TWO survivors of grooming gangs have called for politicians to step back and let women shape the new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.
Holly Archer and Scarlett Jones, who helped run a local inquiry in Telford, said the political fighting over vulnerable women must stop before the investigation begins, the Guardian reported.
"We have to put politics aside when it comes to child sexual exploitation, we have to stop this tug of war with vulnerable women," said Archer, who wrote a book about her experiences called I Never Gave My Consent: A Schoolgirl's Life Inside the Telford Sex Ring.
"There are so many voices that need to be heard. There's some voices, though, that need to step away. We can do it, let us do it – we don't need you to speak on our behalf," she was quoted as saying.
Jones, who works with Archer at the Holly Project support service, said people were taking advantage of survivors. "There are so many people out there at this moment exploiting the exploited – it's happening all the time," she explained.
Both women use false names to protect themselves and their families. Archer said she no longer uses social media after receiving threats. "I've been called a paedophile myself, a paedophile enabler, a grooming gang supporter. They said they hope my daughter gets raped. It's just constant," she said.
She also described how the far-right Britain First group gave her leaflets in Telford after her book came out in 2016. "They handed me leaflets that had quotes from my own book in them. They didn't know it was me, and they were telling me I was very pro what they were doing. It was insane," she said.
The government announced this week that police will collect ethnicity data for all child sexual abuse cases. This follows a report by Louise Casey that found evidence of "overrepresentation" of men of Asian and Pakistani heritage among suspects in some areas.
However, Casey also said police data from one region showed that the races of child abuse suspects matched the local population. She urged the public to "keep calm" over the ethnicities of offenders.
Archer said collecting ethnicity data was important but people should not rely on stereotypes. While she was abused from age 14 by men of Pakistani origin, most of the men who "bought" and raped her as a child were Chinese. Jones said she was first abused within her own white family before being drawn into a child sexual abuse racket.
"Nobody wants to know about that because that doesn't meet their narrative," Archer said. "You're told that you're just not relevant, that it didn't really happen to you anyway. You're a liar. You're a fake person."
The new inquiry will coordinate five existing local investigations through an independent commission with full legal powers. The National Crime Agency will lead efforts to reopen historical group-based child sexual abuse cases, with more than 800 cases set for review.
Both women welcomed the plans but criticised the previous independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Prof Alexis Jay.
"Years later, nothing has been done, none of the recommendations have been implemented," Jones said. "The worry is that that is what will happen again."
The government will also change the law so that all sexual acts with children under 16 are charged as rape, and will quash criminal convictions of victims who were prosecuted for offences while being exploited.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images