Latest news with #AlexisJay
BBC News
23-04-2025
- BBC News
Funds raised for legal action over failure to stop grooming gangs
More than £100,000 has been raised as part of a campaign to take legal action against public officials who failed to stop grooming gangs and with survivors of child sexual abuse, Maggie Oliver, a former detective turned police whistleblower, is seeking to raise £125,000 to bring private prosecutions against individuals, including police officers and council officials. In Rotherham - one of several towns and cities in England hit by grooming scandals - a report found more than 1,400 girls were raped and trafficked between 1997 and Yorkshire Police said the abuse would always be a "profound regret" while Rotherham Council said its failing were "wholly unacceptable". In her review, published in 2014, Prof Alexis Jay said three reports had been presented to the council and police by 2006 outlining the problem but that they had either been supressed or ignored, with no action Jay went on to lead a separate Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which found institutional failings and tens of thousands of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) victims across England and Wales. The aim of #TheyKnew campaign is to help fund the costs of investigating and bringing civil claims or private prosecutions against those individuals or organisations who failed to take action to stop the with a team of barristers and legal advisors, it will look at grooming cases across the - not her real name - was one of hundreds of children who was abused in Rotherham when she was said senior officials in the police and council knew the scale of her abuse but "choose to stay silent"."I was never treated like a victim, I was a child left to make adult choices and that should have never been allowed," she said."They absolutely knew and they choose to do nothing bout it. They choose to turn a blind eye."She said the campaign would "make the impossible possible"."I hope that we see prosecutions and I hope that we see them in the court rooms and finally a little bit of justice."Ms Oliver, who resigned from Greater Manchester Police over the way Rochdale grooming cases were handled, said despite public apologies and some reforms, many individuals implicated in the failings had not been held legally accountable."Every victim that you speak to will say they want accountability," she said."We want the evidence to show that they have massively failed in their duty." Det Supt Pete Quinn, South Yorkshire Police's strategic lead for child safeguarding, said: "There never has and there never will be a good reason for failing to properly investigate child sexual exploitation."He said the abuse in the 1990s and 2000s had to led to the "beginning of an improved future"."Reports of CSE in our region have long since been investigated by dedicated local multi-agency teams but our approach is now subject to structured governance by force leads and external bodies to ensure we are preparing, preventing, protecting, and pursuing in line with best practice and, crucially, without fear or favour," he Curley, strategic director for children and young people's services at Rotherham Council, said the council and its partners "continue to do all that we can to support the victims of those horrific crimes."She added: "Over the last ten years, we have been committed to listening to the voice and lived experience of victims and survivors in order to drive forward improvements.""Any victims of child sexual abuse are urged to come forward and report the crimes committed against them. There is support available and you are not alone." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Child protection authority to be set up after child sex abuse inquiry
A new child protection authority will be created to address one of the central recommendations of a major inquiry into child sexual abuse, it has been announced. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) led by Professor Alexis Jay found institutional failings and tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales. The seven-year probe made 20 recommendations in the final report published in 2022, as it described child sexual abuse as an 'epidemic' across the two nations. The wait for the recommendations to be implemented hit the headlines in January after billionaire X owner Elon Musk criticised the Prime Minister and Home Office minister Jess Phillips over the UK's handling of child grooming scandals. On Tuesday, Ms Phillips told MPs the publication of the report should have been a 'landmark moment', but victims and survivors were 'failed again' when recommendations were not properly taken forward under the previous government. She told the Commons: 'I can announce to the House that to prioritise the protection of children and to improve national oversight and consistency of child protection practice, this Government will establish a new child protection authority. 'Building on the national child safeguarding review panel, the child protection authority will address one of IICSA's central recommendations for providing national leadership and learning on child protection and safeguarding. 'Work to expand the role of the panel will begin immediately, and we will consult on developing the new authority this year.' But the safeguarding minister was also faced with backlash in the Commons for not providing an update on further reviews previously announced by the Government. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed in January that the Government would lay out a clear timetable by Easter for implementing IICSA's recommendations. She was threatened with legal action by former police detective Maggie Oliver, who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, unless the Home Secretary took 'urgent steps to allay widespread public concern' over gangs sexually exploiting children. Ms Cooper's announcement included a three-month 'rapid audit' of the current situation on grooming gangs and child sexual abuse across the country, and 'victim-centred, locally led inquiries' in five areas including Oldham, Greater Manchester. The locations of the other local reviews are yet to be announced. Responding to Ms Phillips' statement, Conservative frontbencher Katie Lam told the Commons: 'In January, the Home Secretary said the Government would conduct five local inquiries into the rape gangs which have terrorised so many innocent children. 'Over three months since the Government announced these local inquiries, Tom Crowther KC, a barrister invited by the Home Office to help establish them, knows almost nothing about their progress, and neither do we.' Tory MP Robbie Moore said: 'I am completely infuriated by today's statement. 'Here we are on the very last sitting day before the Easter recess and the Government have all but admitted that no real progress whatsoever has been made on their promise to launch five local rape gang inquiries before Easter.' Ms Lam also pressed the case for a national inquiry adding: 'In five towns, these children and their families may get partial answers but I have mentioned five towns in the last few minutes alone and there are at least 45 more. 'In those places they will get no answers at all. 'The British people deserve to know the truth. 'What darker truths does the suffering of these girls reveal about this country and why won't the Government find out?' The Government had knocked back calls for a national review in favour of locally led inquiries, saying it was focused on implementing recommendations from Prof Jay's 2022 report on the issue. The recommendations from the final report included the implementation of laws compelling people in positions of trust to report child sexual abuse and a national compensation scheme for victims. Ms Phillips said the new Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse in England for those 'undertaking activity' with children, as well as a new criminal offence for obstructing an individual from reporting it under that duty. 'Mandatory reporting will create a culture of openness and honesty, rather than cover ups and secrecy,' she said. The minister added the Home Office is doubling funding for national services which support adult survivors of child sexual abuse, and that further details on improving access to therapeutic services for victims and survivors will be brought forward 'in the coming weeks'.
New European
08-03-2025
- Politics
- New European
Women and the far right
In reality, the killer was British – but by the time the truth emerged, it hardly mattered. Across the country, minorities were targeted under the guise of national safety. The violent femicide at the heart of it all was forgotten. The far right slogan, 'Our women are not halal meat' began gaining traction in the early 2010s. It emerged in response to reports of grooming and sexual exploitation of predominantly white girls by groups largely made up of Pakistani men. These crimes were vile, and the response to them grievously inadequate. The aim of the far right activists who latched onto these incidents was to frame child sexual abuse as a purely racial issue. That narrative gradually seeped into the broader right. Earlier this year, the Labour government came under fire from right wing politicians and commentators after a Home Office minister rejected calls for a new statutory inquiry into the scandal. The government pointed out that a vast investigation led by Professor Alexis Jay between 2016 and 2022 had already examined the issue. Britain had already held the inquiry for which they were agitating – why hold another? Despite the Jay investigation, the government became a target for far right provocateurs. Elon Musk called for Keir Starmer's imprisonment, and branded the Home Office minister Jess Phillips a ' rape genocide apologist '. At the World Economic Forum, Argentina's president Javier Milei claimed that British citizens were being jailed for exposing 'horrifying crimes committed by Muslim migrants'. There is no evidence to support Milei's claims. It appeared to be a reference to Robinson – but he was jailed not for exposing crimes but for contempt of court, after repeating lies about a Syrian refugee. Meanwhile, dozens have been convicted and hundreds arrested during investigations into the grooming gangs, with prosecutions ongoing. The myth of minority-driven sexual violence Today, myths about minority-driven sexual violence takes on numerous forms across Britain, Europe and the world. Far right female commentators post lengthy YouTube and TikTok videos recounting alleged harassment by men with foreign-sounding accents or darker skin. Right wing media outlets amplify stories of violent crimes committed by immigrants while largely ignoring or playing down the cases of women murdered every week by partners or ex-partners. Similar trends play out across the world. In Germany, far right groups seized on reports of sexual assaults by North African men during the 2015-16 Cologne New Year's Eve celebrations to push anti-immigration policies, while in Sweden, claims about migrant-led crime waves and 'no-go zones' have been used to justify hardline immigration policies. In the US, Donald Trump infamously launched his 2016 campaign by painting Mexican immigrants as rapists, a sentiment echoed in right wing panic over crimes allegedly committed by undocumented migrants. The pattern is clear: a focus on race and migration in the crimes creates the illusion of a unique and foreign threat to women's safety, even as the real epidemic of gender-based violence – committed overwhelmingly by men known to their victims – goes ignored. The argument that sexual violence is a characteristic only of immigrant communities does not survive contact with the facts. According to the Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics, 88% of those prosecuted for child sexual abuse offences in England and Wales in 2022 were white – slightly higher than their 83% share of the general population. Meanwhile, South Asian defendants accounted for 7% of prosecutions, slightly lower than their 9% population share, and Black defendants made up 3% compared with making up 4% of the population. When it comes to the specific issue of child sex abuse gangs, the majority are made up of white men under the age of 30, according to a Home Office report. The broader picture for rape and sexual assault is similar. In the UK, most recorded sexual offences are committed by white individuals. Enablers and recruiters While often perceived as male-dominated, women have been integral to the far right throughout history. Savitri Devi, a postwar Nazi propagandist, led the European neo-Nazi underground in the 1960s, while women such as Elizabeth Tyler played a crucial role in the Ku Klux Klan's early 20th-century resurgence, serving as preachers and propagandists. Today, female leaders continue to shape these movements. Jayda Fransen served as deputy leader of Britain First, while Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni and Alice Weidel have all led far right nationalist parties to varying degrees of victory in Europe. Beyond their institutional and organisational roles, white women serve a crucial ideological function within the far right: they are the mothers of the white race. If supremacy is the core function of the far right, misogyny is a key component of that ideology, says Kathleen Blee, an American sociologist and distinguished professor at the University of Pittsburgh. 'Misogyny plays a really deep role because they're promoting the ascendancy of Aryan man, western society… but also, the superiority of maleness and the superiority of men,' she tells the New European . 'It really is essential to their ideology.' Subjugating women to their child-bearing function is therefore integral to the far right's aims. As journalist Lois Shearing writes in their book Pink-Pilled: Women and the Far-Right : 'The far right knows that it needs cis, white women to continue the white race. After all, there can be no increase in white babies without white cis women.' Misogyny to its core Perhaps the greatest irony of the far right's weaponisation of violence against women and girls (VAWG) is not only the blind eye it turns to white perpetrators, but that such movements are notorious for perpetuating gendered violence within their own ranks. Fransen, the former deputy leader of the English Defence League, accused the then-leader, Paul Golding, of violently abusing her and locking her in their home during their relationship. In a 2022 article for The Ferret , two former members of the British fascist organisation Patriotic Alternative described experiencing suicidal ideation due to the misogyny they faced. One woman warned: 'I think these groups are actually really dangerous… These people are full of rage. Rage because they can't find a partner, rage because they feel the world is against them. Before you know it you've gone from worrying about demographics to laughing at the idea of a woman you've never met being raped. If they're willing to treat women in their own circles like this, imagine how they could go on to treat those outside of the group.' Joe Mulhall, head of research at Hope Not Hate, explains that while misogyny is a 'fundamental core element of any far right politics,' it also serves as a common gateway into the movement, particularly in the digital age. 'What 14-year-old boy didn't Google 'why can't I get a girlfriend?' Or, 'how do I get a girlfriend?'' Mulhall notes. 'Nowadays, I guess they all do it. And it's very, very easy to find content which in turn says: 'This is not your fault. This is about feminism.'' Fighting for truth So how does the far right reconcile its own misogyny with that it attributes to minorities? Shearing argues that it is less about protecting white women and more about 'an extension of the far right's aim to preserve racial purity… Women are to be defended not for their own protection, but as a commodity to be hoarded and guarded, like land or wealth.' Blee argues that the far right's co-option of violence against women and girls is not just an extension of their ideology, but also a sinister example of its ability to latch on to other movements to expand its influence. 'It's incredibly opportunistic,' she explains. 'They're into disguising what they do to make it seem more palatable to a mainstream audience… It's just a great opportunity to make racist inroads into the population under the guise of women's rights.' The ease with which social media leads users down rabbit holes is particularly stark. How videos of women baking bread or caring for their children can swiftly segue into white supremacist content is, as Blee puts it, 'an opportunity served up on a platter for them… they're taking advantage of other kinds of social movements and sort-of ideologies in the population, elaborating them and turning them more sharply to the far right.' Shearing concurs, describing the breadth of radicalising content they have encountered online during their research, which funnels users towards 'more radical conversations and conspiracy theories via both algorithmic suggestions and communal prompts'. They offer a striking metaphor for radicalisation in the digital age – not as a pipeline but as an ocean: 'Pipelines suggest an opening that you stumble across or walk into, but you can stride boldly into the ocean, or you can dip your feet in, out of curiosity, before looking back and realising you've drifted much further out than you thought.' But of course, every narrative contains a grain of truth – something to seize on to, even if it becomes distorted. Governments have long struggled to put an end to gender-based violence, creating a void that far right groups exploit by amplifying women's fears of assault. In the UK, recent data reveals the scale of the issue: one in 12 women in England and Wales is affected by gender-based violence, while an average of two women a week are murdered, mostly by a current or former partner. Meanwhile, governments across the West have failed to address medical misogyny, the gender pay gap or the unequal burden of housework, which have all opened the door to far right exploitation. Women shoulder an unequal division of unpaid care responsibilities, with women in the UK spending an average of 26 hours per week on unpaid work versus just 16 hours by men. For Blee, dismantling the far right's appeal means relentlessly exposing the far right's hypocrisies – one of which is 'putting a finger on the misogynistic part of the far right'. She explains: 'Going after individual things, like the groomer issue, is really important. 'Without trying to see what's behind this and how these ideologies have gotten entangled with each other and given them so much power, I think we really are not going to be effective.' How, then, can progressives best dispel the myth of the far right as protectors of women? For Mulhall, the answer begins with educating young men. 'Why is it that so many young men are finding role models in people like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate, and increasing numbers of young people are getting dragged into misogynistic, online, far right spaces?' he asks. But he stresses that this work must come from men themselves: 'The burden in all these spaces is on the men not expecting women to come in and fix those problems. Peer groups need to be engaging with each other. Fathers need to be speaking to their sons. Mothers need to be speaking to their sons. 'Education is going to be the big thing.'
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Police to get new powers to find stolen phones in England and Wales
Police will be able to search properties without a warrant for stolen phones or other electronically geotagged items under the government's crime and policing bill. The measure is among dozens in the bill, which will be put before parliament on Tuesday and would mostly apply to England and Wales. It has a particular focus on lower-level offences such as theft and wider antisocial behaviour. A series of other elements of the bill have been announced previously, such as introducing a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker, and measures intended to protect children forced into selling drugs. Other plans were inherited from the Conservatives' abandoned criminal justice bill, which failed to get through parliament before the election, such as banning flares and face coverings at many protests, and criminalising the climbing of some war memorials. The change to warrants would let police enter somewhere if location tagging shows that a stolen item is there and it is 'not practicable' to get a warrant from a court. Previously, ministers had talked about speeding up the warrant process. This would particularly target phone theft, where someone's 'find my phone' function shows it is at a particular address, but would cover any stolen item that could be located using mobile signal, wifi, Bluetooth or tracking devices such as an AirTag, such as vehicles or farm machinery. A Home Office statement announcing the bill said this change would allow police to 'act swiftly in the 'golden hour' of investigations', meaning more stolen property could be retrieved. The bill will get its first reading in the Commons, with no vote, on Tuesday. Other previously announced proposals in the bill include so-called respect orders, under which people who regularly engage in antisocial behaviour could be jailed for up to two years, and new police powers to seize off-road motorbikes and other vehicles being used in an antisocial way. As well as the new offence of assaulting a shop worker, the bill will repeal an earlier law that said any shoplifting of items worth less than £200 would be automatically treated as a less serious crime. The bill will also make drink spiking a specific offence and will specifically outlaw what is known as cuckooing, in which criminals use the homes of vulnerable people as bases for crimes. The bill will implement recommendations from Alexis Jay's report on child abuse gangs, including making it a duty in England for adults in certain roles to report instances of abuse. Other parts of the bill taken from the Conservatives' abandoned version include the changes to protest laws, as well as expanding access to DVLA records for law enforcement, and a specific offence against making an explicit image of someone without a reasonable expectation of consent. The Home Office announcement described the bill as 'one of the biggest legislative updates to crime and policing for decades'. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, highlighted what she said was a particular focus on street crime and antisocial behaviour. She said: 'For too long communities have had to put up with rising town centre and street crime and persistent antisocial behaviour, while neighbourhood police have been cut. And for years too little has been done to tackle the most serious violence of all, including knife crime and violence against women and children. 'That is why the new crime and policing bill is about taking back our streets and town centres, restoring respect for law and order, and giving the police and local communities the support and tools they need to tackle local crime.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Church vote on safeguarding ‘a punch in the gut for survivors'
A Church of England vote which delays fully independent safeguarding has been branded a 'punch in the gut' for victims of abuse. Representatives of survivors said the outcome was 'incredibly disappointing' and showed the Church had decided to 'keep it in the family'. Victims had pleaded with the Church's parliament to endorse a new model which would have seen all Church-employed safeguarding officers transferred to a new independent body. But the General Synod instead voted for a less independent model 'as the way forward in the short term' and for 'further work' to be done to implement the move to full independence. The endorsed model (option three) would see most national staff move to a new outside non-Church body, but other diocesan and cathedral officers remaining with their current Church employers, although no firm timeline has been given for work to begin on this. Synod voted 392 in favour, nine against and six abstained on the final motion. Former chairwoman of the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) Professor Alexis Jay, who previously led a review into church safeguarding, said the vote had been a missed opportunity to improve safeguarding. After hours of debate at Church House on Tuesday, an amendment from Bishop of Blackburn Philip North was supported by a majority of Synod members. Proposing it, he told those gathered: 'Option four (the more independent model) is eye-wateringly complex and will take years to implement, assuming it is implementable. 'No organisation has done anything on this scale before and during those years, not enough will change when the Church and the nation are demanding change now.' He rejected the idea that it was a delay, saying 'the two processes can run concurrently, not consecutively so this amendment is about the very opposite of long grass'. He added: 'Whilst we implement three, we can establish a definitive view on whether option four is legally deliverable.' Speaking to reporters afterwards, he said Synod had voted 'almost unanimously for a far greater degree of independence in safeguarding, for independence of scrutiny, for a far-strengthened role for Dsaps (diocesan safeguarding advisory panels), to ask questions about how we address inconsistencies, to a stronger regional system, and about funding for safeguarding'. Asked for his response to victims' reaction, the bishop said: 'I think what I would really worry about is making promises to survivors, to the nation, to the Church, that we couldn't then deliver.' He said option four is 'still very much on the table' and will return to Synod 'in a form where we know that legally it can be implemented'. That option would have seen all safeguarding officers currently working in dioceses, cathedrals and the national Church transferred to work for a new independent organisation. The Church has been plagued by safeguarding controversies over the years, with a damning report into serial abuser John Smyth leading to the resignation of Justin Welby as archbishop of Canterbury. His temporary stand-in, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has also faced calls to quit over failures in handling abuse cases, and admitted this week the Church has 'failed greatly' on safeguarding. Addressing Synod on Monday, he said he had 'long believed that greater independence is the missing piece in the safeguarding jigsaw'. Backing model four, he told those gathered how he had 'lived with the constraints of the inadequacies of our processes and their lack of scrutiny and I think I may know more than most how inadequate and unsatisfactory this is, for me, but it's not about me, it's for victims and survivors who have been an continue to be hurt by our church because of this'. The more independent model of safeguarding was also supported during the debate by Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally and Bishop of Leicester Martyn Snow, with the latter describing it as a 'cultural reset'. Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley, who has been strongly critical of Church leaders including Mr Cottrell, said she had abstained in the final vote and felt 'really disappointed' by the outcome. She told Sky News: 'I'm afraid what this looks like is that we're just kicking the can down the road and we are failing our duty to victims and survivors. And I'm really desperately sorry and quite angry about that.' She said she felt there had been 'a certain amount of confusion and a bit of scaremongering I have to say among some of my colleagues about what would happen if we tried to go to complete independence'. Among concerns Mr North laid out to Synod were a claim that the data upon which model four was based is disputed, that the option could present 'nightmareish law', and that 'large numbers' of independent safeguarding professionals had said the option 'could make the church less safe'. Prof Jay told Times Radio: 'All of the events over several years have caused victims and survivors to become very disillusioned with the Church and this will do nothing to address the issue: the trust and confidence that needs to be restored. 'It's retaining control of safeguarding for whatever reasons, one of which could well be for the protection of reputation. 'The culture of the church facilitated it becoming a place where abusers could hide.' Abuse lawyer David Greenwood, who stood in solidarity with victims outside the venue ahead of the vote, said the result was 'incredibly disappointing'. He said: 'Many have worked hard on the attempt to bring full independence to the church safeguarding process. 'This vote represents a rejection of secular standards in safeguarding and will lead to children continuing to be at risk in the church.' Andrew Graystone, a longtime advocate for abuse survivors, said the vote showed the Church had decided to 'keep it in the family'. He said: 'If you are abused by a vicar, you will still be expected to report it to a bishop. 'Safeguarding staff will still be located in church offices, employed by the very same bishop. 'The Church of England had an opportunity to start to rebuild trust, by admitting that it needed expertise from outside. 'But instead they have chosen to keep it in the family. 'Shocking arrogance, and a punch in the gut for victims and survivors of abuse.' Bishop Joanne Grenfell, the Church's safeguarding lead also expressed her regret, saying: 'I am disappointed that we have not done today, or we may not do today as much as we could've done today. 'We need radical change to both our culture and our structures.'
