London: A recent speech by British MP Rupert Lowe in Parliament has renewed discussion on the UK’s long-running grooming gangs scandal. During his speech he presented disturbing survivor accounts and findings from his independent investigation into organised child sexual exploitation.
The testimonies, which detailed allegations of serious abuse, police failings, and institutional shortcomings, were cited as part of Lowe’s push for stronger accountability and justice for victims. As per the investigations by the UK government, most of the accused were “taxi drivers and market traders” of Pakistani origin.
Lowe also read out survivors’ statements who alleged that they were targeted by ‘grooming gang’ members when they were younger. One of the survivors revealed that she was raped by “600 or 700 different men”. One of the testimonies claimed that ‘grooming gang’ members put a cigarette out on the baby’s face, revealing the violence against children.
Meanwhile, as per Lowe, another survivor revealed, “He picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels which was now empty, and he forced it up inside me. He broke the glass while he was there. At that point I was about 12, nearly 13.”
One of the survivors revealed, as cited by the British MP, “I was held down by the men as they each took turns to orally and vaginally rape me, taking it in turns to pin down my arms and my legs. When the assault ended, the men hit me repeatedly, threatened to find me, kill me and harmed my loved ones, if I ever told anybody what had happened.”
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“I was bleeding from both my vagina and my back passage and was so swollen I could not sit down. I told hospital staff my drink had been spiked, and I did not know what had happened because I was too afraid to tell the truth. They did not ask any questions. They gave me tablets and discharged me. I was 15 years old,” said another survivor, as cited by the British MP.
Raped By Police Officers:
“Over the course of the abuse I was raped by multiple police officers in different parts of the country. Another, he put a cigarette out on the baby’s face. Another, it started when I was,” one of the survivors said in her testimony.
Treated Like Animals:
Survivors revealed that they were treated like animals. One of the survivors recalled that she saw 15, to 20 girls locked in dog cages. Meanwhile, another survivor revealed that she was raped by a dog. “Dogs were brought in and I couldn’t move at all. I had nowhere to move. I think that was the scariest thing was not having any concept of it. There were men around me, not horrified, not disgusted, not helping, but filming and laughing, making bets on whether the dog could actually rape me or not. Yes, I was raped by a dog,” Lowe said in Parliament, citing a testimony by one of the survivors.
What Are Grooming Gang Scandals?
The grooming gangs scandal relates to a number of child sexual exploitation cases that have surfaced in several towns and cities across the UK over the past 20 years. Concerns about young girls being systematically groomed and abused by groups of men—many reported to be of Pakistani origin—first surfaced in 2002.
In recent years, among the worst cases were gangs operating in the northern towns of Rotherham and Rochdale. A report on the Rotherham case detailed how an organised gang active in the town abused girls as young as 11, trafficking them across numerous towns and sometimes picking them up from children’s care homes in taxis in broad daylight. Minors abused in this case are estimated by authorities to have run into the thousands, and some of the groups are known to have operated for decades.
