Rochdale child grooming scandal fuelling Islamophobia

Manchester Evening News reports on concerns expressed by Muslims in Rochdale over the rise in ‘unprecedented and unacceptable’ prejudice suffered by the local community since news of the child sex grooming scandals broke.

An upsurge in anti-Muslim abuse, in the form of hate mail and offensive phone calls, was highlighted by Muslim organisations in the area in the immediate aftermath of the conviction of nine men who were involved in a grooming gang in 2012.

Now, a coalition group called Rochdale Muslim Community, comprising of local Muslim leaders, have issued a statement arguing that the disproportionate focus on ethnicity and religion of non-white sex offenders has led to the stigmatisation of the Muslim community and is fuelling Islamophobia.

The statement was issued in the wake of a protest by Asian taxi drivers in Heywood after their cab firm, Car 2000, admitted to supplying white drivers to customers on request. According to Manchester Evening News, cars run Asian taxi drivers have been attacked or vandalised regularly following the grooming scandal in the area in 2012.

Rochdale Muslim Community stated: “It has become evident to anyone that follows events in the media that Islam is being portrayed negatively and that Muslims living in Britain are bearing the brunt of discrimination and violence.

“There is little doubt that this has resulted in not only the community feeling vilified but could potentially breakdown social cohesion within society. Irresponsible comments from senior local and national politicians are aiding the negative portrayal of the Muslim community.”

As the coalition observes, attempts by some politicians and the media to identify grooming as a problem within the Muslim community solely leads to “misinformation [that] will stigmatise the whole of the Muslim community.”

Indeed, in a parliamentary debate on child sexual exploitation, the Conservative MP for Keighley, Kris Hopkins, made reference to “gangs of Muslim men” involved in “raping white kids” and suggested that “sexist behaviour by Muslim men towards women” was the root cause of the problem.

The Rochdale coalition further referred to the double standards apparent in media coverage of grooming and child sexual exploitation with ethnicity and religion being identified as causal factors in the case of Asian criminals but not in regard to white offender such as Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall and former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith.

A similar argument was advanced by the Guardian’s Associate Editor, Joseph Harker, who drew comparison between the treatment of Asian and white sex offenders and the ‘racialisation’ of criminal activity in a way that leads to stereotyping of minority groups.

The role of the media in unduly racialising sex grooming is most apparent in the allegations made by the Daily Mail and The Times about the Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz’s interim report on ‘Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups’. The newspapers claimed the report overlooked had ‘left out’ the role of ethnicity in the targeting of white girls by Asian offenders.

Berelowitz in evidence given to the Home affairs select committee inquiry into child exploitation and grooming criticised The Times for “suggesting that victims are only white and perpetrators are only Asian” saying that “the single most important common denominator across all perpetrators is that they are male”.

The Rochdale Muslim Community statement refers to the consequences for local communities of biased reporting stating:

“Unfortunately, we are now facing a situation where a disdain of the Muslim community is something which is deemed acceptable.

“We believe that all segments of society have a duty to stand up against Islamophobia in all of its guises no matter how subtle or apparent.

“We intend to double our efforts in order to alleviate the misconceptions that have been manufactured by irresponsible speech, not only by far-right but mainstream politicians and the media.

“Part of our action plan will be to educate the wider society about the Islamic belief to help overcome stereotypes against Islam.”