Protect these kids and stop these men

Sara Rowbotham tried repeatedly to raise the alarm about grooming of vulnerable girls in the town by older men.

Relatives are the first bulwark of defence for vulnerable children but they often need help to properly nurture the child.

If that relationship breaks down, the care system in itself does not offer enough protection.

If it was easy to come up with the solution, we would have done it by now but there has to be an emphasis on how we make these men not do it any more.

They have no respect, no understanding that these are children.

They feel able and free to treat those young women in this way.

What does a man in Glasgow have in common with a man in Rochdale that means they’ve both had this idea that this is what you do?

You identify vulnerable children, you manipulate them with substances – drugs, alcohol – and make them feel like an adult, then you get all your mates round to have sex with them?

How does a man in Glasgow know that’s a thing in the first place, and why does he follow a similar pattern of behaviour as someone in Rochdale, or Rotherham?

There is not good enough research into what their motivations are and how they go about doing this.

That would be valuable.

It is also essential that we start looking at these children as victims.

It is not a lifestyle choice, it is not their fault and they are still being blamed for what is happening to them.