Harrowing TV, but because of it many girls will be a little bit safer

Many viewers have been upset by the harrowing ordeal of watching Three Girls, the dramatisation of the Rochdale grooming scandal shown over three nights on BBC1 this week.

I can sympathise, of course — but just imagine what it was like for the hundreds of girls who lived (and are living) through such abuse.

Surely we owe it to them to hear their story and keep looking with a clear eye as the wretchedness of their torment is exposed?

nicole Taylor’s script did not flinch from depicting the sleazy horror endured by Ruby (Liv Hill), amber (Ria Zmitrowicz) and Holly (Molly Windsor). The writer used these three characters to tell the true story of how a group of nine men of predominantly Pakistani origin groomed white girls for sex in the Greater Manchester area between 2005 and 2012.

It was no secret to the police and social workers what was going on but, shamefully, fear of being seen as racist hampered them from accusing the abusers. Political correctness kept the men free to do as they wished for at least seven long years.

However, after heroic attempts to bring them to trial, the men were found guilty and sentenced for up to 25 years in jail. Horrifically, the principal witness at the trial — the Holly character in Three Girls — had been abused by all nine of them.

Thankfully there were no graphic sex scenes in the drama, but from the grotty curry house back rooms to the leering men and the broken little girls shuffling home afterwards, we got the message. Loud and clear.

In reports at the time, the girls were always described as ‘vulnerable’ — a word so often used as a social services lasso to describe the victims of anything, anywhere, that it has become almost meaningless.

HERE,

we are reminded of exactly what it represents. The girls on screen are troubled, estranged from their families, unaware of their own naivete and running wild. One of them has special needs.

With their ponytails, nose studs, scabbed nail polish and trackie bottoms, these girls are just like many other urban teens. and at first they are thrilled by the men’s attention, plus the free takeaway food, cigarettes and booze.

For in their hollowed- out lives — empty of treats, money, affection and a stable family structure — all this seems glamorous and fun.

Then the men who have groomed and befriended them begin to reveal their true motives. ‘When are you going to give me sex?’ wheedles Daddy ( Simon nagra), a middle-aged man in a crochet topi, the cap usually worn by Pakistani Muslims at prayer services.

‘all the things I have given you, the kebabs, tikka, vodka, cigarettes. It is part of the deal. I buy you things and you give me things.’

He then pushes Molly onto a dirty mattress in the back room of a curry house and proceeds to have his way.

no, Three Girls is not the sort of thing you would uncork a bottle of wine and snuggle down to enjoy of an evening. The performances — especially from the three young actresses — may have been flawless, but few of us could have felt wonderful after enduring its three, relentlessly grim hours.

However, I did feel I knew a little more about something important, something terrible that happened in a British town, and about the awful mutation in our society that allowed it to happen.

yet I do take issue with where Three Girls unstintingly laid the blame for this outrage — at the door of the local authorities.

Certainly, there were terrible failings by police and social services. These girls and many others were let down terribly, of that there is no doubt.

yet let us not forget who the real culprits are here. not the cops, not the social workers and not the parents who failed to provide security and a loving home for their daughters — although they must accept their share of the blame. The ultimate wrongdoers are the monsters who cultivated and then repeatedly molested these lost girls.

Some of these men were pillars of Rochdale’s Pakistani community. among the nine men jailed, one was a Muslim preacher. They were married fathers, taxi drivers, restaurant workers — people who were respected by their neighbours but did unspeakable things in private.

THE ‘ Daddy’ who actually led the gang — Shabir ahmed — is locked up in Leeds prison and, like other offenders, is currently fighting efforts to deport him back to his native Pakistan.

as we saw last night, in words taken from the actual court transcripts, he tried to dismiss the prosecution as ‘white lies’ and called the judge and jury ‘racist’.

Is it too much to hope that all nine of them are kicked out of our tolerant, beautiful country?

That’s why Three Girls is so important. Without being voyeuristic, sensational or opportunist, it shone a light on a fetid corner of modern British life.

and because it did, a lot of girls may be a little bit safer on the streets tonight.