Paperback: "Girls like me - and our families - were crying out for help, but no one listened. Politicians were worried that addressing the issue of grooming by British Pakistani men would "give oxygen" to racism," wrote Sarah Wilson in her book, Violated.
Sarah was eleven years old when she was befriended outside her primary school by a group of older Asian men. Bullied at school, unhappy at home, naïve and vulnerable, she just wanted to belong, and the gifts and attention they lavished on her were what she craved. Soon, she was hooked on alcohol and drugs and then they owned her.
Before long, the gang were driving her to places where she was raped by scores of men. Falling through the system, from social services to school, no one was able to help her. She 'escaped' when, at nearly seventeen, she became too old for the men, but the worst was yet to come.
Her story is not unique. Sarah is one of at least 1,400 children who were sexually exploited by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men in Rotherham from 1997 to 2013. When a report last summer finally revealed the scale of abuse in Rotherham, Sarah’s only surprise was that someone finally cared. A National Crime Agency investigation announced that around 300 suspects had been identified, including two serving or former Rotherham councillors. Taxi drivers, who were involved in trafficking victims, have also come under scrutiny. Around 25 taxi drivers no longer have licenses due to child abuse concerns. Local authorities were not blind to the town’s paedophile rings. When Professor Alexis Jay published her investigation into Rotherham abuse last summer, she criticised the police and council for their failure to take victims seriously. “South Yorkshire Police regarded many child victims with contempt,” she wrote. “Nobody could say 'We didn’t know’.” (Olivia Goldhill, Telegraph, 7 June 2015)
Finally, a victim of the Rotherham scandal tells her story in the hope that other young girls will not fall prey to the same evil that she endured. Violated (2015) is a shocking and harrowing survival story from the notorious Rotherham abuse scandal. At the time of publication, this book is supported by a PR campaign.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the Rotherham sex abuse scandal continues. Last week, it emerged that the massive inquiry into the Rotherham sex abuse scandal could run until at least 2018. Investigators say the number of possible offenders is changing on a ‘daily basis’ and they suspect ‘thousands of offences’ have been committed. The team has seized ninety-two boxes containing several thousand files and identified more than 3 300 lines of inquiry. The suspects are ‘predominantly’ Asian men from the South Yorkshire town and include two who have worked for the council. Their victims are mainly white, British, underage and ‘vulnerable’ girls. Operation Stovewood is currently costing up to £5 million every year, and is still likely to be ongoing in three years’ time putting the total bill for the inquiry at around £15 million.
About Sarah Wilson: Sarah Wilson is twenty-three years old and lives in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where she is helping to bring up her niece, Alesha, following her sister’s death. She has just given birth to her first child. Sarah Wilson's sister Laura, from Rotherham, was seventeen when she was stabbed and dumped in a canal by her Asian boyfriend in the UK's first white honour killing in 2010.
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