Grooming gang survivors hopeful over new inquiry

Survivors have addressed the findings of Baroness Louise Casey's report

A woman who was groomed and raped when she was was 14 said she hoped a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation would serve as a "starting point" for lasting change.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the new review into grooming gangs following the publication of a report by Baroness Louise Casey.

The report also recommended a new national criminal operation, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), to target abusers.

Elizabeth, who was exploited in Rotherham between 2002 and 2004, said women like her had been "waiting for years" for this.

Baroness Casey was tasked with producing an audit on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse in England and Wales.

In her report she highlighted numerous failures that had been known for years, such as survivors being blamed instead of believed and a lack of action by authorities.

It also stated that the ethnicity of those involved in grooming gangs has been "shied away from".

Among the 12 recommendations made by Baroness Casey was a review of the criminal convictions of victims and quashing any where the government found victims were criminalised instead of protected.

Baroness Louise Casey led the audit, which has prompted a national inquiry into grooming gangs

"We've lived years being called liars, being blamed for [our] own abuse," Elizabeth said.

"I think it's one of the most important things, that survivors are heard and believed."

Elizabeth welcomed the news of the new NCA-led operation but said she believed police forces across the country needed to step up their efforts to tackle grooming gangs.

"We can't keep relying on the National Crime Agency to be mopping up a mess that the police forces have put in themselves, because one day the National Crime Agency might not have capacity to do this and then what?"

Fiona Goddard was abused and exploited by a grooming gang when she was living in a children's home in Bradford.

She said the city should be included in any national inquiry.

"Bradford is linked all over with all grooming-based cases," she said.

"The amount of information you could gather from looking at Bradford and Keighley - it would absolutely blow Rotherham out of the water."

She said the fact the ethnicity of perpetrators had been "shied away from" had had a negative impact on tackling the issue.

"If you look at all different crimes, you look at similarities and trends within them, so then you can try and look at how to prevent that crime from happening in the first place," she said.

"You build up a framework of educating potential perpetrators and victims."

On the latest report, Ms Goddard told Newsnight: "It's always overshadowed by some doubt of whether it's going to be done properly and we are going to make real change.

"We have contributed a lot of things before and never got anywhere."

Fiona Goddard was abused as a child in Bradford

Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, said the Casey report confirmed "what many of us have feared for years".

"The appalling abuse of children that occurred in Rotherham was by no means unique," she said.

"Had those in authority listened to the victims, this vile crime may have been dealt with before it became a national epidemic.

"The fact victims and survivors were ignored, belittled and even criminalised should be to all of our eternal shame."

Rotherham Council leader Chris Read said there had been "huge change" at the local authority since reports of child sexual abuse in the town first emerged.

"We are absolutely laser-focused on making sure that we have the best possible protective services for children and their families in Rotherham," he added.

"That's our number one priority."

Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Police reaffirmed their commitment to evolving their practices and preventing past failures from recurring.

Assistant Chief Constable, Hayley Barnett, said: "This is the approach we have taken throughout the previous independent reviews and the ongoing investigations into incidents in Rotherham in the early 2000's and the force's response."

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