Local newspaper reports emerge in 1955
Building on research by J'Accuse, the Restorationist confirms at least 200+ reports from Bradford, Keighley, Halifax, and other northern towns in the British Newspaper Archive dating back to 1955 involving criminal convictions or court accusations citing "Pakistani men" or "Asian gangs."
Mass immigration from Pakistan starts
A wave of Islamic chain immigration from the Mirpur region of Pakistani begins after the displacement of 280 villages from the Mangla Dam project, infamous for its brutal cultural practices of "ownership" of women, "bride burning", acid attacks, forced cousin marriage, "karo-kari" honour killing, and mass rape. As the Free Press notes, the "epicenter was the postindustrial mill towns of England's north and Midlands, where immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh settled," and committed in "cities with a Labour Party–controlled council and a Labour Party MP who needed Muslim votes."
Parliamentary concerns are raised in 1971
MPs Renée Short and Jill Knight bring up concerns about "child prostitution" reported in Birmingham as written Parliamentary questions to the Home Secretary Reginald Maudling under the Heath government. Far-right and far-left political groups begin exploiting worries and accusations of "weekly" sexual attacks by immigrants in different ways. In the permissive culture, pro-paedophilia groups operate with the support of Labour party members.
Industrial-scale 80s abuse is ignored
A Sunday Mirror report claims as many as 1000 children in Telford suffered "generational" abuse as far back as the 1980s. In parallel, Chief Constable Simon Bailey from Operation Hydrant explains 4000+ cases found so far mean, "as a society, and we are going to have to recognise and accept, that during the 1970s and 1980s in particular, there was widespread sexual abuse of children taking place."
Authorities ignore "child prostitutes"
The "Streets and Lanes" project is established in Bradford to help "child prostitutes." Managers of local children's homes in Rotherham set up the "taxi driver group" to investigate reports taxis driven by Pakistani men were arriving at care homes to take children away. Rotherham Council create "Risky Business" to work with girls aged 11–25 at risk. Social workers in Telford know about abuse but do nothing.
Ministers propose anti-grooming laws
The government recognises the severity of the problem via Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who publishes a white paper, "Protecting the Public." Among the new offences are luring and grooming children for sex, as well as claiming consent for paedophilia with children under 12.
Keighley MP Ann Cryer goes public
7 mothers with names and addresses of 65 abusers attacking girls as young as 11 approach Labour MP Ann Cryer, who faces death threats and racism accusations while police and social services do nothing. Channel 4 delays a documentary on Bradford grooming gangs over fears of inflaming racial tensions.
Hard-right groups exert pressure
The British National Party and English Defence League begin loudly campaigning against immigrant-related sexual crime in the north of England. Nick Griffin attempts to unseat Cryer, but finishes last.
Charlene Downes' murderers walk free
Two Pakistani men on trial for murdering 14 year-old Charlene Downes are released from court despite being heard joking about how her body had been ground up into kebab meat for sale to her own parents. Journalist Julie Bindel details the interview of 3000 people during the search indicated "endemic child sexual abuse" in Blackpool.
First offenders convicted in Rotherham
Five Pakistani men are finally convicted at Sheffield Crown Court of sexual offences against girls aged 12-16 in Rotherham, causing mass resignations of public officials. 1,400 children are believed to have been brutalised – including by serving police officers – with it being described as the "biggest child protection scandal in UK history."
The Times finally mainstreams the story
The Times falsely claims to be the first to break the "grooming gangs" story, given to its reporter Andrew Norfolk a decade previously by Anne Cryer, amid attempts by the Department of Education to bring injunctive court action against the paper to prevent publication. Home Secretary Jack Straw identifies the "specific problem" of Pakistani men targeting white girls as "easy meat."
Rochdale follows Rotherham
Nine Pakistani men are the first to be convicted in Rochdale of sex trafficking and rape, leading to Operation Doublet and government management of the growing PR problem. Media outlets began describing the reporting of similar continued incidents as "moral panic" and "racist." It is followed by convictions of 13 Pakistani men for the rape of a hundred girls in Derby.
Jay report provokes mass resignations
The 7-year Alexis Jay Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse begins, ultimately concluding "at least 1,400 children sexually exploited" in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 alone. In parallel, Casey finds Rotherham Council "not fit for purpose."
The BBC broadcasts "Three Girls"
Another 12 men are jailed for 130 years for grooming in Keighley and Bradford. A drama about Rochdale, "Three Girls," is broadcast on BBC One and triggers public outrage.
County Lines involves 27,000
National Crime Agency figures report 3000 domestic sex/drug trafficking routes exist in the UK turning over £500 million, involving 27,000 children.
50 cities with 1000+ victims each
A Sunday Mirror investigation reveals Telford had "up to 1,000 victims over 40 years" with multiple children murdered. It is believed at least 50 cities could have been affected at the same scale, or worse. Home Secretary Sajid Javid claims it is "self-evident to anyone who cares to look that if you look at all the recent high-profile cases there is a high proportion of men that have Pakistani heritage."
Councils identify 19,000 victims
The Independent reports 18,700 suspected victims of child sexual exploitation have been identified nationally by local authorities in 2018-19, up from 3,300 five years earlier.
500,000 victims over 40 years
Christian Concern highlights a survivor's report citing there may be at least 500,000 victims in 40 years, a conservative estimate where "the total number of victims is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands." The Home Office refuses to release grooming gang research claiming it is "not in the public interest." Jay feels "frustrated" none of her probe's 20 recommendations have been implemented.
Conservatives mock victims
Boris Johnson denies 2019 LBC video comments describing money spent on child abuse investigations as "spaffed up the wall" - £60 million on "historic child abuse and all this malarkey." Rishi Sunak launches a Grooming Gangs Taskforce stating "for too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women." Home Secretary Suella Braverman claims grooming gang members are "groups of men, almost all Pakistani, who hold cultural attitudes completely incompatible with British values."
Oldham's pleas are dismissed
Labour safeguarding minister Jess Phillips rejects Oldham Council's request for a meeting with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, saying neither could meet "due to demands on our time."
Labour u-turns on an inquiry
Elon Musk calls Jess Philips a "rape genocide apologist" who "deserves to be in prison" as the new Labour government formally rejects Oldham Council's repeated requests for a Home Office-led inquiry into historic child abuse. The Grooming Gangs Taskforce announces it has identified 4,228 group-based cases. Labour MPs vote 364 to 111 against a Conservative proposal for a national inquiry, as the PM accuses them of "jumping on bandwagon of the far-right."
Nobody Knows How Many Victims There Are
Scale of the Problem
Estimates suggest 500,000 children are sexually abused every year in Britain. Analysis by the police found there were 115,000 recorded cases of child sexual abuse in 2023. According to Casey, the only figure on group-based child sexual exploitation comes from a new police dataset (called the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Dataset - COCAD) which, while suffering a number of limitations, has identified around 700 recorded offences of group-based child sexual exploitation in 2023.
Who They Are
National police data confirms the majority of victims of child sexual exploitation are girls (78% in 2023) with the most common age for victims being between 10 and 15 years old (57% in 2023). Most perpetrators are men (76% in 2023).
The list of cities affected by the rape gangs scandal is so large it's difficult to keep track. Wikipedia alone has detailed entries for Aylesbury, Banbury, Bristol, Derby, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Peterborough, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford.
At least 30 cities with confirmed press coverage to date include Aylesbury, Banbury, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Brierfield, Bristol, Burton-on-Trent, Coventry, Derby, Dewsbury and Batley, Glasgow, Halifax, High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Hull, Hulme, Ilford, Ipswich, Leicester, Luton, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oldham, Oxford, Peterborough, Rochdale, Rotherham, Sheffield, Stockport, and Telford.
The Lowe Inquiry believes it involves at least 85 local authorities: Aberdeen City, Angus, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Argyll and Bute, Barnsley, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bradford, Brent, Bristol, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Burnley, Calderdale, Camden, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Cherwell, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, City of Edinburgh, Coventry, Croydon, Cumberland, Dacorum, Derby, Doncaster, Dorset, East Hertfordshire, East Staffordshire, Glasgow City, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Hull, Kirklees, Lambeth, Leeds, Leicester, Lewisham, Luton, Manchester, Medway, Merton, Middlesbrough, Monmouthshire, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newham, North Tyneside, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Norwich, Nottingham, Oldham, Oxford, Pembrokeshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Preston, Redbridge, Rochdale, Rossendale, Rotherham, Sheffield, Somerset, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Swansea, Telford and Wrekin, Tower Hamlets, Vale of White Horse, Wakefield, Wandsworth, Warrington, Watford, West Berkshire, Westmorland and Furness, Wirral, Worcester, Wyre Forest
Interactive map showing confirmed cases across the UK. Each pink marker represents a city with documented prosecutions.
You're Not Alone
This has happened everywhere. In every town, in every city. You are not to blame. What happened to you was not your fault. Your voice matters, and your story deserves to be heard.