Victims of grooming fear repercussions
WOMEN AND GIRLS AT CENTRE OF CITY’S SEX EXPLOITATION SCANDAL STILL SUFFERING
VICTIMS of the Operation Shelter grooming gang are still living in fear of their abusers despite seeing the vile sexual predators jailed.
And the vulnerable women and girls could be at risk of suffering further attacks, or slipping back into their previous lifestyles, without long-term help.
These are the alarming views of the boss of a charity that has been working with the victims at the centre of Newcastle’s sex exploitation scandal, since the gang’s horrific crimes were uncovered.
Eighteen people were jailed in 2017, as a result of Northumbria Police’s Operation Shelter investigation, which smashed a network of predators from the city’s West End.
The predatory gang targeted some of Newcastle’s most vulnerable females by plying them with drugs and booze before using them for sex.
A year ago a Serious Case Review report, authored by barrister David Spicer, was published which detailed how agencies responded to the exploitation and what lessons need to be learned for the future.
The 150-page document made a series of recommendations for both local organisations and national Government, to help prevent future abuse and improve support for victims.
Laura Seebohm from Changing Lives, which is supporting the victims, has lifted the lid on the ongoing trauma suffered by the women and girls the charity continues to support.
And the abuse expert has told of her fears some Shelter victims could be exploited again if they do not get the long-term help they so desperately need.
Laura, who is executive director for innovation and policy at Changing Lives, said: “The victims still have fear that there will be repercussions, there’s still a lot of fear, and that shows the scale of the grooming and exploitation that went on.
“There is ongoing concern that they could become victims again, they are so vulnerable they could be vulnerable to other perpetrators. There’s so much emotional pain there, the odds are stacked against them.
“No one should assume it’s not still going on, just because it’s been at court, because there will have been more perpetrators than that, and we know there are more victims.”
Northumbria Police launched an initiative called Operation Sanctuary in 2014 after a young woman with learning difficulties spoke to her social worker about sexual exploitation she had experienced.
The operation kicked off with the arrests of more than 30 men, and publicity led to two 19-year-old women coming forward to report similar abuse by a number of perpetrators over a period of years, mainly in the West End.
Police and other agencies quickly realised sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable adults was going on in the city on a much larger scale than previously thought.
In 2017 Operation Shelter, an investigation that formed part of the wider Sanctuary initiative, resulted in 17 men and one woman being jailed with sentences totalling more than 180 years.
And since the launch of Operation Sanctuary, around 700 victims of exploitation have been identified in the Northumbria force area, of which 108 were linked to Newcastle including those who gave evidence for the Shelter trials at Newcastle Crown Court.
In 2015 the Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board commissioned a joint Serious Case Review.
Mr Spicer’s report, which looks at sexual exploitation in Newcastle between 2007 and 2015, was published in February 2018.
It makes a series of recommendations for both local agencies and national Government.
However, Laura remains concerned that the full scale of damage caused to victims has not yet been recognised nationally, and therefore services for victims, like those provided by Changing Lives do not have secure funding.
She said: “In Newcastle we have got a really strong multi-agency set-up, but you can’t rest on your laurels. What we know is these offences are continuing. Since the Spicer report was published there have been cases in Sheffield, Rotherham and Huddersfield. We know this MO continues, especially in towns and cities across the North.
“We really need to break a cycle for these women. They need long-term support, we need to reach out and engage them and do some therapeutic work with them, give them new social networks, and get them to the point where they can lead the lives they would have lead if this hadn’t happened.
“They have had such an awful experience, but we look at their strengths, they are actually very funny, warm, loyal women, and we are using those strengths. “While we knew there was a lot of sexual exploitation we didn’t understand the organised nature of it and how there was such a pattern in how they were being groomed. As we have gained the trust and talked to the women and some of them, even after the court cases, tell us more and more, and it is truly horrific. The long-term impact on their lives is severe and for some it will be hard to recover from.
“The consequences of exploitation can be devastating. It’s about really understanding the trauma. There’s not a quick fix. What I’m really concerned
No one should assume it’s not still going on... because there will have been more perpetrators Laura Seebohm
about is the Spicer Report highlights the need for long-term support for these women, but no one will address where that funding is coming from.
“What I would really like to see is Government departments coming together and looking at how they can respond to this problem. If we have long-term support we can break the cycle. We need dedicated women’s centres in every town and city.”
One of the key recommendations in the report to be acted on locally included continuing to make efforts to encourage conversations with perpetrators to gain a better understanding of their offending in Newcastle.
Laura believes it is also essential to keep an open mind about who is at risk of becoming a perpetrator of sexual exploitation. “We have to be really open minded,” she said. “The risk is that if we think this is the one MO we might miss other things. We need to be really aware that this is just one way it goes on, but there are many.”
The Serious Case Review was also highly critical of the way some of the victims were treated in court and Laura is now calling for clear guidelines on this.
“One of the things we learned is just how traumatic the court cases were,” said Laura. “Judge Penny Morland managed that court well and had the victims at the centre of it.
“The judge needs to really have control of their court room, especially when there are so many victims, perpetrators and barristers. There needs to be national guidance on this. If we want to hold perpetrators to account we need to make sure victims are fully supported at court.”
The Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Children’s Board are working to implement and monitor both the local and national recommendations through a multi-agency JSCR panel, says Newcastle City Council.
Coun Karen Kilgour, cabinet member for health and social care, said: “Newcastle Adults and Children’s Safeguarding Boards worked tirelessly throughout Operation Sanctuary to make sure sexual exploitation in Newcastle was disrupted, victims where supported, and all agencies came together to tackle these horrific crimes.
“That work has not stopped, and I know that all local recommendations from David Spicer’s report have been acted upon and are progressing.”
But she warned that abuse is still going on, and tackling it remains an ongoing battle for the authority.
She added: “We believe that sexual exploitation is still happening in Newcastle and we have continued to invest our resources to combat this.”
We can break the cycle. We need dedicated women’s centres in every town and city Laura Seebohm