Grooming gang victims are still being ignored

The horror of organised child sexual abuse and pimping – euphemistically called ‘grooming gangs’ – is back in the news. But unfortunately the victims remain ignored.

These young girls endured horrific abuse, sadistic torture (including gang rape), enforced pregnancies, enforced abortions, sexually transmitted infections and even murder. But the reason that victims’ and survivors’ voices are missing from any discussions about the scandal is that they have effectively been silenced by the local enquiries into the atrocity, as well as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

These survivors have lost faith in the police, social services, their friends, their schools and sometimes even their families. They can trust no one

The organised networks of pimping gangs were given very little coverage in the IICSA report. Because Rotherham and Telford were already considered hotspots for rape gangs and had been subject to previous investigations, they were excluded from the inquiry.

I am in contact with several of the girls who survived these gangs.