Revealed: Asian children under 10 ‘arrested’ for sex crimes
By Barnie Choudhury & Abhijeet Gaur
Police have arrested more than 30,500 south Asians for sex offences in the past decade.
Shockingly, during that period they arrested 1,490 children, Eastern Eye can reveal. Two of these were under 10 and cannot legally be held criminally responsible.
The figures will add to the growing debate over how safe women are on Britain’s streets.
Seema Malhotra MP (UK Parliament)
“Like all women, I have all felt vulnerable when I have walked home alone at night, regularly changing routes I use, sometimes walking into a shop to ask someone to walk with me to my car or to my home if I have been worried about being followed,” the Labour MP for Feltham & Heston, Seema Malhotra, told Eastern Eye.
“I know from meeting young girls in schools and talking to them how unsafe the streets can feel even going to and from school. At this time also, our hearts go out to the family and friends of Sarah Everard, a young, beautiful and talented young women with her whole life ahead of her.”
Sarah Everard’s body was found in woodland in Kent. Police charged a protection officer from the Met, Wayne Couzens, with kidnapping and murder on Friday (12).
Prosecutions
The criminologist, Professor Aisha K. Gill PhD CBE from the University of Roehampton, said she has had “first-hand experience of being attacked”.
Prof Aisha K. Gill
“I have dealt with countless instances of fatal and non-fatal forms violence of women and girls’ cases against abusers being dropped, either by the police or by the Crown Prosecution Service,” she said.
“In challenging these decisions, I have discovered that the prosecution’s case often falls apart because of police officers misinterpreting, destroying or inaccurately recording evidence, or not even gathering key evidence in the first place.”
Prof Gill said she had been campaigning for more protection for minority women for 21 years.
“In many cases, this is because the police deem the accused more credible than the victim. Sometimes the criminal justice system considers a delay in reporting to discredit the victim.
“Another issue is that police officers who ignore the testimony of female victims and witnesses are rarely reprimanded, even when there are dire consequences.”
Shame and stigma
Prof Gill’s views are echoed by south Asian charities set up to help women and girls facing violence.
“It’s about recognising the abuses that take place every day but, women and girls, we normalise them because they happen all too often, and when we do speak out, we don’t get the proper response we should be getting,” executive director of Karma Nirvana, Natasha Rattu, told Eastern Eye.
“It’s important the government recognises the challenges Asian women and girls have in reporting this, with the layers of shame and stigma which make it more difficult for them to come forward.”
Campaigners said that coercion was a prime factor in domestic abuse and honour-based violence (HBV), they said.
Last year the Middlesbrough-based Halo Project told Eastern Eye that about 16,000 victims and agencies had called its national helpline for advice and guidance. Of these, 65 per cent included HBV and elements of coercive control.
“The outpouring of support and solidarity for Sarah Everard has highlighted how much more needs to be done to protect women and girls at work, in the home and the street,” said the charity’s founder, Yasmin Khan.
“Women we have supported have highlighted concerns surrounding police investigations and the need for an overhaul of the way rape and sexual abuse cases are being dealt with within the criminal justice system.
“The truth is every woman can identify with the real fear which exists, we need to do more as a society, and so do government because too many perpetrators are walking away with impunity because a justice system is failing victims of abuse.”
A picture of Sarah Everard sits amongst flowers left at the bandstand, Clapham Common where floral tributes have been building up over the last few days on March 15, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ming Yeung/Getty Images)
Court of Appeal
But the police do not accept this observation. The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for rape, Deputy Chief Constable Sarah Crew told Eastern Eye, “Rape is one of the most devastating crimes police investigate and survivors will be listened to, treated with compassion and respect and a thorough investigation will be conducted.
“Whilst reports of rape have increased considerably over recent years, we know it is still underreported. We are working with partners across the whole of the criminal justice system to remove the barriers some communities face in reporting to police.”
Last year Eastern Eye revealed that Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed that in 2019, prosecutors took legal action against 585 people, but only 305 were found guilty.
The data also showed that 35 Asians were prosecuted and 18 – just over half – were sentenced to an average of 20 months.
But this week (15), the Court of Appeal threw out a legal challenge to the Crown Prosecution Service about how it decides on who to prosecute for serious sexual offences.
“Effective prevention of rape, sexual abuse in British south Asian communities depends on addressing the cultural circumstances that perpetuate it, including through enabling it to remain hidden,” said Prof Gill. “This means confronting the use of ‘honour’ and ‘shame’ to control women’s behaviour, as well as the widespread narratives that lead to victim blaming.
“Support services also need to play their part role in addressing the specific socio-cultural and intersectional context of sexual abuse in British south Asian communities.”
Lessons to learn
In 2015, the body which assesses the effectiveness of the police, the HMICFRS, (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) warned that the service “is not sufficiently prepared to protect effectively victims of HBV”.
In 2018, HMICFRS warned, “Although awareness is growing, research indicates that these important issues remain largely under the radar of most agencies, including the police.”
The fact that the authorities miss the signs of coercion and domestic abuse was made clear that year when the gay husband of 34-year-old Jessica Patel from Middlesbrough murdered her. Jessica had been abused and controlled for nine years, with her husband preventing her from seeing her dying grandfather.
The Halo Project was involved in the domestic homicide review and made sure Jessica’s murder was considered as an “honour killing”.
“There needs to be an overhaul of the criminal justice agencies to tackle societal injustices and failures in the legal system,” said Khan.
Following the murder of Sarah Everett, high profile south Asian women have taken to social media to tell of their experiences.
Feelings of fear
In a Twitter thread the broadcaster, commentator and former Labour adviser, Ayesha Hazarika wrote, “Millions of women are having a profound honest conversation with her friends & family about the fear of male violence.
“Even if you’re cocky like me, there’s always that flash of fear. And it’s not just walking home. Think of the threats we get online. Rape, death, acid attacks...”
She continued, “There is so often the threat of violence. & that’s all you need. Just a suggestion of violence (often sexual) is enough to scare you shitless, make you think again, or fear getting punished or attacked. We have to change this violent narrative & behaviour. Stop scaring women.”
Former medic, Aneesa, 45, said that when she was travelling on the London Underground during rush hour, men would rub themselves up against her, put their hands on her waist or pinch her bottom.
“I couldn’t do anything because the tube was packed and there was no one around to complain to,” she said. “Men would deliberately sexually assault me, and I was powerless to do anything.
“Once I grabbed an attacker’s hand and pinched it, and another woman saw what he’d done and put herself in between. After that I started to carry a large safety pin, and one day when someone grabbed my arse, I stuck the pin into his crotch. He moved away sharpish.”
Things do not appear to be any different for younger women.
Trainee teacher, Tharanjeet, 25 and from Sheffield, said, “When I’m out walking to work or going back home, it’s the way these men leer at you. Their look is enough, it makes one uncomfortable. Then it’s the wolf-whistles or shouts of what they’d like to do to you.
“Asian men are worst. They’re so used to being treated as princes at home, they’re told they can do nothing wrong and they’re the pride and joy of their families, so whatever they do, they know they’ll be protected and forgiven.
“The way they talk to Asian women is disgusting, and you know what they say, an Asian man has a white mistress somewhere. If you’re at a nightclub, and you’re not wearing a salwar-kameez, they think you’re a slut and you’re fair game.”
“We need a new street harassment law. We also want to see a whole life tariff for anyone found guilty of abduction and sexual assault and murder of a stranger, tougher sentences for domestic murderers and making misogyny a hate crime.”
Government consultation
Last week (15) the government reopened its consultation on violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy.
Its last four-year plan was between 2016 and 2020, and it raises the question why it did not have one in place when the previous strategy ended in December.
In fact, the Home Office did not start to look at the plan until March 2019.
“Currently the government response is fragmented,” said criminologist Prof Gill from the University of Roehampton. “We are in a crisis and yet again it takes critical harms against women and girls for debate and discussion.
“Progress is likely to remain piecemeal, allowing agencies to individually and collectively deny accountability, both for their actions and for their failures to act. We should all be calling out abusive behaviour in our midst. Enough is enough.”
This criticism is echoed by Karma Nirvana, the West Yorkshire based charity which supports victims and survivors of forced marriage and honour-based violence.
“The consultation should have started pre-Covid,” said its executive director, Natasha Rattu. “This shows how these types of issues are deprioritised or not thought through enough. As it stands there is no current strategy. The consultation ended in January, and we gave our views.
“We’re quite concerned by the plans around the new strategy. The government’s thinking of taking domestic abuse out of the VAWG strategy, and like many in our field we feel it must sit in this framework.”
The Freedom Charity helps thousands of young girls a year to escape violent homes. Its founder and president, Aneeta Prem, told Eastern Eye that she was disappointed the government did not start the consultation much earlier.
“They would argue that they’ve been in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “But what is more important than safety, be it health safety, be it sexual safety? Safety is crucially important.”
Malhotra indicated the time for consultation was over. “We need action, not more reports, and people are rightly feeling that the government simply isn’t taking the issue seriously enough.
“As just one example, the crown court backlog now exceeds 56,000 cases, and rape and serious sexual violence victims are being left to wait years for cases to get to trial. Even then, the likelihood of a successful prosecution is far too low.”
New laws needed
As part of the consultation, Asian women’s groups have called on the government to make sexual harassment a criminal offence.
The shadow work, pensions and employment minister, Seema Malhotra, backs them.
“They should start by increasing minimum sentences for the most serious criminals like stalkers and rapists, while working to drive up the appallingly low levels of convictions for sexual violence and domestic abuse,” she said.
Eastern Eye sent questions to the Home Office about the violence against women and girls strategy, but it refused to comment.
The National Police Chief Council said they were working with partners to protect women and girls. “Our efforts with the Crown Prosecution Service to implement a joint action plan to improve outcomes for victims continue at pace,” said the NPCC’s rape lead, Deputy Chief Constable Sarah Crew.
“This includes better training for officers on dealing with trauma, keeping victims as informed as possible, making sure we gather strong evidence from the outset and working closely with independent sexual violence advisers and other charities and support services so we can support victims in the best way possible.”
But Rattu said that the government’s decision to consult now was “definitely too late”, but she felt there was “a real opportunity” for change.
“This week we’ve seen the fallout of the Meghan Markle interview, the level of coercive control, the death of Sarah Everard, International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day. People are really talking about these issues, and I hope we have a spirit of momentum to continue.”
