Asian grooming gangs? Colonial roots of contemporary racism in Britain

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak 

The Hydrant Programme, which leads the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce, is supported by two national policing initiatives: the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) Programme and the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP). It has documented 4,422 victims and 6,670 suspects in 2024. Additionally, it has identified 4,228 group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes in the UK in 2024.These figures highlight the failure of the UK government, law enforcement agencies and its policies to effectively combat the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. This heinous crime and epidemic of child sexual abuse and exploitation continues to grow, posing a serious threat to the very fabric of our society and its future—our children. 

These criminals are British citizens or residents in Britain, and the crimes take place in Britain. This is a crime against children in Britain, and therefore, British law enforcement agencies must act swiftly to take all necessary steps in accordance with British law to stop such heinous crimes. However, instead of tackling such a serious crime, the ruling elites divert public attention by focusing on the race, nationality, and ethnicity of the criminals. The political leaders are busy in shaping public perception about a particular migrant group to divert public attention on this critical issue.

Both the Trumpian capitalist tech mogul and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as well as the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, used the phrase "Asian grooming gangs" to describe the heinous criminals responsible for widespread sexual abuse of children in Rochdale, Rotherham, Oxford and many other cities in Britain. Right-wing Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha Member of the Indian Parliament, joined the debate by rejecting both Elon Musk’s and Keir Starmer’s phrasing, instead referring to the perpetrators as "Pakistani grooming gangs." Elon Musk agrees with her.  It appears there is a unity among reactionary and right-wing politicians across continents. Such a reactionary, right-wing, and racist narrative undermines the gravity of the heinous crime by emphasising the nationality or ethnicity of the perpetrators. These debates are not only intended to divide working people along national and ethnic lines but also weaken the united struggle against all forms of abuse, particularly the sexual abuse of children.

The British media amplifies the voice of the ruling elites and perpetuates headlines framing the issue as a Pakistani and Muslim problem, drawing attention to the ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds of the offenders involved in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The colonial construction of criminal tribes, along with the stereotypes of violent Muslim and Black men, continues to shape the contemporary imagination of a large portion of the British population. Such a racialised narrative has its roots in British colonialism, driven by white supremacist politics of dominance and control over people and their resources. British colonisers viewed people in the colonies in a particular way and perpetuated racialised stereotypes that have historically been normalised and continue to shape public discourse in contemporary Britain. 

The racialisation of child sexual exploitation and the demonisation of British Pakistanis or Asian migrants serve the interests of the British ruling class in three ways. First, it divides the working class and weakens the unified struggle against the government's failure to address child sexual exploitation. Second, it enables the government to divert public attention by perpetuating harmful stereotypes of British Pakistani men as violent, sex-driven predators with multiple sexual partners, as their religion and culture supposedly allow. These stereotypes are not supported by any material evidence but help to uphold moral arguments that advance white supremacist politics.

The data on child sexual abuse reveals the reality and debunks the myth of 'Asian grooming gangs,' 'Pakistani grooming gangs,' and 'Punjabi gangs.' The data shows that 88% of defendants prosecuted for child sexual abuse offences in England and Wales in 2022 were white, slightly higher than their percentage in the general population (83%). South Asian defendants accounted for 7% of those prosecuted, slightly lower than their 9% population percentage in the general population. Black defendants made up 3% of those prosecuted, compared to their 4% share in the general population. Bangladeshis accounted for 1%, and there were no defendants from the Chinese migrant population. Professor Tahir Abbas, in his article “The Grooming Gang Debate: Navigating Race, Politics, and Justice in the UK”, published in the Medium, forcefully argues against the racialised narrative of grooming gangs and child sexual abuse by using data from the Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics, UK. These figures not only challenge the narrative that grooming gangs are predominantly an Asian or Pakistani problem but also highlight the racialisation of crime in contemporary Britain.

There is absolutely no point in focusing on the nationality, religion, ethnicity, or cultural background of criminals. These individuals are British citizens or residents who must face the full force of British law to end all forms of abuse and crime against children. Only by ensuring the safety of children can we create a secure future for humanity beyond the boundaries of Britain. Children belong to no one. They are our future, and their protection is our duty. Will the ruling elite listen, stop racializing crime and criminals, and take action to end the sexual abuse of children in Britain and around the world?