Muslim leaders must speak out against the horrific grooming gangs

Telegraph

5 hours ago

Dame Louise Casey's review is a no-nonsense set of findings from someone who always gets to the bottom of things. I have experience of working with Casey some years ago, when she was reviewing extremism and its impacts on social cohesion. She was tough talking, meticulous, caring and committed to social justice; she's a determined campaigner and this is why her work must always be taken seriously.
Casey's review on the grooming gangs has found that where the ethnicity of the suspects was recorded, such as in Greater Manchester and in West and South Yorkshire, the facts showed that white girls were predominantly abused by Asian men of Pakistani heritage. The lack of action by statutory authorities was based on a fear of being called racist; they placed the protection of social cohesion above the lives of vulnerable children.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with trying to do good in society, the sentiments were completely misplaced: young girls were 'adultified', in Casey's words, and they were blamed for their own actions when they were only children.We can't get away, nor can anyone miss, the glaringly obvious point that Casey repeatedly mentions in her report: that there is an over-representation of Asian men of Pakistani heritage amongst the men who abused and raped vulnerable white girls.
This didn't come out of a vacuum. Sermons in British mosques around child safeguarding, the promotion of equality for women and girls, and the need to tackle misogyny could possibly have changed things if they existed some two decades ago. Yet, even to this day, these matters are not discussed by many imams and religious leaders in the UK.
Having worked for over two decades in British Muslim communities, I am aware of the problem of misogyny within them. Many Muslim women are trying to challenge patriarchy but are constantly lectured on their dress sense through the association of piety with 'covering up'. The responsibility in Islam, (and I speak as a Muslim), seems to lie wholly on the shoulders of women around their bodies. This needs to change; there are many historical instances in Islamic history of women leaders who have challenged men.
This is important because mosques have a key role in shaping and changing the behaviours of many Muslim men in the thirty five to sixty age bracket, where many of the child offenders sit within. After Casey's report, there is an added impetus for imams and mosque committees to make child safeguarding and women's rights front and centre in their sermons. For too long I have heard them talk about foreign affairs or discuss issues of no real relevance to the lives of Muslim men and women in Britain. Casey's report is a stark wake up call for things to change.
Muslim leaders need to stand with the women who had their lives shattered when they were girls by Asian men of Pakistani heritage. These men lived split lives, some acting as if they were holier than holy, yet their actions demonstrated that they were monsters who could not spare an ounce of empathy for vulnerable children. Such actions happen because religious, political and social leadership in British Muslim communities have failed to speak up to protect the weakest in our society.