‘They thought we were problem children’: how grooming victims were failed in Oldham

National inquiry on grooming gangs will look at how police ignored girls while officials feared fuelling the far rightIn 2003, long before the term “grooming gang” entered the lexicon, social workers in Oldham noticed a disturbing pattern: girls from local children’s homes were repeatedly going missing. Often, they were found in the same locations, being harboured by the same men. Each time the authorities thought they had got a grip on the problem, it reared its head again. By 2006, there were concerns that groups of offenders were targeting children at high schools. One girl, later referred to in court as Child X, fell into their clutches while truanting when she was 12 years old. By 14, she had been abused by 300 men and was addicted to crack cocaine and heroin.“Unless you scratch below the surface you do not realise the enormity of the problem,” Ruth Baldwin, then the executive director for young people and families at Oldham council, said in December 2006. “We are not talking about teenage relationships. These are men in their 20s, 30s, and beyond.”Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...