‘Nadiya’s courage will help victims’

By Nadeem Badshah

CELEBRITY chef and TV presenter Nadiya Hussain has been praised by leading charities for her “bravery” after revealing she was sexually abused at the age of five.

In her new memoir Finding My Voice, the winner of the 2015 edition of the Great British Bake Off TV show, said an uncle’s friend molested her in Bangladesh. Hussain said she believes the assault led to her being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety years later.

Support groups believe the 34-year-old’s admission could lead to more victims coming forward to reveal their experience at the hands of relatives or religious teachers.

Data from support services suggests that child sex abuse (CSA) is one of the top three forms of sexual violence that women of south Asian origin seek help for as adults.

Dr Ravi K Thiara, an associate professor at the University of Warwick, was involved in the first national study on black and minority ethnic women and sexual violence, which is set to be published later this month.

She told Eastern Eye: “I think Nadiya has been incredibly brave to come out in public about her violation. One of the key issues for victim survivors is the pressures to remain silent so that their experiences become unspeakable.

“They are often disbelieved and pressurised to keep CSA hidden. They also feel a sense of responsibility to their families and protect them from shame and stigma. It’s a big burden to carry and has inevitable consequences for their mental wellbeing.

“In addition, specialist sexual violence support services are not equipped to respond positively to Asian women’s experiences of sexual violence, and statutory services are frequently experienced in negative ways by women and girls.

“I hope Nadiya’s brave disclosure will give others the strength to break the silence and seek help.”

Recent CSA cases include that of Hafiz Azizur Rehman Pirzada being jailed in January for sexually abusing two young girls whom he privately tutored in north London.

Last year, spiritual leader Mohammed Rabani was convicted of indecently assaulting a boy in a mosque’s attic in Nottinghamshire.

In 2017, a 76-year-old man who sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at a gurdwara in Wolverhampton, in the Midlands, was jailed for 16 months. In 2015, Gurpinder Ghuman was jailed for more than four years for trying to sexually assault a teenage girl at a Sikh temple in Kent during a wedding.

Yasmin Khan, director of the Halo Project charity, is set to hold an event for survivors in November in

Middlesbrough, Teeside. She told Eastern Eye: “It is really brave of her [Nadiya]. It takes so much courage for victims to come forward. Victims don’t think they will be believed.

“The Catholic Church faced up to decades of abuse, so why are we immune to that – mosques, gurdwaras, temples?

“More people are talking about the issue since [Nadiya’s admission]. We need to have a national conversation. People live with it for all of their lives, the trauma, the effect it can have on their relationships. We need a system and cultural change.”

Research in 2018 found that sexual abuse reporting rates are lower within south Asian communities in the UK. The study by the University of Hull and the University of Roehampton said “powerful cultural norms” were preventing incidents being reported to police, and called for a national training programme and better education in schools on safety.

Rani Bilkhu, founder of the Jeena International charity, said she has supported victims including a 17-yearold British Pakistani girl who revealed to her mother that her religious teacher used to touch her back and shoulder inappropriately during classes.

She said: “There is this concept of izzat [honour]. We are allowing perpetrators to carry on.

“It is not the religion being shamed, only the perpetrators who using religion as a ruse to get away with it.

“I know a woman who was sexually assaulted by a priest when she went to him because she wanted a boy. Victims are boys as well.”

The Islamic Relief UK charity launched a Honour Her campaign last year, backed by the Muslim Council of Britain, to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls.

Meanwhile, the Sikh Youth UK group has held UK tours to highlight sexual grooming and has exposed alleged culprits by posting footage of its undercover stings online.

For support or more information, visit www. haloproject.org.uk or https://jeena.org.uk