The conviction earlier this year of nine Muslim men for their involvement in a child abuse ring has revived an important debate about whether race and faith should ever be used as an explanation for crime. A remarkably similar, yet fictional case, highlighted on last week's episode of BBC TV's Silent Witness, which dealt with the issue of abuse and grooming of underage girls in the context of a specific racial group has fuelled the debate further.
While this debate is important, it is also sickening to me as a child abuse lawyer that in modern, multicultural Britain it is still necessary. Having seen many examples of child abuse in my 15 years of experience as a personal injury lawyer, I can tell you that victims expect and deserve to be treated the same, regardless of the race or religion of those responsible for their suffering. Would we really expect anything different?
The fact that the men involved in the child abuse ring were Muslim is irrelevant and by choosing to highlight this fact, the media is, in effect, compounding the suffering of the young victim by inferring that the crime she has suffered is in some way rooted in religious belief and can therefore be excused on the grounds of some misplaced racial and religious tolerance.
A more victim-centred approach is needed when considering these crimes and the media are by no means the only ones at fault. Officials in the social service and the police force and other public bodies have also been guilty of letting victims of child abuse and other crimes down by their reticence to get involved in cases deemed culturally sensitive.
Attitudes do appear to be changing, albeit slowly. Following the successful prosecution of Shafilea Ahmed's parents for her murder, detective superintendent Geraint Jones, who led the investigation, refused to describe the crime as an 'honour killing' but rather as 'a simple case of domestic abuse motivated by her parents' desire to control her'. Describing the murder in this way would have allowed mainstream society to view the crime as a community issue with cultural overtones rather than one that affects us all.
Both Shafilea and the victim of the child abuse ring have suffered a crime that cannot be explained away by matters of race and religion. The perpetrators of their crimes have acted in a way that is not acceptable under British law or any commonly-held religious beliefs.
As a supporter of the Stop Church Child Abuse campaign, I am all too aware how tempting it is for society to view child abuse as a religious matter. However, it is important that we continue to drive it out into the open so it can be dealt with fairly, openly and without prejudice.
The British justice system and all those responsible for safeguarding vulnerable people in our society must not allow racial or religious tolerance to shroud the real crime. Abuse is abuse, in all its forms, and it must be tackled head-on.