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On-Street Grooming

Posted by Beyond The Streets on 21/12/2011 at 09:15 PM



Sexual exploitation of young people is not a new thing within society, and it takes place within almost all communities, cultures, religions and races. However, over the last decade a new pattern of abuse has emerged in the UK, this is: ‘on-street grooming’.


‘On-street grooming’ is the process by which teenage and adult men pick up young adolescent girls through showering them with presents and compliments. Once trust has been established and a relationship built up, sexual abuse begins. Girls who are victims of this crime are often passed between friends or gang raped, in some cases in exchange for cash, and in other cases to raise the ‘street cred’ of the perpetrator. In the UK, perpetrators of this crime are found to be largely British-Pakistani, whilst it is young white girls who are their targets.


Over the last two months, this topic has been covered by two hard-hitting TV Programmes. Early November Channel Four aired ‘Dispatches: Britain’s Sex Gangs’, a few weeks later BBC One aired the programme ‘Exposed: Groomed for Sex’. Throughout both of these programmes the presenters travel around speaking to members of the British-Pakistani community, the police, agencies working with this vulnerable population and the girls themselves. 


Within both of these programmes, the issue that was highlighted most strongly was the racial and religious backgrounds of the perpetrators of this crime. Adil Ray the presenter of the BBC programme highlighted that the men from these communities are only a handful, and are not representative of the communities themselves. Nevertheless, it was also noted that the socio-cultural backgrounds of these men entwined with the ‘McSexualisation’ of culture that you find in the west is a contributing factor to shaping their mentality. As Ghaffar Hussain(1) writes, “[within these communities] segregation between the sexes is enforced from an early age, sex itself is seen as a taboo topic and never discussed at home and women are often expected to behave in a subservient fashion. At the same time, the young men are also exposed to a highly sexualised popular culture where women are objectified”


Although these may be contributing factors to the creation of this sub-culture, it is unacceptable to lay any blame with anyone other than the perpetrators of this horrible crime. During the BBC documentary it was said: “…prostitution brings the crime to the areas… You can see how easy it is for people to get involved in these sorts of acts, regardless of background… This street’s problems don’t in any way excuse what these men did, but now I have spent time here I can see how this environment can be a potential breeding ground for sexual exploitation”.


It is important to realise and understand that whether it is on-street grooming, prostitution, pornography, trafficking or any other form of sexual exploitation, that it is the men who commit these crimes, whatever their race, age, or religion, who must take responsibilities for their actions. At the same time further preventative work should be done to challenge cultural attitudes and to educate young girls in the potential dangers of on-street grooming.


1. http://www.thecommentator.com/article/722/on_street_grooming

 


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