Grooming Gangs Scandal: Key Findings by Commission and Independent Inquiry That Led to UK Govt Action
NewsBharati 30-Jun-2025 15:10:27 PM
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Reading the reports of the commission and the Independent Inquiry shook me to the core. It is beyond anyone's imagination that such suffering, exploitation and trauma can be ignored. One fails to understand how all the responsible people and systems failed the girls for such a long time.
Prof Alexis Jay's independent inquiry and Baroness Casey's report is always referred to, when these cases are discussed. They presented a very disturbing picture of the society.
Jay's inquiry started in June 2016 and continued to October 2021. It brought to light the countless ways children were sexually abused. (From England and Wales)
A little less than 6000 victims and survivors participated. The proportion was almost 3 girls to 1 boy. This was a larger inquiry that covered all the types of institutions, too. There were experiences narrated, descriptions given by them, which helped the public and institutions to understand the problem of child abuse and its impact on life. It increased public awareness, too.
Many chose to speak about their plight, though it was not easy to revisit the trauma and speak about the sexual abuse.
They all had to undergo it as a child, but were silenced, blamed for their own abuse, and not taken seriously. They were also thought to be lying when some tried to disclose.
In spite of it, some chose to speak to help protect children, thinking it would help prevent it in future and the children would not go through what they did.
Some spoke to represent people who didn't have a voice for a long time. This was in a way to educate people about how violence and sexual abuse affected many children.
Many just wanted their experiences to be heard and expected to be believed. Even a deaf girl came forward who wanted to be believed. ( No names purposely mentioned here in the article, though they are available) One victim expected to be heard without being judged.
Many waited their life time to share the agony. A 65 years old waited for that opportunity which was the first form of support that came her way.
Some wanted to have some kind of closure, and felt the opportunity to speak was an end to the suffering.
Some felt they could let it go once they heard.
A victim described the opportunity to gain the power back, which was snatched away from her then.
A survivor spoke for her 5-year-old child. This certainly motivated many to rise above, who had become a punching bag; it was accompanied by physical abuse, also. It was emotional abuse as well.
To many, it was a dehumanising experience. All wanted this to end.
They wanted the vile and painful acts to end, as they were downgraded and abused multiple times. Victims were not surprised by the findings of the review.
There were inadequate or no measures to curb such crimes or help victims .
This was morally wrong also,there should be no excuse available for the perpatrators. They had created the veneer of genuine affection to avoid the reporting.
The mental and emotional health damage was many times beyond repair.
It is observed that some institutions had no concrete policy to protect children, which made it difficult to gauge the scale and extent. Inadequate support and counselling provision compounded the harm. Failure to investigate and prosecute was also observed. It is appalling that the pain was inflicted for decades.
Prof Alexis Jay stated that ' this was the epidemic that left thousands of victims in the poisonous wake '.
Some measures were suggested to be implemented by Jay's independent inquiry.
1) creating a set of core Data
2) creation of a cabinet-level ministry for children
3) organising an awareness campaign
4) banning pain compliance techniques in the custodial institutions
5) Registration of care staff
6) improvement in compliance with to bar on the services of individuals with potential risk
7) Age verification of victims
8) Removal of the 3-year limit for injury claims
9) National guarantee of specialist therapy for the victims
Casey's report
On 16'th of June Baroness Louise Casey's report was presented in the UK parliament by the PM. She was asked to specifically look into the ethical, cultural and social drivers of the offences. It was expected to advise on further reviews, investigation and action to address the current and historical failure. It was no holds barred report, which was to be completed in three months.
The Points Highlighted.
1) deep rooted institutional failure to protect children from rape, exploitation and serious violence which gave lifetime scars
2) too less of information sharing, flawed data, and denial of justice that let down the victims
3) ignorance, prejudices, and misdirected intentions that ignore ethical issues
4) Though the concerns were raised for a long time, fear of appearing Racist and raising community tension was prioritised
5) Recommendations to avoid wasting time ( 12 noted )
6) Introduction of Laws for protection and support to victims
7) new national inquiry, new ethnicity data and new research
8) Identification of children at risk to root out the source of Grooming Gangs
9) no excuse or place for perpetrators to hide
10) adults engaging in penetrative sex with girls under 16 to face most serious charges of rape ( even if the girls feel they are in love )
11)A safeguard to be created for consensual teen relationships
12) All police arms to work together in the investigation
13) Grooming Gangs to be labelled as serious and organised crime,( the perpetrators to be sent behind bars )
14) past inquiries and responses from all local councils to be studied by Baroness Louise Casey
15) the commission to get the statutory powers of inquiry to compel the witness to give evidence
16) The ethnicity data is available only in 1/3 cases, the rest to be collected
17) research on the cultural and social drivers of sexual exploitation, misogyny and violence against women and girls
18) mandatory information sharing and inter-agency cooperation
19) additional funds to train mental health staff to support the victims
20) No asylum to be granted to the suspects of grooming gangs, powers to deport foreign-born offenders, no privilege to residency to them
21) exploitation of modern slavery in the form of street and drug gangs
An unequivocal apology was reiterated. The strongest action was suggested. An appeal was made to all to work together to keep the children safe. The national inquiry was accepted by the government.
Obviously ' significant uplift in the prosecution, the actions and criminal investigations 'is expected. Baroness Louise Casey was disappointed by the politicisation of the issue.
There was a shocking pattern of horrendous abuse by the organised networks of predominantly British Pakistani men that was noted. Incompetence to snobbery was observed by the systems; unfortunately, some girls were poor witnesses, too.
Whistleblowers were demeaned as Islamophobic. Baroness Casey observed that flawed data was used repeatedly to dismiss the claims.
When independent inquiry in Telford used the expression like southern Asian heritage,where the fear of Racism was a factor. It was stated that not collecting the data on the ethenic background was in a way down playing the issue. The cases were found in religious institutions,schools, the care systems and online too.
Suella Braverman stated that now no one ' can hide behind cultural sensitivities as a way to evade justice.
Prof Alexis Jay's independent inquiry and Baroness Casey's report is always referred to, when these cases are discussed. They presented a very disturbing picture of the society.
Jay's inquiry started in June 2016 and continued to October 2021. It brought to light the countless ways children were sexually abused. (From England and Wales)
A little less than 6000 victims and survivors participated. The proportion was almost 3 girls to 1 boy. This was a larger inquiry that covered all the types of institutions, too. There were experiences narrated, descriptions given by them, which helped the public and institutions to understand the problem of child abuse and its impact on life. It increased public awareness, too.
Many chose to speak about their plight, though it was not easy to revisit the trauma and speak about the sexual abuse.
They all had to undergo it as a child, but were silenced, blamed for their own abuse, and not taken seriously. They were also thought to be lying when some tried to disclose.
In spite of it, some chose to speak to help protect children, thinking it would help prevent it in future and the children would not go through what they did.
Some spoke to represent people who didn't have a voice for a long time. This was in a way to educate people about how violence and sexual abuse affected many children.
Many just wanted their experiences to be heard and expected to be believed. Even a deaf girl came forward who wanted to be believed. ( No names purposely mentioned here in the article, though they are available) One victim expected to be heard without being judged.
Many waited their life time to share the agony. A 65 years old waited for that opportunity which was the first form of support that came her way.
Some wanted to have some kind of closure, and felt the opportunity to speak was an end to the suffering.
Some felt they could let it go once they heard.
A victim described the opportunity to gain the power back, which was snatched away from her then.
A survivor spoke for her 5-year-old child. This certainly motivated many to rise above, who had become a punching bag; it was accompanied by physical abuse, also. It was emotional abuse as well.
To many, it was a dehumanising experience. All wanted this to end.
They wanted the vile and painful acts to end, as they were downgraded and abused multiple times. Victims were not surprised by the findings of the review.
There were inadequate or no measures to curb such crimes or help victims .
This was morally wrong also,there should be no excuse available for the perpatrators. They had created the veneer of genuine affection to avoid the reporting.
The mental and emotional health damage was many times beyond repair.
It is observed that some institutions had no concrete policy to protect children, which made it difficult to gauge the scale and extent. Inadequate support and counselling provision compounded the harm. Failure to investigate and prosecute was also observed. It is appalling that the pain was inflicted for decades.
Prof Alexis Jay stated that ' this was the epidemic that left thousands of victims in the poisonous wake '.
Some measures were suggested to be implemented by Jay's independent inquiry.
1) creating a set of core Data
2) creation of a cabinet-level ministry for children
3) organising an awareness campaign
4) banning pain compliance techniques in the custodial institutions
5) Registration of care staff
6) improvement in compliance with to bar on the services of individuals with potential risk
7) Age verification of victims
8) Removal of the 3-year limit for injury claims
9) National guarantee of specialist therapy for the victims
Casey's report
On 16'th of June Baroness Louise Casey's report was presented in the UK parliament by the PM. She was asked to specifically look into the ethical, cultural and social drivers of the offences. It was expected to advise on further reviews, investigation and action to address the current and historical failure. It was no holds barred report, which was to be completed in three months.
The Points Highlighted.
1) deep rooted institutional failure to protect children from rape, exploitation and serious violence which gave lifetime scars
2) too less of information sharing, flawed data, and denial of justice that let down the victims
3) ignorance, prejudices, and misdirected intentions that ignore ethical issues
4) Though the concerns were raised for a long time, fear of appearing Racist and raising community tension was prioritised
5) Recommendations to avoid wasting time ( 12 noted )
6) Introduction of Laws for protection and support to victims
7) new national inquiry, new ethnicity data and new research
8) Identification of children at risk to root out the source of Grooming Gangs
9) no excuse or place for perpetrators to hide
10) adults engaging in penetrative sex with girls under 16 to face most serious charges of rape ( even if the girls feel they are in love )
11)A safeguard to be created for consensual teen relationships
12) All police arms to work together in the investigation
13) Grooming Gangs to be labelled as serious and organised crime,( the perpetrators to be sent behind bars )
14) past inquiries and responses from all local councils to be studied by Baroness Louise Casey
15) the commission to get the statutory powers of inquiry to compel the witness to give evidence
16) The ethnicity data is available only in 1/3 cases, the rest to be collected
17) research on the cultural and social drivers of sexual exploitation, misogyny and violence against women and girls
18) mandatory information sharing and inter-agency cooperation
19) additional funds to train mental health staff to support the victims
20) No asylum to be granted to the suspects of grooming gangs, powers to deport foreign-born offenders, no privilege to residency to them
21) exploitation of modern slavery in the form of street and drug gangs
An unequivocal apology was reiterated. The strongest action was suggested. An appeal was made to all to work together to keep the children safe. The national inquiry was accepted by the government.
Obviously ' significant uplift in the prosecution, the actions and criminal investigations 'is expected. Baroness Louise Casey was disappointed by the politicisation of the issue.
There was a shocking pattern of horrendous abuse by the organised networks of predominantly British Pakistani men that was noted. Incompetence to snobbery was observed by the systems; unfortunately, some girls were poor witnesses, too.
Whistleblowers were demeaned as Islamophobic. Baroness Casey observed that flawed data was used repeatedly to dismiss the claims.
When independent inquiry in Telford used the expression like southern Asian heritage,where the fear of Racism was a factor. It was stated that not collecting the data on the ethenic background was in a way down playing the issue. The cases were found in religious institutions,schools, the care systems and online too.
Suella Braverman stated that now no one ' can hide behind cultural sensitivities as a way to evade justice.
Bharati Web
Prof. Vidya Deshpande
Professor Vidya Deshpande has had a journey of more than four decades in the field of education. Her main expertise is in the subject of Philosophy, and she has worked as a teacher of philosophy and logic with Nowrosjee Wadia college for 36 years. She has been associated with the Janakalyan Blood bank for last for 38 years and has also carried out the responsibility as a management committee member of Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha for 10 years. Her special fields of interest are Philosophy of social sciences, school education, development of skills for self reliance, and top up skills to make students profession ready,
