [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17989463.

82. BBC. (2022). Rotherham abuse scandal: How we got here [online] BBC.co.uk. Available at: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863

83. Williams, J. (2020). Kelly was innocent, timid, and just 13 when she was groomed and raped. [online] Manchester Evening News. Available at: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/i-just-wanted-someone-nice-17634136 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

84. Cunningham, T. (2020). Sheffield grooming gang sentenced to 74 years in jail. [online] The Star. Available at: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/crime/sheffield-grooming-gang-sentenced-to-74-years-in-jail-2449808 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

85. O’Rourke, T. (2009). Six men on 31 sex charges ‘after grooming girl’. [online] Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Available at: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4421266.six-men-on-31-sex-charges-after-grooming-girl/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

86. Siddle, J. (2014). Police probe into claims vulnerable under-age girls were abused on Merseyside. [online] Liverpool Echo. Available at: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/police-probe-claims-vulnerable-under-age-7733983 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

87. Parker, H. (2024). Grooming gang took girls to Stoke-on-Trent and lined them up for sex. [online] Stoke on Trent Live. Available at: https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/grooming-gang-took-girls-stoke-9298117 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

88. Sky News. (2022). 1,000 children groomed but unease about race meant Telford sexual exploitation ignored, inquiry finds. [online] Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/1-000-children-groomed-but-unease-about-race-meant-telford-sexual-exploitation-ignored-inquiry-finds-12650725.

89. BBC. (2020). Life for triple murderer. [online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1607307.stm.

90. BBC. (2022). Child sexual abuse: Extensive failures in tackling grooming, says report. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60214710.

91. Burford, R. (2018). Police stop suspected ‘child sex party’ at kebab shop in Bethnal Green. [online] East London Advertiser. Available at: https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/crime/20960144.police-stop-suspected-child-sex-party-kebab-shop-bethnal-green/.

92. BBC. (2017). Merseyside brothers jailed: Shop workers groomed girls. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60214710.

93. BBC. (2016). Two men jailed for child sex offences in Yeovil. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-37852425.

94. Cps.gov.uk. (2024). Brothers guilty of child sex offences in Barrow and Leeds | The Crown Prosecution Service. [online] Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/north-west/news/brothers-guilty-child-sex-offences-barrow-and-leeds [Accessed 9 Jan. 2025].

95. The Mirror. (2012). ‘Cold, clinical exploitation of the desperate’: Takeaway boss jailed for 15 years over under-age sex. [online] Mirror.co.uk. Available at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/carlisle-grooming-takeaway-boss-jailed-834217 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

96. Sunday Mirror. (2012). New child brothel victim revelation: ‘Groomer who raped me was linked to Rochdale’. [online] The Mirror. Available at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/new-child-brothel-victim-revelation-1677426.amp [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

97. Minelle, B. (2017). Gang ‘systematically groomed and abused’ nearly 300 teenagers in Newcastle and Gateshead. [online] Sky News. Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/teenage-girls-systematically-groomed-and-abused-by-gang-in-newcastle-and-gateshead-10981377 [Accessed 9 Jan. 2025].

98. Farrell, J. and Ford, G. (2021). Texts sent by Hull grooming gang threaten to burn girl at Hessle Foreshore. [online] Hull Live. Available at: https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/chilling-texts-sent-hull-grooming-6254654 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2025].

99. Brooks-Pollock, T. (2013). Victim of child-sex grooming gang speaks of her ordeal as they are jailed for total of 37 years. [online] Manchester Evening News. Available at: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/victim-child-sex-grooming-gang-speaks-6250423 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].