‘More answers needed’ on child sex exploitation
COUNCILLORS HAVE argued that more needs to be done to identify why a high proportion of grooming perpetrators in Bradford come from the Pakistani community.
During the debate one councillor said he was “gobsmacked” that police had few answers as to why this was the case. Others said the community was no longer willing to brush the issue under the carpet, and were now more readily reporting crimes committed by their community.
Bradford Council’s Bradford East Area Committee was discussing the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation in the constituency at a meeting.
Police and safeguarding bosses told members of the good work being done to educate people how to spot the dangers of grooming.
Coun David Ward (Ind, Bolton and Undercliffe) said while this work was commendable, the report did not seem to include any reference to the fact that British Pakistani men were disproportionately more likely to be perpetrators of CSE offences.
The most recent figures into grooming investigations show that out of all recent CSE cases investigated in the past year 39 per cent of perpetrators were British Pakistani.
Mark Griffin, manager of Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, said: “We do work with specific communities in some cases, including work with young British Pakistani men. I can’t answer that question on behalf of the perpetrators. It could be money, gratification, opportunity, many different reasons.”
Coun Rizwana Jamil (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) said: “That is not just an issue locally, it is a national one. A lot more needs to be done nationally as well as locally.”
Coun Riaz Ahmed (Lib Dem, Bradford Moor) said: “We need to find out why this is happening. We owe it to the victims, and we owe it to the Pakistani community.”
The committee voted that the Strategic Director of Children’s Services should attend a future meeting to discuss the issue.