Grooming gang survivor says new inquiry may bring long-awaited answers
A woman who was raped by grooming gangs at the age of 12 and turned away by police when she tried to report the abuse has said victims may finally get answers in from a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.The government announced the new probe, that would compel witnesses to give evidence, after report by Baroness Casey which found "far too many" perpetrators of abuse had evaded prosecution.Samantha Walker-Roberts from Oldham has been calling for ministers to launch a national inquiry after she was abused by grooming gangs in the town in the 2000s. She said victims were treated like "prostitutes, or just used goods" by authorities who failed to protect them.
Ms Walker-Roberts was accused of being drunk in 2006 when she tried to report the abuse at a local police station.She then taken into a car by two men and raped, before she was driven to homes across the town and sexually assaulted by others.
'Scripted'
Her experience was at the centre of a review published in 2022, that found vulnerable children in Oldham had been failed by the police and the council.She has chosen to waive her right to anonymity, having previously been given the alias 'Sophie' in the review to protect her identity.It was commissioned by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham as part of a series of non-statutory reviews which also included Manchester and Rochdale. In some cases, former police officers, including those in senior ranks, and council officials did not appear to give evidence when asked to attend.Ms Walker-Roberts said "being named and shamed" for not turning up was not justice, and compelling witnesses to appear was important. "They might not tell the truth, it might be scripted, but this is the only option we've got," Ms Walker-Roberts said. She said she had been disappointed with previous inquiries, as they all ended with authorities being "unable to take further action". "I've just accepted now that I'm not going to get any more justice, but it's not going to stop me using the platform I've built to help others get what they want."Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker of Greater Manchester Police said the national inquiry and the "statutory powers this invokes to ensure accountability".
Baroness Casey said she recommended a national statutory review because of the "reluctance" of local areas to do their own reviews. She said Oldham's was the only council which was willing to do a review when five local inquiries were announced.Oldham Council Leader Arooj Shah said the authority recognised "the failings of the past" and was "determined not to repeat them". She also said child sexual abuse as perpetrated by people of all races and religions but authorities needed to do more to understand why the "pattern of abuse" was more prevalent in some groups of men."To say so is not racist. What is racist is to suggest that all Pakistani men are groomers or the implication, the suggestion, that any one community condones this behaviour – it does not."Baroness Casey's report found "disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds" were suspects in child grooming gangs, but the ethnicity of perpetrators was often not recorded by authorities.
Ms Walker-Roberts, who has written a book about her experiences, said while she welcomed the national review, she believed Sir Kier Starmer had been "pushed into a corner" by Baroness Casey's report.She was part of a group of victims who have met with ministers in the past six months to push for a full inquiry.She said until the new probe was announced on Saturday, "Labour had just not wanted to give us anything".Seven men were convicted last week of sexually exploiting two teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, between 2001 and 2006. Assistant Chief Constabl Parker said this was the second major investigation into grooming gangs in Rochdale, and meant 32 people had now been brought to justice for sex abuse offences in the town.She said she wanted to reiterate an apology from the force "to all those who have been let down by GMP in the past". "We know we still have a way to go and are not complacent about the scale of what needs to be done."While we are demonstrably better, we will continue to stay true to our apology to those victims we have previously let down, reflecting on our progress, and act on scrutiny to further improve."
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