Two-thirds of the cases of sexual abuse of British girls from the South Asian origin involved Pakistani families, a report released by the Muslim Women’s Network, UK, said on Tuesday.
The report revealed that most of the cases tend to go unnoticed as authorities focus on gangs that target white youngsters.
Although there has been a series of high-profile British court cases in which men of South Asian heritage were convicted of sexually exploiting vulnerable white girls, authorities are failing to spot cases in which men target girls from their own ethnic group.
Asian girls are reluctant to report sexual abuse to the police because they fear that they will not be believed or that they will bring dishonour to their families, according to the group.
The Muslim Women’s Network said it had uncovered 35 cases in which young Asians had been sexually exploited. Most of the victims said their abusers were men from the same ethnic group.
Sue Berelowitz, Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England, said there was a widespread myth that gangs of Asian men were targeting only white girls, motivated by “hatred and contempt for white females”.
In reality, sexual predators target the most accessible victims – often those from the same ethnic background, she added.
The group admitted that it is difficult to estimate the scale of the abuse, and stressed it was also not clear whether or not Asian girls face greater exploitation than their white schoolmates.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2013.
COMMENTS (21)
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@Naseer: I can't believe you're delusional enough to blame democracy for these incidents as if such incidents don't happen everyday in Pakistan or other conservative countries. What a joke. If these cases happened in Pakistan they wouldn't be reported to begin with. And if they were, there would never be a trial. Please crawl out from under that rock you've apparently been living under. Furthermore, the men this article is about were of Asian descent - mostly Muslim. What does that tell you?
"Although there has been a series of high-profile British court cases in which men of South Asian heritage were convicted of sexually exploiting vulnerable white girls"
South Asia, hiuh? Let us see..
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/08/men-guilty-abusing-girls-rochdale
So, the report says 8 Pakistani decent, 1 Afghan decent.
Too many comments. We need to ammend laws to take DNA tests for supplimenting witnesses. Adultry is not allowed with or without consent. punishment should be executed to men even if it has been done with consent of the other party.
@Naseer: @Cacha: Liberal Society is for all, not just for British Pakistanis. Anyway I fully support implementation of whole scale Sharia in Pakistan. That would be in best interests of India.
@Cacha: It is not liberal society but religious society. These boys were just carrying on what they were preached at home, back home but they could not do it to hindu girls in UK.
@ Truth:
Adultery means consensual sex ( sex with the will of male and female). How the question of 4 witnesses arises in such a case?
@Kappa: Islam doesn't require 4 witness for rape, but for adultery. Please be correct.
@Cacha: What does "Liberal Society" or liberal values have got to do with this?
@Kappa: As per shariah the girl has to provide 4 witnesses for rape. Please enlighten how this will be implemented?
No one will have 4 witnesses that actually saw the penetration during the rape, so no one will report a rape and no Muslim man will ever be convicted of rape.
The study does not sound methodologically sound. The Muslim Women’s Network uncovered 35 cases of sexual abuse of women within the British Asian community. This sounds a lot like confirmation bias, where one tries to support an already formed suspicion. From such a small study it is also not scientifically sound to derive general conclusions, i.e. that abuse of British Pakistani women is widespread. Most British Pakistani girls are tightly under the watch of the family and community, in such a way there are less opportunities for sexual predators to victimize them. This is not the case with white British girls, black, Hindu and Sikh women. Sure, some British Pakistani girls will fall a victim to sex gangs, but most of the abuse is more likely to happen within families by a father, a uncle, a brother or some other male member close to the family. Not so much outside the house.
@Naseer: "Democracy is to be blamed for such shameful incidents. In a shariah based society, such crimes wouldn’t even be committed in thought, let alone in action. Hope UK learns it’s lessons."
Rapes occur in Saudi Arabia too, which means the shariah, or any other system of government, cannot completely stamp out such incidents. What can be done effectively is to educate the population, and making and enforcing laws to protect people from predators.
@ samir khan kakar:
How about muslims leave England and start living in Muslim country where shariah is implemented and their girls are secured.
@Naseer: - Janab, democracy is a system of governance..and democracy does not decide how the behavior of people will be. .Upbringing and education decide / effect one's r life. Sharia is the law and not a substitute of democracy. . Under Sharia law the rape victim has to produce four witness to prove if rape has been committed else the victim will be assumed to have committed consensual sex and the victim herself will be punished . So in nut shell no reporting of rape case and every body including will remain happy. This great law you proclaim to be the panacea for all evils. Hope you understand the difference..
@ samir khan kakar: As per shariah the girl has to provide 4 witnesses for rape. Please enlighten how this will be implemented?
The sentences are too soft in the uk which allows these criminals to commit crimes.
Some of the comments are hilarious as if sexual abuse doesnt happen in Pakistan or other muslim countries. The fact that many incidents go unreported (also factor cited in the article) doesnt mean it doesnt happen. Better law implementation and more awareness leads to more reporting of the crimes and more prosecution. Also, being a liberal society or not has nothing to do with it. Its all to do with the male mindset and misogyny towards women. And it exists everywhere, there are no exceptions to this. In more egalitarian socities the incidence of abuse tends to be less but then again there is no accounting for male aggression. Unless we start teaching our sons better (teaching them to respect women and not treat them as objects of desire rather has fellow humans who have the right to make their own decisions and be who they are) things will never change. Sadly some women also promote notions of partriarchy and misogyny because its been to ingrained by society. All humans are equal and should be treated as such by the law and by society at large. That's the only thing that matters.
If the laws of shariah are implemented, then there would be no cases of rapes at all. criminals act bolder once they no they can get away with the crime.
Based on 35 cases and after conceding that it is "difficult to estimate the scale of abuse" and yet its easy to conclude that its mostly Pakistani families.
No link to the report provided by ET.
Not even a mention of the title of the report.
For this one, you deserve a standing ovation ET.
Democracy is to be blamed for such shameful incidents. In a shariah based society, such crimes wouldn't even be committed in thought, let alone in action. Hope UK learns it's lessons.
These are the fruits of so called Liberal society...
What else can one expect?