The coverage of the appalling Rochdale grooming case has been, for the
most part, well-informed and responsible. In the Times today David Aaronovitch takes on the cultural
issue directly (£) and should be saluted for so doing.
But he saves his most important point for the end of his article when he says: ‘we ought to be mad as hell about the neglect of our most vulnerable kids.’‘So here are the bald facts about this specific kind of abuse. Men, many middle-aged and most of previous good character, and largely from one community, have been committing a particular series of sexual crimes almost entirely against young girls. Why? Almost certainly because of their attitudes towards women and sex.’
If it is right to challenge the Muslim community (or more precisely, the Pakistani community of the urban north west) about the systematic misogyny in its midst, then we must also ask the white community (or more precisely the working-class community of the urban north west) about its systematic failure to protect its young women.
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