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Grooming gangs and sexual abuse statistics | Letter

Dr Bernard Gallagher looks at the wider picture on perpetrators of abuseJohn Harris is correct that sexual offending by grooming gangs in many towns and cities across England over the past 20 years or so has heightened fears about the safety of women and girls and undermined community relations (Rightwingers warn of another blaze of summer riots in Britain – but they’re the ones striking the match, 10 August).This being the case, it is vital to more fully understand the grooming problem by examining it in its wider context. It seems undeniable that the on-street grooming model that has so dominated our news often involves men of Pakistani heritage. However, research by the Home Office-funded Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme reveals that only 3.7% of the 115,489 child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2023 (the most recent year for which figures are available) involved “group-based contact offences”, of which majority-Pakistani-heritage grooming gangs would have been just a part. Continue reading...

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