麻豆社

Good morning. Many years ago I was asked to write an expert witness report. The case was about an elderly Pakistani Muslim father who found his daughter with a young man in her bedroom. In a fit of rage, the man stabbed his daughter, killing her, even as her male friend managed to run away. I was asked if I could provide some mitigation, some cultural or religious context as to why the father had reacted in this way. But I replied that this was a horrific crime, nothing would diminish the barbarity of the act and that neither culture nor religion could or should act as any kind of refuge for the girl鈥檚 father.

And I thought of this case which happened near Rochdale, when reading about the most recent report on the Rochdale grooming gang scandal. Commissioned by Andy Burnham, the lengthy report condemns Greater Manchester Police and Rochdale Council for failing to properly look into the individuals and groups of largely Pakistani men who sexually abused and exploited mainly young white girls for many years. The authorities have been accused of tiptoeing around multiculturalism and race. And despite consistent warnings and interventions from local women whistleblowers who knew of the abuse, these young and vulnerable victims were quite simply ignored by the very people whose job it was to protect them. Yet another case of so called institutional failure.

As always apologies and regrets follow. But I wonder how much has actually changed when it comes to really listening to young girls and young people more widely, let alone those who have the courage to raise any concerns. And what does it say about our society when it鈥檚 so easy to deny, trivialise or distort the experience of those who come from more deprived backgrounds, or who live in care. Because your value as a human being shouldn鈥檛 depend on your background or social class. As citizens, our freedom lies in being able to tell our story, be heard and believed especially young people who are so often made voiceless.

There鈥檚 a well-known prophetic saying, that if you see something wrong, change it with your actions and if not your actions, with your words, and if not with your words, then at least with your thoughts. This is a call to act with courage and integrity, show leadership when we see any wrongdoing within our families, communities and workplaces. Because without holding people accountable, there鈥檚 little hope for those whose suffering is ignored. Sexual abuse especially of children relies on silence and secrecy where perpetrators can too easily hide behind power, culture, religion and perhaps worst of all, human indifference.

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