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ACTION ALERT: Write to your MP to Help Protect Victims of Sexual Exploitation

Monday January 13 2025

In recent days there has been a great deal of attention paid to the topic of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and so-called grooming gangs.

Let’s be clear to start with: these crimes are heinous and perpetrators must face the full force of the law, while innocent victims should be given justice as well as all the support they need.

In 2020, a public inquiry was held into the issue of CSE in England & Wales, called The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, known also as The Jay Inquiry. It provided 20 policy recommendations for the government to implement to tackle this social evil and protect people – especially young children – from sexual predators. However, so far, very few of the 20 points have been implemented.

Unfortunately, rather than owning up to the fact that it failed to implement these crucial legislation, some among the Conservative government and the far-right have chosen to use the issue to demonise Muslims, and frame CSE as a crime committed almost exclusively by men of a South Asian/Muslim background, even though this is not what the facts show.

This has had the effect of dividing communities and taking the focus away from the victims of sex crimes.

MEND encourages you to write to your MP calling upon them to implement all 20 recommendations of The Jay Inquiry.

ACT NOW by following this step-by-step guide on how to write to your MP:

Step 1: Scroll below to the box for inputting your postcode

Step 2: Enter your postcode and click “find”

Step 3: Click the ‘send a message’ option found next to your local MP’s photograph

Step 4: Copy and paste the body of the template email in to your email. (IMPORTANT: EDIT THE EMAIL INTO YOUR OWN WORDS, MPS EMAIL SYSTEMS TEND TO DELETE IDENTICAL COPIES)

Step 5: Fill in the remaining information in the ‘About You’ section

Step 6: Hit “Preview and send”

Dear [enter MP’s name]

As you will be aware, in recent days there has been intensified discussion in Parliament and the media around the topic of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming gangs.

You will also no doubt be aware that, unfortunately, some among the Conservative opposition and the far-right have used the issue to demonise British Muslim communities by framing CSE as a crime committed almost exclusively by South Asian/Muslim men, despite the government’s own data showing this not to be the case.

I’m sure you would agree that our number one focus should be on the victims of these egregious crimes, giving them all the support they need, and implementing legislation that can help to prevent further crimes of this nature. A public inquiry was carried out in 2022 called The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, otherwise known as The Jay Inquiry, which recommended 20 policies the government could implement to this end. However, most of its recommendations have not been carried out.

Indeed, it would appear that some are more interested in spreading division and maligning entire communities, rather than ensuring victims get the justice they deserve.

I am therefore writing to ask you that when in Parliament, you call upon and lobby the government to initiate the process, as soon as possible, of implementing The Jay Inquiry’s 20 recommendations.

Yours sincerely,

[Enter your name]

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