Last week, reports of extensive human trafficking rings stunned residents of Rotherham, England. An estimated 1,400 girls were groomed, abused, and raped between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of mostly Pakistani men. Some of the horrific reports of abuse include stories of being gang raped and doused with gasoline. Perhaps equally troubling are reports that the abuse was uncovered in 2001—and instead of being addressed by police and appropriate authorities, the whistleblower was instead sent to diversity training after she revealed the ethnicity of the rapists in her report.
The Telegraph reports: (emphasis added)
A researcher who raised the alarm over the sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rotherham more than a decade ago was sent on a 'ethnicity and diversity course' by child protection bosses who refused to act on her evidence.
The researcher, who was seconded to Rotherham council by the Home Office, was told she must "never, ever" again refer to the fact that the abusers were predominantly Asian men.
Speaking to the BBC's Panorama programme under the condition of anonymity, the researcher said that she identified more 270 victims of trafficking and underage prostitution by mainly Muslim gangs in Rotherham.
But, despite being sent to Rotherham Council, the report - based on interviews with underage girls seeking help from the council's anti-child prostitution project, called Risky Business - was never published.
Indeed, the council tried unsuccessfully to sack the researcher after she resisted pressure to change her findings.
The researcher reported that instead of the police investigating the report, she was sent off to a two-day diversity and inclusiveness training.
Other staffers have claimed that they were frightened about perceived racism in their reporting of the crimes committed against children.
Recommended
The report found: "Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought as racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so."
If all of these allegations are true, heads need to roll. Political correctness went way too far in this situation, and thousands of girls' childhoods were ruined as a result. "Despicable" isn't a strong enough word for this situation.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member