Muslim grooming gangs in the United Kingdom

The Muslim grooming gang panic is a moral panic alleging that Asian (i.e. South Asian, Pakistani and Muslim) men are sexually abusing young White girls in the United Kingdom. Right-wing and far-right activists, as well as more mainstream individuals, helped popularise the terminology in the 2010s.[1][2][3][4]

Public concerns about South Asian grooming gangs began after multiple high-profile child sex abuse scandals perpetrated primarily by South Asian men, including the Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal in late 2010. It was later exacerbated by the Rochdale child sex abuse case and the Telford child sexual exploitation scandal.[5][3]

A report from the Home Office was unable to prove any link between sexual assault and South Asian ethnicity. White perpetrators, who make up the majority race in the UK, have been shown to be more represented in sexual assault and group-based sexual abuse crimes than any other ethnicity in the United Kingdom.[4][6][7] The report suggests there is likely no connection between ethnic groups and child sexual abuse.[8] Despite the lack of evidence, British media outlets have reinforced the stereotype by disproportionately reporting on South Asian group-based sexual assault crimes at the expense of other similar cases involving White abusers.[3]

  1. ^ Gill, Aisha K.; Day, Aviah Sarah (30 November 2020). Ramon, Shulamit; Lloyd, Michele; Penhale, Bridget (eds.). "Moral Panic in the Media: Scapegoating South Asian Men in Cases of Sexual Exploitation and Grooming". Gendered Domestic Violence and Abuse in Popular Culture. Emerald Publishing Limited. pp. 171–197. doi:10.1108/978-1-83867-781-720201011. ISBN 978-1-83867-782-4. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  2. ^ Cockbain, Ella (2013). "Grooming and the 'Asian sex gang predator': the construction of a racial crime threat". Race & Class. 54 (4): 22–32. doi:10.1177/0306396813475983. ISSN 0306-3968.
  3. ^ a b c Gill, Aisha K; Harrison, Karen (1 July 2015). "Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media's New Folk Devils?". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 4 (2): 34–49. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i2.214. ISSN 2202-8005. The British media's construction of a specifically South Asian notion of hegemonic masculinity began long before the recent spate of high-profile cases of child sexual exploitation and grooming. The Ouseley report on the Bradford race riots (Ouseley 2001),and the Cantle Report on the Oldham, Burnley and Bradford riots (Cantle 2001), focused on cultural difference as the primary causal factor for these events, maintaining that British South Asians and white Britons led 'parallel lives'. Media coverage of the riots described angry young men who were alienated from society and their own communities, and had become entangled in a life of crime and violence, a vision that provided the bedrock for the construction of what Claire Alexander calls the 'new Asian folk devil' (2000).
  4. ^ a b Cockbain, Ella; Tufail, Waqas (19 December 2020). "A new Home Office report admits grooming gangs are not a 'Muslim problem'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Grooming gangs come from 'diverse backgrounds', says Home Office as review finally published". The Independent. 15 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Suella Braverman UK-Pakistani grooming claim misleading, says press regulator". BBC News. 29 September 2023.
  8. ^ Symonds, Tom (4 April 2023). "Grooming gangs and ethnicity: What does the evidence say?". BBC. Retrieved 31 August 2024. it is likely that no one community or culture is uniquely predisposed to offending