Child sexual exploitation survivor was left with criminal record

BBC News

3 hours ago

A woman groomed and abused as a teenager has said she welcomed the news that criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation would be reviewed.The announcement came after Baroness Louise Casey's report into grooming gangs recommended quashing any convictions where victims were criminalised instead of protected.Fiona Broadfoot, who said she was forced into prostitution when she was 15, had previously told the BBC she had carried convictions for soliciting throughout her life.On Tuesday, Ms Broadfoot, from Bradford, said: "I've spent a long time being abused and criminalised."
She was forced to sell sex on the streets by a "boyfriend" who became her pimp. and only escaped prostitution aged 26.On Monday, the review into abuse carried out by grooming gangs in England and Wales was published.Several recommendations, including the launch of a national inquiry, have been made by the report's author - all of which have been accepted by the government.Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously dismissed calls for a national inquiry, arguing the issues had already been examined in a seven-year investigation by Prof Alexis Jay.
Baroness Casey's report also recommended tightening the law in England and Wales so adults received mandatory rape charges if they had sex with a child aged under 16.Despite the age of consent being 16, it said there were too many examples of child sexual exploitation cases being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a child said they had been "in love with" or "consented to" sex with their attacker.Ms Broadfoot, who was trafficked between London and Edinburgh, said perpetrators had been allowed to "do what they want" and vulnerable people had been criminalised."I've had to live with a criminal record and that had a huge impact on me trying to rebuild my life, go to university, even to go on my son's school's parents' and teachers' association," the founder of the Build a Girl charity project said."I mean, I speak about my experiences, but some people, they can't speak out, and that holds them back and causes a lot of distress."
With news of new local inquiries - one to be held in Oldham and four in other areas yet to be named, but which could include Bradford - Ms Broadfoot said she was sceptical about how much action would actually be taken."I've been here before, I've been a campaigner and activist for 30 years, speaking up against the exploitation and grooming of girls," she said."I've heard reports before and recommendations, and it just worries me that it's going to gather dust on a shelf and we're not going to implement it."Elsewhere, Abrar Javid, project manager at Rotherham Muslim Community Forum raised similar questions over whether a new national inquiry would bring the results previous investigations had failed to deliver.
"I remember when there was an investigation into our local council in Rotherham and the only thing that came out was 'lessons will be learned'," he said."Nobody was really held accountable, so in that regard I hope it's a lot more robust."Mr Javid said since the Jay Report in 2014, Rotherham had been struggling with division in the town."We were actually the first community - the Muslim community - that came out to rally for justice for the victims before any far-right party came and descended here and spewed a lot of their hatred," he said."We've said it right from the start that it doesn't matter which community they [criminals] are from, they need to be dealt with and there needs to be justice for the victims."
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