Grooming Gangs: A National Scandal That Should Never Have Happened

For years, group-based child sexual exploitation has devastated the lives of children across the UK. This wasn’t hidden abuse behind closed doors, it was happening in plain sight, often ignored or downplayed by the very systems designed to protect children. What makes this scandal so horrific is that some of the children were as young as 10 years old. These were children, babies, in so many ways robbed of their innocence and dignity by organised gangs of adult men who saw them as objects to use, pass around, and discard.

Targeting the Most Vulnerable

The children groomed by these gangs weren’t just random victims. They were deliberately targeted because of their vulnerabilities:

➡️ Many came from disadvantaged backgrounds, already experiencing poverty, neglect, or abuse at home.
➡️ Others were in care or already isolated and unheard.
➡️ Some of these girls were even impregnated by their abusers, forced to live with the lifelong trauma of carrying a child conceived through rape.

These predators were calculating and systematic. They supplied children with alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes. Then they shared them with other abusers in a coordinated web of exploitation. This wasn’t isolated abuse ,it was group-based grooming.

Institutional Failure: What the Casey Review Confirms

The recent Casey Review once again highlights what survivors and advocates have been shouting for years:

• Authorities, including police and social workers, repeatedly failed to act on reports of abuse.
  • There was a culture of disbelief, minimisation, and fear.
  • Some professionals were more concerned about offending communities or causing political discomfort than protecting children.

One of the most striking statements from Baroness Casey was:

“We failed these children at every level.”

Baroness Casey’s Audit of Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation

As confirmed by Baroness Louise Casey’s independent review, published in June 2025, this wasn’t isolated abuse , it was organised, group-based exploitation. The audit revealed that many victims were ignored or not believed, while some authorities hesitated to act for fear of causing offense because of the ethnic backgrounds of some perpetrators. Baroness Casey made it clear:

“Protecting children must always come first.”

While there’s been much focus on the ethnic backgrounds of some perpetrators, this abuse wasn’t about race—it was about power, predation, and a systemic refusal to confront uncomfortable truths.

What Needs to Change?

This cannot happen again. Moving forward demands more than headlines it requires real change:

• Children must be believed the first time they speak out.
  • Safeguarding professionals must act courageously, regardless of politics or discomfort.
  • All communities must confront exploitation wherever it exists with honesty and urgency.
  • Victims need long-term support, not just short-term interventions.

When you listen to survivors, one thing is painfully clear, this scandal was preventable. Children were sacrificed at the altar of professional denial and institutional cowardice.

Silence protects predators. Truth protects children. And protecting children must always come first.