Was 'Political Correctness' Really To Blame For Unthinkable Rotherham Inaction?

Did Political Correctness Really Stop The Rotherham Abusers Being Caught?
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Media coverage of the systemic sexual abuse of 1,400 children over 16 years in Rotherham has honed in on one aspect - the claim that the perpetrators got away with it because they were not white.

Yesterday's damning report, which described cases of children in the Yorkshire town being "doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone", dominates today's front pages.

The youngest victims were 11.

Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police were accused of "blatant" failures in not stopping it.

The 159-page report described their inaction and outlined how senior figures feared that acknowledging the "vast majority" of offenders were of Pakistani descent would be seen as racist.

It paints a picture of corporate dysfunction that goes far beyond race.

But most newspapers covering the abuse - particularly the traditional enemies of political correctness, the tabloids - have emphasised the ethnic dimension.

The Sun called it a "scandal of race fears" under a headline that described the abused children as "victims of the PC brigade".

Its editorial was entitled "Left's blind eye to child rapes".

It said: "They knew about it for years. But the Left-wing council let it go on because the rapists were Asian... They prioritised political correctness over the gang-rape of children."

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The Daily Mail, on typically bombastic form, ran the headline "BETRAYED BY PC COWARDS" and said authorities "feared racism claims, so did nothing".

Its editorial asked "how can this happened in a civilised country?" and decried "mind-your-back box ticking and political (which) infect out public services."

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"The inescapable conclusion is that the dictates of political correctness were placed above the duty to protect children against violent abuse," the Mail editorial said.

"Could there be any more damning indictment of the warped priorities of British officialdom?"

On the other end of the political spectrum, Yasmin Alibhai Brown wrote that the scandal was "a tale of apologists, misogyny and double standards".

"White experts and officers have for too long been reluctant to confront serious offences committed by black and Asian people. Such extreme tolerance is the result of specious morality," she wrote in The Independent.

"Only a small minority of Asian men are hunting and hurting white girls. Grooming gangs are made up of all races and classes.

"That said, the Rotherham report will, I hope, stop the apologists and silence their usual denials and pretexts.

"I mean the anti-racists, academics and time serving public service workers who have been defensive and unwilling to condemn what they should."

She continued: "Too many Asian mothers spoil their boys, undervalue their girls, and demean their daughters-in-law.

"Within some British Asian circles, the West is considered degenerate and immoral. So it’s OK to take their girls and ruin them further.

"Some of the most fierce rows I have ever had have been with Asian women who hold these disgusting views."

Ethnicity will no doubt prove the most controversial aspect of the case and dominate discussion of it - but the Huffington Post UK has delved into the report, which shows blaming it all on race is not entirely accurate.

What the Rotherham report actually said about ethnicity - and 5 other things it highlighted that played a role in the failure to stop the abuse

What the Rotherham abuse report actually says
The Issue Of Ethnicity(01 of06)
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Those on the frontline in fighting child sexual abuse in Rotherham were "acutely aware" of "a general nervousness in the earlier years about discussing them, for fear of being though of racist". Senior people in the council and police conveyed the message that the "ethnic dimensions" of the abuse should be downplayed. But the report also says it was confident that "ethnic issue did not influence professional decision-making in individual cases". Staff had no personal experience of any attempt to influence their decision making over ethnic issues. The failure, by some councillors, to recognise that the 2010 convictions of abusers was part of a deep-rooted problem within the Pakistani-heritage community was "at best naive and at worst ignoring a politically inconvenient truth," the report says. (credit:Imgorthand via Getty Images)
A Lack Of 'Interest' In The Issue(02 of06)
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The council leadership (former council leader Roger Stone pictured) showed "little obvious leadership or interest" in child sexual exploitation, beyond their financial support for Risky Business, an outreach service for children at risk of it. Potential reasons for the lack of interest were "denial it could occur in Rotherham, concern it could damage community cohesion, worry about the reputation risk to the borough". Although the council funded Risky Business, its own Children's Services department regarded the service as "something of a nuisance" and the relationship between the two was tense. (credit:Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire)
Police 'Did Not Believe' Data About The Problem(03 of06)
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There were three earlier reports on the issue from 2002, 2003 and 2006. They all gave stark evidence to police and the council and "could not have been cleared in their description of the situation". But they failed to convince some. The 2002 report was "effectively suppressed" because senior officers at South Yorkshire Police did not believe the data it presented. The other two reports sought to identify links between child abuse and other crimes such as drugs and guns. The police and the council took no action in response to them. (credit:Dave Thompson/PA Archive)
Senior Leaders Didn't Support Staff(04 of06)
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In the early 2000s, a group of people from safeguarding agencies tried, on their own initiative, to meet to monitor large groups of the children deemed to be at risk of abuse. But senior managers with the police and the council's children's social care thought the scale of the problem, described by youth workers, was exaggerated and offered little help or support. (credit:Mykola Velychko via Getty Images)
Council Children's Services Were Understaffed(05 of06)
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From 2009, Rotherham Council's (chief executive Martin Kimber pictured) children's social care service was "acutely understaffed and overstretched", leaving it struggling to cope with demand. (credit:Dave Higgens/PA Wire)
Policies To Improve The Issue Were Devised - But Not Implemented Well(06 of06)
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New policies on procedures on child sexual exploitation were drawn up to help agencies work together, after Ofsted published a scathing report on the council's children's safeguarding services. But the follow-up in ensuring the policies were implemented was weak. Members of the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board did not check whether the policies were implemented or working well. "Their challenge and scrutiny was lacking over several years at a time when it was most required," the report says. Roger Stone, who led the council from 2003 until his resignation yesterday, apologised for the safeguarding being so poor. The report is less than forgiving: "This apology should have been made years earlier and the issue given the political leadership it needed." (credit:monkeybusinessimages via Getty Images)