ROCHDALE’S HOPE TO MOVE ON FROM GROOMING SCANDAL
PUBLIC AND COUNCIL HIT BACK IN WAKE OF TV DRAMA ABOUT ABUSE OF GIRLS
ROCHDALE has had a bad week.
BBC Drama Three Girls portrayed in harrowing detail the town’s 2012 grooming scandal which ended with the conviction of nine men. It showed how girls as young as 14 were plied with alcohol, threatened with violence and passed around men for sex while their pleas were ignored by the authorities.
It is not the only stain on Rochdale’s reputation. There is the ongoing Cyril Smith and Knowl View sex abuse investigation. And the town is consistently near the top of the league tables no one wants to lead deprivation, unemployment, poor health and alcohol abuse.
But for those who live there Rochdale means so much more. It is a place with a strong community and a proud history.
Matloob Hussain is the spokesman for the Rochdale taxi trade group. He says: “Rochdale is a beautiful town and it is unfair to highlight one community. There is good and bad everywhere, but unfortunately a few bad men give a whole community a bad name. Grooming has not just happened in Rochdale, it has been going on all over the country. I think it’s unfair.”
The men who groomed the young girls were Asian and some were taxi drivers which at times has made it a difficult job to have in Rochdale.
Fellow cabbie Mohammed Mahboob says: “We still get young lads in the back of our taxis swearing at us and calling us paedophiles. It was nine men, a few who were taxi drivers, out of thousands of taxi drivers in Rochdale. This programme is just going to cause more trouble.”
Mum-of-three Patricia Sunderland worries that the drama will reopen old wounds.
She said: “I just hope there is no backlash against the Asian community in Rochdale. I hope it doesn’t cause a backlash against takeaways and taxi drivers. But the programme was harrowing. The abuse went on for such a long time and nobody took any responsibility. You just hope and wish that those girls, wherever they are, have found some sort of happiness.”
Nicola Kershaw, a shopper on Yorkshire Street in the town’s main shopping area, spoke of how the scandal needs to remain in the public eye.
She said: “The programme was done really well and did a really good job of showing how the girls were let down time and time again.
“I think it’s good that the problem is being highlighted again... because then something can be done to try to stop it happening again.”
It is clear that lessons have been learned. Even Sara Rowbotham, who fought against the system to bring to light what happened to the girls, believes things have changed. “They are on it. You can’t move these days without there being an exploitation assessment. Services are employed in order to be able to protect vulnerable girls,” she says.
The catastrophic failings which allowed the grooming ring to get away with it for so long are well-documented – and Three Girls doesn’t
shy away from highlighting the problems. A string of inquiries found those in authority ‘lacked human compassion’ and were ‘inexcusably slow’ in dealing with the victims. But what Three Girls didn’t show was the subsequent great strides in tackling child sexual exploitation.
In the wake of the convictions a specialist unit, called the Sunrise Team, was created. It is made up of police, social workers and NHS staff among others and is focused on rooting out abusers and protecting their victims.
The team works alongside Operation Doublet – a police operation to deal with sexual abuse in Rochdale. So far 27 men have been charged and a total of 210 years of prison sentences handed out. But even more important, says council chief executive Steve Rumbelow, is the ‘fundamental change’ in attitudes from ‘top to bottom’ of the town hall.
Mr Rumbelow, who joined the authority in 2014, said: “I can genuinely say in Rochdale today, and every day, what happened to those girls is in our minds and the hurt caused to those girls is in our minds because that is the best way we can ensure we will not let victims down again.
“The fundamental change we have made is the treatment that young people get from staff. If a young person comes to us today saying they have been abused they will be taken seriously.” But he acknowledges: “We can never allow ourselves to be blasé. It’s really important we keep moving forward. These abhorrent people are out there now, trying to figure out new ways to abuse children. We can never lose sight of that.”
Since the convictions staff across all departments have been trained into how to spot signs of abuse. More than 1,400 taxi drivers and staff from businesses as varied as tattoo parlours, pubs, nightclubs and hotels have also attended presentations urging them to report concerns. Children as young as 11 have also been educated about the risks of grooming through two plays which have been shown in schools, colleges, community centres and other venues around the borough. In the last 12 months, the Sunrise Team has received 679 reports of potential abuse. The borough now has four youngsters deemed to be at ‘high risk’ of sexual abuse, down from 14 last year. Gail Hopper, the council’s director of children’s services, says the community’s involvement has been vital to the increased awareness and reporting of the problem. But she also believes headlines which dub Rochdale the ‘grooming capital of the UK’ are unfair. She said: “You can’t really say the problem is worse in Rochdale than anywhere else. This is a national problem, it’s just that Rochdale had its experience early.” Council leader Richard Farnell says the authority has not shied away from the fact that the girls and their families were let down. But he believes Rochdale has also been unfairly defined ‘by the actions of a group of depraved human beings.’ He says: “We are about so much more than grooming, which is a horrendous problem that has affected many areas of the country – not just Rochdale.” Rochdale’s leaders have ambitious plans to transform the fabric of the town. Last month, they approved ‘game-changing’ £100m proposals including a new cinema and restaurants plus Next and M&S stores, while a new outdoor market and food hall are also on the cards. They are the final two pieces of a jigsaw which has seen the extension of Metrolink to the heart of the town centre, the re-opening of the River Roch, the opening of the nationally-acclaimed sixth form college and a new transport interchange. Coun Farnell said: “We are one of the most ambitious boroughs in Greater Manchester, we are creating new jobs and prosperity for our residents and we have some of the most beautiful countryside around. “That is the real Rochdale – not the version that is being shown in the BBC drama.”
These abhorrent people are out there now, trying to figure out new ways to abuse children Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow