I have published this as a separate News Blog because I don't think it has a place amongst the usual banter of an RAE News Blog.
On Wednesday
I went to a Conference in Rotherham about Child Sexual Exploitation. Not the nicest or fun subject. The Conference was organised before Jay
reported to Rotherham Council back in August.
It was suggested that Agencies were well aware of the problems facing
many young people in South Yorkshire, and the Conference was a response to that
and not Jay.
Jay has
thrown the issue of CSE into focus in Rotherham so it was only natural to draw
on the issues being debated across South Yorkshire.
The event
was probably one of the most harrowing I’ve ever attended, topping even
Rotherham CEO Martin Kimber’s bleak fortune telling as to the future of local delivery
of services by Local Councils.
I was disappointed
not to see many of the Voluntary organisations working with young people in the
Arts unrepresented at the event, especially as the Arts and Communities lobby have
played a leading role in facing up to the Right Wing backlash that has put so
much pressure on the Town’s economy.
Before I go
on let me say that I do get The Love Comes First movement in Rotherham and the
need to celebrate the diverse cultures of the Town however I look at the active
members and the artists involved, some for whom I have nothing but the highest
respect, and wonder if we are not falling through the trap door of “tokenism”. The ethnic mix certainly does not represent
the multicultural nature of the Town. Some
of the victims have already said they have no wish to be used as political
footballs and I think that has to apply to the side of the angels as it does to
the evil EDL / Britain First / and BNP. Do 1400 coloured balloons really go anywhere
near to demonstrate what we as the Community of Rotherham are doing to put
matters right.
The
Conference drove home the fact that “Grooming” can happen to anyone, rich or
poor, Muslim or Christian, Atheist or Believer. No
child is immune from the risk. I
think a lot of us are guilty of making huge assumptions and in our feeble
attempt to rationalise the unthinkable draw our own pictures of what CSE is
about.
To
illustrate this a Lady from one of the Muslim organisations for Muslim women
told of the horrific number of young women coming to her for advise and help
and the same applies across most of the Agencies in Rotherham.
We hear
about politicians resigning, Police Commissioners chased out of Office, Council
Officials given the order of the Golden Handshake, etc and nod our heads in
agreement, yet none of us take our share of the responsibility, or see the role
we played in ignoring the CSE.
We also run
the risk of assuming that now that Jay has reported all is well in the garden, it isn’t – The Police and other statuary Agencies are still
struggling to come to terms with a culture that truly protects the children of
our Town from the Groomers and child sex exploiters. It has also to be said that they also have the
problem of regaining the confidence of the young people and their
families.
We all have
a responsibility to protect the young people of the Borough and we all need to
be alive to the indicators of CSE. I
think that is why I’m disappointed about who was not at the Conference, without
the essential information and training that was passed on how can we protect
our young volunteers or those young people involved in our Events and
productions.
I dare
anyone to sit through the talk that was given by a young woman named as Emma at
the Conference and not be outraged. She
did not come from an economically challenged family, indeed broadly speaking
one might say she had been Middle Class, a successful student and lively young
12 year old when she was groomed.
And she was
frank about her motives. She found the
experience exciting, she quickly fell into the trap of being sucked in by
expensive gifts and the attention of older boyfriends who would take her for
drives etc..
It took a
year before the sexual exploitation began and when it did she rationalised
it. I think delegates were shocked by
what and where the sex acts took place, and the time of night / morning they
occurred.
Perhaps
delegates were shocked by the fact that at the time she did not want to be
rescued.
Emma
survived, thanks to her Parents who had the money to find the right help and
send her abroad for over a year to take her out of the culture she had become a
part of and accepted so readily.
As Emma
said, she was a child, and even though she wanted and was excited by being
treated as an adult, she was still a fourteen year old girl and yet Police and
Agencies failed to protect her!
For me the
most heart breaking line, yet made me so angry was the last Report she got from
her Headmaster on being removed from School at the age of fourteen – and keep
that in your mind as you read what comes next, the girl was only fourteen. “This girl is a trouble maker and a child
prostitute”. Try to remember
those words when going home after a late event and see a young girl / boy walking
around Town, or during the daytime when we know they should be in School – and take
on the responsibility of making sure that the relevant authorities are informed.
You ARE NOT INTERFEREING it’s better that you be told that the child
was simply going to the dentist or walking home from a party at a friend’s
house than allow them to fall further into the clutches of the criminals who
may be using them.
As a society
we have to take ownership of our responsibility to our young people, and that
means YOU – ME and everyone we know. Do
not, do not, leave it all to the Agencies and Police.
The day
certainly had an impact on me, as you might be able to tell, it informed my
ignorance and preconceived ideas as well as bringing into sharp focus many of
the thoughts I had been having yet up to now unable to put a heavy finger
on. Jay has probably not helped by
putting what is a calculated figure out into the public domain, there could be
more victims, and almost certainly any figure is currently being added to, so
let us not forget what the 1400 represents and we as citizens of Rotherham have
a lot to do to make our Town safe for young people.
If you get
the chance to attend a training course please take the time and trouble to go
along and find out the facts and indicators for yourself.
That brings
me to the end of my tirade or rant. I
might revisit the issues as more Reports are published in the weeks ahead. You have been warned!
No comments:
Post a Comment