For those of you interested in Rotherham’s approach to child sexual exploitation, this page might be of interest:
Rotherham Politics
Robust scrutiny of all things political around Rotherham and beyond. Speaking truth to power since 2008
For those of you interested in Rotherham’s approach to child sexual exploitation, this page might be of interest:
Rotherham Politics 
Horse.Stable door. Bolt.
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I went to the practical steps link on that page (“There are a number of practical steps you can take to protect children…”
What is striking is how passive and cerebral these “practical steps” are – I quote: “Making sure you understand the risks…”, “Being cautious…” “Being aware…”, “Staying alert….”
If RMBC thinks these are what constitute “practical steps” then it’s little wonder they have been so passive themselves. It’s also noticeable how the onus is on what parents should do altho parental “control” it ain’t! Yes parents have a role (altho many victims have been in the care of social services etc) – but where is the active role of RMBC beyond a few obscure website pages? Contrast this with the action taken by Oxfordshire police…who went after the perpetrators with a massive amount of moral outrage, coordinated action and protection of, and justice for, the victims uppermost in their minds.
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A quick googling indicates that much of it is simply copied from the second page of a Barnados leaflet:
Click to access spot_the_signs_professionals_scotland.pdf
A pathetic response.
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What is so worrying about the grooming scandals is that they all follow the exact same pattern. The victims failed by the police and social services in exactly the same way, then given the same platitudinal apology. No heads will roll either in the police or social services. The victims are carefully chosen because the perpetrators Know the attitude in this country of the authorities. They are written off as no hopers, one of the girls in Oxford whent into a police station on three occasions to report what was happening to her; she was told you are not the first and you wont be the last now stop wasting our time. This attitude is endemic in our police and social workers, until this attitude is changed these vulnerable youngsters will carry on being exploited by these animals. .
Dave Smith
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The order not to register young people on the register came form the top of the Young People’s Services. It is still happening.
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“until this attitude is changed these vulnerable youngsters will carry on being exploited by these animals”
Exactly. The people curently in charge need to be cleared out and replaced with people who won’t ignore a crime just because the victim/perpetrator doesn’t fit PC idealogy.
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Joanna Simons, Chief Executive of Oxfordshire Council told the BBC “My gut feeling is that I’m not going to resign because my determination is that we need to do all that we can to take action to stamp this out,” Which begs the question what has she been doing these last 7 years to “stamp it out” and actually earn her £217k pa salary? And will she change a culture she has created herself? Not likely!
I do believe that good things can come out of bad. For society in general I hope that the emergence of widespread complacency will eventually lead to a sea-change, an end to laissez-faire PCism that has failed to face up to evil because of ideological blindness and put careerism and a***-covering above public service ethos. I hope a new generation of leaders will emerge who actually care about the vulnerable and are willing to move heaven and earth to defend them. It will take many years – this phenomenon is a slow-burner because the perptrators are not Savile-like celebrities. But a head of steam is being built up as more cases emerge across the country. You can’t sit on a pressure cooker for ever before it blows. The facts will emerge eventually and I think there will be a massive reckoning that will make the Paliament-Fiddling and Phone-Hacking episodes look like passing soap episodes. Sorry about all the mixed metaphors!
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Agree with all that’s been said – apart from calling the perpetrators “animals” .
Can’t think of an instance where animals would exploit their young in such a despicable way. Non – humans, perhaps ?
“The people curently in charge need to be cleared out and replaced with people who won’t ignore a crime just because the victim/perpetrator doesn’t fit PC idealogy.”
Precisely.
But is this ever going to happen and if so, now can not be soon enough !
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I welcome the advice on the RMBC website as a tiny, tiny step in the right direction. But what a disgrace that it took so long, was issued so grudgingly (only when the Home Affairs Select Committee briefly turned its attention to Rotherham child grooming) and isn’t part of much more proactive effort to intervene.
Do councillors and so-called child protection professionals really think that abused girls are going to log on to the council website to seek help, specially in the context of years of being ignored and failed by the authorities? Do they think this small effort is going to be enough to silence those of us who want the abuse to stop right now and the wrongs of the past to be accounted for?
A much more dynamic campaign of outreach to these girls is needed. It’s time we all heard what is really going to change at the council and within the South Yorkshire police service to ensure their appalling record of child protection is turned on its head; time to give the victims a reason to put their trust in you; time to let the abusers know the tide has turned and they are going to be stopped and brought to justice. Perhaps the reason that information isn’t being conveyed is because it isn’t actually the case. There is still very little evidence of any real action against these perpetrators or of there being any genuine will to achieve justice.
No-one has paid a price for these failings, other than the victims. We can be certain their suffering has not stopped and that new young victims are preyed upon as the older girls grow up and lose their appeal. Meanwhile, the ruling Labour elite of Rotherham continues in power, Shaun Wright has job a shiny new job with “scrutiny” only from his equally culpable pals and Joyce Thacker continues to act out her Common Purpose programming. It is a disgusting response from so-called public servants who, in reality, are intent only on serving themselves.
This particular form of child abuse has arisen in many parts of the country and the actions of child protection agencies has been generally very poor. However, there is at least some sign of improvement in many areas. Rotherham, however, offers no such hope for its poor children.
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