THE RELIGIOUSLY AGGRAVATED SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF YOUNG SIKH WOMEN ACROSS THE UK - smart
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THE RELIGIOUSLY AGGRAVATED
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF YOUNG
SIKH WOMEN ACROSS THE UK
A p re lim in a ry ex p lora tio n in to the h istory o f tar ge te d sexu a l
ex p lo ita tion o f yo un g Sik h fem a les , a lo ngs id e assoc ia te d ag ita tion a nd
ac tiv ism by Br itis h Sikhs
S.M.A.R.T
In conjunction with
Sikh Youth UK
©2018 Sikh Youth UK. All rights reserved
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction - The sexual exploitation of young Sikh women in the UK
1.1. Aim of this study
2. Methodology
2.1. Important considerations for the findings
3. Findings
3.1. South Asian Migration Patterns
3.2. Grooming Gangs
3.2.1. Grooming Process
3.2.2. Identifying females to exploit
3.3. History
3.3.1. Forced conversion
3.4. Police Responses
3.5. Parental, Family & Community Responses
3.5.1. Vigilantism
4. Secondary Victims
5. Recommendations
6. References
12
FOREWORD
Sexual abuse and exploitation has highly traumatic, damaging and longstanding
consequences for victims as well as those supporting them. Empowering young people
alongside raising awareness of the risk remains central to combatting the crisis.
However, identifying young people at risk within the Sikh community is particularly
difficult in light of ever evolving grooming techniques coupled with persisting social
stigmas, cultural taboos and institutional deterrents surrounding the reporting of abuse.
The presence of such factors makes ascertaining the full scale of sexual exploitation and
supporting those affected, extremely difficult.
In recent years, Sikh Youth UK’s frontline work with young people experiencing sexual
abuse has revealed even greater challenges to supporting young women at risk across
the United Kingdom. The absence of substantive data supporting allegations of targeted
abuse and exploitation of young Sikh females remains the common justification amongst
authorities accused of failing to safeguard such children.
In light of these circumstances, this exploratory study serves to present the Sikh
community’s perspective of factors which have manifested themselves in behaviour
identified throughout the history of young Sikh females targeted for sexual abuse and
exploitation in the United Kingdom.
It is important to clarify that this study has not been undertaken as a witch-hunt against
any individual, community, culture or faith. However, in the absence of a clear
understanding and acceptance of key factors contributing to the risk, the British Sikh and
wider community will continue to struggle to effectively provide adequate measures
protecting and rehabilitating the victims of such crimes.
By drawing upon the professional insight and experience of practitioners, community
representatives, social and legal professionals in conjunction with media activity and
related literature, this study has sought to provide a preliminary insight into an under
researched and unacknowledged component of sexual abuse in the United Kingdom.
34
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have contributed to the development of this study and we are very
thankful for their input, support and guidance.
We are especially grateful for the contributions by both primary and secondary victims
of targeted abuse who bravely disclosed their traumatic experiences for the benefit of
the wider community.
To label them as victims is an academic formality for they truly are brave survivors who
inspired the completion of this study.
56
INTRODUCTION
71. INTRODUCTION
Sexual abuse and exploitation is not something that just happens, nor is it normal or acceptable in any society. Many of the
key risk factors that make individuals, families or communities vulnerable to sexual abuse can be effectively addressed only
once they have been acknowledged.
For over fifty years, voices within the British Sikh community have periodically raised
concerns over the alleged targeting of young Sikh females for sexual abuse and
exploitation. The issue is one that has prompted frequent community agitation and
activism perpetuated by a plethora of reported incidences to organisations and
community representatives from households across the country. The prevalence of such
cases has given rise to questions surrounding their authenticity, the sincerity of the
relationships and the role of the authorities in safeguarding Sikh youth.
Since the early nineteen-eighties, evidence collated by British Sikh organisations has
recorded cases of sexual abuse and exploitation against young Sikh females by grooming
gangs populated by perpetrators of primarily Pakistani or Muslim heritage. Although not
exclusively, offences are documented as regularly being committed within the structure
of networks including the nuclear and extended family members of offenders. This has
in turn prompted questions surrounding whether young Sikh females are victims of
opportunists or being targeted due to their religious heritage.
Ground level accounts from victims, Sikh community leaders and social activists have
repeatedly pointed towards a pattern of behaviour now commonly acknowledged as
archetypal sexual grooming techniques. Despite alleging a history of remonstration to
authorities over the issue, the Sikhs generally acknowledge their concerns as negligently
misunderstood or recklessly ignored.
At the same time as the concerns of the Sikh community remain unaddressed, gangs of
predominantly Pakistani men have been convicted of targeting young white females for
sexual exploitation in cities across the United Kingdom. The common factor amongst
these convictions is the utilisation of those techniques identified by the Sikh community
thirty years earlier.
8Following the high profile Rochdale grooming gang scandal, nine men of Pakistani
backgrounds were convicted at Liverpool Crown Court for the sexual abuse and
exploitation of white teenage girls. When jailing them, Judge Gerald Clifton observed:
"You preyed on girls because they were not part of your community or religion"
Manchester Evening News – 15 May 20121
In this case, the judge indicated his belief that the Rochdale gang had deliberately sought
victims outside of their own community. The case was one amongst many
demonstrating the disproportionately high involvement of Pakistani men in grooming
gangs. Whereas Rochdale served as a shocking revelation to many across the nation, the
case has been described as one all too familiar to the British Sikh community.
The Sikh predicament is stated to involve perpetrators of principally Pakistani heritage
targeting young female victims for abuse in both Sikh dominated areas as well as
locations with a scattered Sikh presence. Taking advantage of parallels between Sikh and
Pakistani cultures, offenders are alleged to have repeatedly exploited known cultural
sensitivities to ostracise victims from their family and community.
Sikh organisations allege that perpetrators have repeatedly manipulated inapt protocols
within law enforcement and social services, causing victims to fall deeper into their
exploiters traps. Those from different areas of association with the issue have often
conveyed frustration over the perceived inaction of the police and local authorities in
such cases.
Conversely, police forces and local authorities respond by pointing to a lack of statistics
and reported incidents in order to be able to address and tackle the issue. However,
accounts of Sikh parents in the cases of both current and historical victims, maintain that
their reluctance to engage with the police stems from the absence of understanding and
lack of empathy they experienced when dealing with the authorities upon such matters.
Members of the community assert that reports to police forces were historically met
with cynicism and largely ignored.
9Despite the current absence of official statistics, judicial activity has intermittently
recorded references to the targeting of Sikh girls for over forty years.
The first recorded case involving the targeting of a Sikh schoolgirl
by a Pakistani gang came before Middlesex Area Sessions (Court)
in 19712, although many within the Sikh community allege such
activity surfaced a decade earlier.
Studies in the last decade have started to explore how sexual exploitation manifests and
impacts itself in the lives of young people however, as the targeting of young Sikh
females remains to be acknowledged, no studies have explored their experiences.
Although victims continue to surface, the lack of work surrounding the experiences of
young Sikhs suggests the drift towards pluralistic approaches continues to impact the
social care sector’s ability to deliver support that takes race and ethnicity sufficiently
into account. A comparable approach adopted by law enforcement and prosecution
agencies towards Sikh victims and their families indicates that evidence in cases pointing
to religiously aggravated sexual exploitation is generally disregarded or ignored.
In order to effectively support young people and tackle sexual exploitation, it is essential
to acknowledge that every young person’s experience is unique and takes place in a
specific context. Evidence supporting the specific targeting of young Sikh females and
the cultural factors surrounding the reporting of such abuse forms a pivotal role in
understanding a unique dimension in the risk faced by the community.
Furthermore, it demonstrates how factors including race, ethnicity and faith intersect in
ways that influence young Sikh females’ experiences of exploitation.
101.1 AIM OF THIS STUDY
Unique cultural, social and religious elements have the ability to contribute towards vulnerability and further compound the
risks. Understanding such factors is imperative for the development and adoption of new approaches aimed towards
competently tackling and reducing the danger.
Sikh Youth UK have long advocated that a grave, longstanding and targeted threat of
sexual abuse and exploitation exists towards young Sikh females across the United
Kingdom.
The organisation has repeatedly asserted that evidence from multiple victim’s points
towards a religiously aggravated element to the crimes. Consequently, Sikh Youth UK
argue that where there is a racial or religious element in sexual abuse cases, laws
facilitating the application of a sentencing uplift remain to be appropriately considered
and effectuated.
According to guidance issued by the Sentencing Council, the Crime and Disorder Act
1998 gives judges the power to increase sentences if:
“..the offender demonstrates hostility towards the victim based on his or her membership of a racial or
religious group, or if the offence is racially or religiously motivated3”
Moreover, the religiously aggravated element to the offending has given rise to concerns
surrounding the recording of such offences. Currently the procurement of evidence in
grooming gang cases focuses predominantly on the history and nature of the abuse as
well as features linking the network of perpetrators to the exploitation. Whereas it is
argued that the racial or religious aggravation should be at the front and centre of cases
where there is evidence of such hostility or motivation, presently the focus lies largely
on the abuse and exploitation aspects.
In order to secure convictions against grooming gangs, robust evidence demonstrating
the prevalence of organised abuse and exploitation across a network is imperative.
Accordingly, a case will be investigated with such considerations at the forefront of
investigating officers’ considerations.
11However, where a vulnerable victim may be unaware of the aggravating factors
surrounding their abuse, it is argued that the onus must be on the investigating officers
to comprehensively explore and record such details.
Many within the Sikh community have advocated that it is of the utmost importance
that British justice operates on a level playing field. Regardless of race, religion, or
gender, every child deserves the right to be safe and protected from sexual abuse. It is
also absolutely vital that those who commit such crimes are punished to the full limit of
the law. However, where it is clear that a child is at threat or targeted for abuse due to
their race or religion, it is essential that the recording and prosecution of cases reflects
all aspects surrounding the abuse.
Accordingly, the primary aim of this study is to provide a preliminary exploration into
the history and factors relating to the targeted exploitation of young Sikh females in
order to prompt further in depth research providing compelling provenance surrounding
the issue. It is anticipated that such information will serve to encourage reform in the
recording, handling and prosecution of racially and religiously motivated sexual offences
as well as providing the appropriate support and rehabilitation specifically catered
towards victims and their families.
Given the inherent difficulties involved in the prosecution of sexual offences, it is also
sought that due consideration be given towards the inclusion of such offending under
the realm of hate crime legislation.
Furthermore, this study hopes to identify areas where shortcomings in the current
system can be acknowledged and reformed in order to prevent further victimisation of
those enduring the consequences of such trauma in addition to preventing communal
tensions and violence.
1213
14
METHODOLOGY
152. METHODOLOGY
This exploratory study was conducted between May and August 2018 by employing a
range of methodologies aimed at shedding light surrounding fifty years of targeted
exploitation of young Sikh females across the United Kingdom.
Experiences were obtained from Sikh women, families and professionals associated with
the issue and living in areas of both dense and light Sikh populations.
The study focused on harnessing the insight of victims, community activists and
professionals alongside the expertise and experience of specialist staff who regularly
work with young Sikh women experiencing sexual exploitation. In doing so, the study
sought to recognise and utilise the extensive knowledge and critical awareness of
experienced professionals around an under-explored, complex and ever-evolving issue
The researchers conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with victims as well as
professionals across the United Kingdom made up of:
• Historical victims and their family members over the past five decades.
• Social Activists.
• Legal professionals.
• Community Support Services.
In addition to the interviews, a desktop review of wide ranging materials pertaining to
sexual abuse and South Asian migrant communities in the United Kingdom were
analysed including:
• National literature and media relating to the British Sikh community spanning fifty
years.
• Resources relating to child sexual exploitation and BME communities.
• Local and national quantitative data relating to child sexual exploitation, with a
focus on gender and ethnicity.
162.1 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR
THE FINDINGS
The findings in this study represent the views and expertise of those professionals,
organisations and individuals consulted. The views are not representative of all
professionals working in the sphere of sexual abuse, nor of all young Sikh women’s
experiences of abuse across the country, or all wider community and service responses
to sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse.
To avoid misrepresentation, we have tried to corroborate all evidence through
alternative sources including analysis of wider literature, case files, interviews and
quantitative data. Although this report focuses on young Sikh women, these are not
issues that affect the Sikh community alone. It is important to remember that sexual
abuse and exploitation occurs in every community, and anyone can be at risk.
This study did not directly engage with young Sikh female victims of ongoing cases as it
would not have been possible to guarantee their safe and ethical involvement in light of
pending investigations and legal proceedings. Therefore, historical cases and victim
accounts as recorded by Sikh organisations were used in order to ascertain the
perspective of victims.
Cases considered for this study were weighted significantly towards areas of high Sikh
populations including the Midlands, West Yorkshire as well as East and West London.
Although these did not form the entire quantity of cases analysed, any further research
would be prudent to consider the experiences of Sikh victims across the country
including Wales and Scotland.
Future research must centre upon the voices of young Sikh females encountering abuse
as well as scrutiny of records and statistics held by law enforcement agencies, local
authorities, social services and educational establishments. The consideration of such
information alongside the accounts of historical victims, convicts, retired educational
17practitioners and retired police officers would serve to provide a more comprehensive
understanding of the history and scale of the issue.
1819
20
FINDINGS
213. FINDINGS
There is no single reason to explain why some people or communities are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation. Instead, a wide
range of historical and situational factors relating to the perpetrators of abuse, their victims and the communities/societies within which
they reside can interact to increase or reduce vulnerability to sexual abuse.
The term ‘Sexual Grooming’ is the catchphrase used to describe a racialised pattern of
abuse purportedly exposed by the British media. The pattern typically involves men of
Muslim background who use flattery, presents and intoxicants to form relationships with
vulnerable underage minors who are then subject to abuse by the perpetrator(s).
Whereas the method of abuse can be conducted by individuals, the racialised form of
abuse typically involves multiple offenders often working within a structured network.
Similar forms of multi‐perpetrator abuse were first identified as a cause for concern in
the United States in the 1970s4. However, the term ‘sexual grooming’ has been
presented in the British media as a new and predominantly ethnic phenomenon.
In January 2011, The Times newspaper ran a front-page
exposé entitled ‘Revealed: Conspiracy of silence on UK sex
gangs’ detailing abuse termed as ‘Grooming’5.
The abuse emerged to wider public awareness following the highly publicised
prosecutions in 2012 of nine men of Pakistani heritage from Rochdale. The perpetrators
were sentenced to a total of seventy-seven years’ imprisonment for sexually abusing
girls aged between thirteen and fifteen years old.
Whereas the media articles and subsequent convictions appeared to be the first widely
digested media coverage of the phenomenon, whisperings of the same issue surfaced
intermittently over the course of the previous three decades.
In August 2004, a Channel 4 documentary followed the work of Bradford Social Services
surrounding claims that young white teenage girls were being groomed by Asian men
for sex abuse.
22Entitled Edge of the City6, at the centre of the documentary
was the testimony of two white mothers who stated their
young daughters were groomed and sexually abused by
Asians.
Although the documentary attracted criticism from some quarters as providing fodder
for right wing propaganda, it vividly demonstrated how men from Bradford's Pakistani
community, were targeting girls from the ages of eleven or twelve years up, taking them
out in their cars, and giving them alcohol and gifts. The girls were flattered into believing
that the men loved them. Often, they were given heroin, crack cocaine and date-rape
drugs, raped, and in some cases, abducted and gang-raped. The revelations within the
documentary echoed the characteristics of grooming gang behaviour equivalent to
those highlighted by the Sikh community two decades earlier.
In most instances, it is alleged that Asian men are introduced to the girls by their younger
siblings who are at school with them. Then the men begin hanging around the school gates
in their cars, showering the girls with compliments and gifts.
Before long, the men have persuaded the girls – often from deprived homes or in care – to
go out with them. Then the girls are coerced into under-age sex by a mixture of flattery
and threats and a belief that they are ‘in love’.
The men pass the girls from one to another in what had become a virtual sex ring. In
extreme cases, it is claimed some girls become so locked into the vicious cycle of abuse
and exploitation that they end up as prostitutes.
Daily Mail - 12 August 20047
As the multitude of subsequent convictions has revealed the disproportionate number
of Pakistani and Muslim men convicted of such offences, vigorous public debate has
surrounded the role of ethnicity and religion in the perpetration of sexual abuse, as well
as discussion upon the failures of social services and authorities in responding to
complaints of sexual exploitation.
23The perceived disinterest and inaction of the police and authorities towards the abuse
of children, has formed a regular focal point of community outrage. With the seemingly
periodic emergence of similar cases across the United Kingdom, the failure to act has
been attributed to the ‘political correctness’ that has inhibited authorities and agencies
from addressing the racial and cultural dimensions that have been understood and
identified as causative factors behind the abuse.
Whereas the wide scale abuse of young white females surfaced mostly during the past
decade, the research conducted within this study has found verification demonstrating
a history of predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs targeting young Sikh females for
over fifty years. The over representation of such perpetrators in selecting non-Muslim
victims would appear to be indicative of a wider acceptability in certain sections of the
community towards the targeting of young females from outside of the Pakistani
community and/or Muslim faith.
This is not to suggest that young Pakistani and Muslim females are not targeted or that
members of the Sikh community have not been involved in cases of abuse. However,
considerable evidence has repeatedly demonstrated that in the cases of young Sikh
victims targeted by grooming gangs, the perpetrators are almost exclusively from
Pakistani backgrounds.
Given the credible evidence denoting the presence of religiously aggravated abuse,
analysis of case data and associated materials has pointed to the presence of a
combination of factors which are unique to such offending. Included amongst these are
the historical tensions between both communities, common cultures and distinctive
migration patterns.
Early Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom was dominated by men with their
female counterparts arriving considerably later. Although initial Sikh migration from
India was dominated by men, Sikh migration patterns were notably different. Sikh
females and children arrived in the United Kingdom shortly after the male influx. At the
same time, Sikh migration from East Africa involved entire families migrating together
or in very close succession.
24In the absence of spouses and females within the Pakistani community, the aspects of a
common culture and language between Sikh and Pakistani migrants appear to have
presented young Sikh females as an acceptable target for the sexual deviance of some
early Pakistani migrants.
Some early Sikh migrants claim the organised targeting of Sikh
females was conducted in part as retaliation for the involvement
of Sikh soldiers in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 after which
Bangladesh was formed from East Pakistan.
Speaking of the role of Sikhs in the conflict, Major General Muqeem Khan of the Pakistani
Army states:
“A handful of Sikhs converted our great victory into a big defeat and shattered our
confidence and courage. The same thing happened in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In the battle
of Jassur, the Singhs opposed the Pakistani Army so fiercely that our backbone and
foothold were lost. This became the main reason for our defeat and Sikhs' strength and
safety and honour of the country became the sole cause of their victory"
Pakistan’s Crisis in Leadership - Major General Muqeem Khan8
Although evidence to support theories that Sikh girls were targeted in retaliation for the
role played by Sikh soldiers in conflict with Pakistan remains elusive, increasing cases of
abuse have served to reinforce rational and longstanding concerns over targeted
exploitation.
The cultural acceptance or silence towards the behaviour of early Pakistani migrants
coupled with traditional perspectives towards non-Muslim females allowed abuse
towards such victims to become progressively structured, refined and widespread. From
early cases through to modern day instances, this study has identified that patterns of
25deliberate targeting, deception, manipulation, exploitation and maltreatment present
themselves as a common thread in the abuse of young Sikh females by predominantly
Pakistani men.
The advent of social media has demonstrated the evolving nature of the threat where
young Sikh females continue to be targeted for exploitation, through a platform which
has allowed perpetrators to locate victims and deceive them with greater ease and less
risk.
Whereas techniques continue to involve perpetrators using deception to disguise their
identities and approach young Sikh females online, the often uninhibited manner in
which many youths utilise social media to express their emotions and locations has
provided the ideal platform for perpetrators to readily identify some of the most
vulnerable in society.
263.1 SOUTH ASIAN MIGRATION PATTERNS
The migration and settlement patterns of South Asian communities alongside early age/gender breakdowns as well as cultural and
language similarities, form important factors contributing to the prevalence of targeted sexual abuse and exploitation in the United
Kingdom.
Most of Britain's Sikhs have their origins in immigration either from the Punjab in India
or Kenya and Uganda in East Africa during the nineteen-fifties and sixties.
The first recorded Sikh settler in Britain was Maharaja Duleep
Singh who following the Anglo-Sikh wars and British annexation
of the Punjab in 1849, was exiled to Britain in 1856. The last heir
to the sovereign Punjab, Duleep Singh lived much of his life on
an estate in Suffolk where he died in 18939.
The first wave of Sikh migration to the United Kingdom took place during the nineteen-
fifties when mostly men from the Punjab sought work in British industry, which had a
shortage of unskilled labour. Most of the new arrivals were employed in industries such
as manufacturing, foundries and textiles. The new arrivals settled in London, the
Midlands and West Yorkshire followed within a decade by their spouses and extended
family.
Many Sikhs left Punjab because of the shortage of industrial and agricultural jobs in
addition to the chaotic aftermath of the 1947 division of ‘British’ India into the Hindu
nation of India and the Muslim nation of Pakistan.
The frontier between India and Pakistan ran through the Sikh homeland of the Punjab.
There was bloodshed and destruction as millions of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs tried to
cross the border to the safety of their own communities. The Punjab changed from a
settled and prosperous area to a violent and overcrowded frontier zone. Many Sikhs left
the area that was to become Pakistan to move to the Indian section of the Punjab, while
others left India altogether.
27During the late 1800s, many Sikhs had begun migrating to Uganda and Kenya in East
Africa. The East African Sikhs had established careers and industries in colonies in Africa
during the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were
forced to leave their adopted nations in the nineteen-sixties and seventies as a result of
the move to Africanise countries like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. This deprived many
Asians of their work, and in many cases they were expelled altogether. Due to their
experience of the British system and procedures in East Africa, many Sikh families
migrated to the United Kingdom where they found it easier to integrate and settle.
Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom was starkly different with largely male
migration dominating the community presence for several decades. The majority of
migrants originated from Mirpur in Kashmir. Sailors from Mirpur found work as engine-
room stokers on British ships sailing out of Bombay and Karachi, some of whom settled
in the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
As with the Sikh community, Pakistani migrants who came to Britain after the war to fill
labour shortages found employment in the textile industries of Lancashire, Yorkshire,
Manchester, cars and engineering factories in the West Midlands, and growing light
industrial estates in places like Luton and Slough.
The Mangla dam building in 1966 submerged
substantial areas of the Mirpur district, and the
associated displacement of over one hundred thousand
people accelerated emigration from that area.
The migrants from Pakistan were predominantly male-led with many migrants coming
from poor rural areas and settling in areas of declining industry taking jobs that were not
attractive to working-class white men. Women tended to come to Britain several
decades later as dependents, from a culture where they were responsible for domestic
life and men were expected to be the breadwinners.
28Other groups who migrated from Pakistan in the nineteen-sixties include Punjabis who
mainly settled in Glasgow, Birmingham and Southall in London, and migrants from urban
areas who were more likely to be professionals and who worked for the NHS.
The migration patterns from South Asia identify how both the Sikh and Pakistani
communities settled in close proximity and engaged in similar industries of employment.
The distinguishing feature in the migration between both communities arises from the
breakdown of the migrants themselves. A greater level of parity between males and
females existed between early Sikh migrants than their Pakistani counterparts.
Furthermore, a larger population of young Sikh migrants existed in comparison to the
presence of Pakistani youth. The Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom remained
dominated by middle aged to mature men for almost two decades.
For the context of this study, whereas the close proximity of both communities could
suggest an opportunist element in cases where young Sikh girls were subjected to abuse,
evidence from Sikh organisations has repeatedly demonstrated that grooming gangs
sought out and targeted Sikh girls both within and outside of their towns of residence.
Such activity has also been reflected in the convictions of Pakistani grooming gangs
exploiting young white girls. Where local and national statistics detail the ethnicity of
sexual exploitation victims of grooming gangs as non-Muslim and the perpetrator profile
as Pakistani, the behaviour strongly suggests a deliberate rather that opportunist nature
to the offending.
The high prevalence of Sikh victims targeted in Muslim dominated areas could also point
towards to the opportunist nature of offending. However, in light of recent convictions
and evidence indicating Pakistani grooming gangs deliberately targeting girls from
outside their own faith and ethnicity, as well as the racial and religious abuse many
victims have revealed they were subjected to, it is clear that the targeting of Sikh girls
forms a key element in demonstrating longstanding attitudes of offenders to target non-
Muslims females for multi perpetrator abuse and exploitation.
293.2 GROOMING GANGS
Social and cultural norms – behavioural rules or expectations within a social or cultural group - can strongly influence sexual abuse and
exploitation behaviour. Interventions that challenge social norms are essential for the prevention of abuse by making it less culturally
acceptable.
The phenomenon of gangs of predominantly Pakistani men who loitered around schools
to target young females forms a distinct category of abuse which surfaced in the United
Kingdom over fifty years ago.
From the early nineteen-eighties, Sikh parents in the West Midlands repeatedly raised
concerns to community leaders surrounding the presence of gangs of adult males
loitering around school gates in cars and approaching pupils. The concerns were
followed by specific reports to the police and local authorities of abuse in addition to
evidence detailing locations, businesses, vehicles and the individuals concerned. Despite
raising such concerns, the reports progressed into cases of Sikh schoolgirls being lured
with gifts, going missing for days, being abducted as well as becoming drug addicts and
increasingly entering the social care system.
Whilst sensationalised stories of looming ‘race riots’ were used to report the resulting
communal tensions, the media and authorities failed to comprehensively address key
factors surrounding the activity of grooming gangs at the time. These included violence
regularly stemming from cases of grooming as well as Sikhs creating organisations to
teach their community and children about what grooming gangs were doing.
The pattern of offending would typically involve fashionably dressed adult Pakistani men
travelling in flamboyant vehicles to predominantly Sikh dominated areas and schools.
One of the younger men would selectively approach girls using flattery, presents and
intoxicants to form a relationship. Once snared, the victim would be systematically
coerced into conflict with her family, strengthening the perpetrators hold over her. The
circumstances would eventually or in some cases immediately progress to abuse by
multiple perpetrators.
A defining feature prevalent in the offending was the ethnic/cultural homogeneity of the
offenders. The networks were commonly formed from members of different
30generations within the same nuclear and extended families as well their close social
circles.
Due to the failures of law enforcement agencies and local authorities in acknowledging
and addressing the problem, such networks have continued to flourish, evolve and often
operate with relative impunity across the United Kingdom for over five decades.
313.2.1 GROOMING PROCESS
Understanding the existence of targeted sexual abuse, where and how it happens and who is affected can inform effective social, legal
and political responses.
Following the conviction of several high profile grooming networks over recent years,
multiple cases have demonstrated that the process of grooming has significantly refined
and continues to evolve. The evolution has principally served for perpetrators to
clandestinely widen their reach to potential victims as well as avoid detection.
For the context of this study, the grooming gang behaviour which has led to the modern
day phenomenon involves networks of middle aged men targeting young girls aged
between eleven and sixteen years old. The schoolgirls they target are overwhelmingly
non-Muslim, while the gangs are predominantly of Pakistani heritage. The girls are often
lured into the clutches of the network using a young man who ensnares the victim by
befriending, seducing and often blackmailing them.
The initial stages typically entail the schoolgirl being given money and gifts coupled with
being flattered by compliments and wonderment of entering into a world of adults.
Whereas alcohol and drugs may enter the equation during the early stages, offenders
will almost certainly seek to install themes of trust to compel their victims to accede to
the exploitation.
Once the victim has been manipulated into considering the initial, alluring youth as a
genuine friend or boyfriend, she will be persuaded, coerced or forced into sexual activity
with him, his relatives and/or friends. Once this stage has passed, rape and prostitution
will become widespread with the victim suffering severe mental deterioration, physical
pain and even torture.
PLEASURE OR PROFIT?
The structure of the networks is multifaceted and not solely comprised of individuals
seeking sexual pleasure. Prostitution and drugs in such situations suggests the hierarchy
32within the structures exploit young females for financial purposes by catering to the
sexual exploits of other within the networks.
A victim fleeing her abusers results in the potential to lose a ‘lucrative investment’.
Safeguarding against such risks begins early in the process with the recruiter
psychologically instilling elements of trust through which victims will be manipulated or
feel compelled to continue with the abuse under a sense of obligation to the recruiter
who selected them from positions of obscurity.
Failing this, offenders will go to extreme lengths to ensure their victims are compliant
and keep acceding to their demands. Victims often face extreme violence or are
threatened with violence against their siblings, family members and homes. They are
encouraged to recruit or befriend further targets which a victim often conducts under
the distorted impression that by recruiting others, the abuse will lessen against
themselves.
The grooming gangs are systematic and well-organised in their behaviour, and the
collusion of the community is extensive including taxi drivers, fast food outlets and
business owners. The perpetrators exploit the opportunities in society where young
females are least protected, such as girls who are living in children’s homes, or who are
in some form of local authority care.
The average age of the males convicted of involvement in Pakistani grooming gangs is
thirty years old. The vast majority of those convicted are already married or in
relationships, many with children of the same age as their victims. The statistics clearly
demonstrate that the men are far from being adolescents, oblivious to what is right and
wrong.
If a victim is not already estranged from their parents when initially ensnared, the gang
will use techniques to drive a division between the girl and her parents. When pre-
empting parent’s efforts to distance the victim from the grooming gang, perpetrators
coerce their victims into making ‘honour’ based false allegations against the family.
These may include fabricated allegations of arranged marriages, being trafficked abroad
33or even domestic violence and abuse by family members. The technique deliberately
manipulates local authority and police protocols who often accept such allegations on
face value. This results in victims being placed into the care system and prevented from
interaction with their family. The ensuing circumstances facilitate the perpetrators to
have full access to their victims and deepens the exploitation.
Because the gangs are well-organised and have systematically manipulated the
behaviour and minds of their young victims, and since they are prepared to use violence
and intimidation to interfere with the legal process, the chances of criminal conviction
are very slim. The problem is compounded by the girls often failing to realise their status
as the victim. Even when a victim recognises the abuse they have sustained, often the
individual who ensnared them is still regarded as genuine and innocent.
The threats, violence and mental conditioning utilised by the perpetrators makes it clear
that those who have been convicted are almost certainly the tip of the iceberg.
343.2.2 IDENTIFYING YOUNG WOMEN TO
EXPLOIT
Both recent and historic grooming gang cases have repeatedly identified how
perpetrators have regularly sought out and targeted victims they perceived as
vulnerable or ‘naïve’. In many cases, those subject to social conservatism or high levels
of supervision were actively sought after. The evidence of several historic Sikh victims
considered in this study have identified the latter themes as present during their
upbringing which were exploited during their ensnarement.
The same cases have also identified that grooming gang networks are wide reaching and
will often operate in several neighbouring cities in addition to where they are based.
Perpetrators working in the night-time economies such as transport, fast food and
security have repeatedly played significant roles in the identification of victims, as well
as the commission and proliferation of abuse.
As alluded to earlier, the early migration of Indian Sikhs, East African Sikhs and Pakistani
Muslims to the United Kingdom resulted in both communities settling and living in close
proximity to one another. Adults from both communities commonly worked in the same
industries.
In the relative absence of young females amongst early Pakistani migrants, aspects of a
common culture and language appear to have presented young Sikh females as an
acceptable target for the sexual deviance of some early Pakistani migrants. The
exploitation would explicitly take advantage of cultural taboos preventing victims from
disclosing the nature of the abuse for fear of being ostracised by their family and
community. Such early behaviour draws close parallels with ongoing offending where
perpetrators continue to exploit concepts of shame, honour and normative gender
expectations of young Sikh females, in order to silence and threaten them.
Historically, Sikh females were identifiable due to visible articles of faith, clothing and
names however, the primary manner in which they were targeted was through the
35localities in which they resided and the schools situated within them. Grooming gangs
operating from Birmingham and Walsall operated across the entire West Midlands
whereas those based in Dudley targeted regions including Sandwell and the Black
Country. Case records demonstrate gangs operating from Slough frequently targeted
Sikh females in Southall, Hounslow and Hayes. Likewise, Bradford based gangs actively
targeted females in Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Wakefield and Doncaster.
Records of Sikh organisations identify early patterns of offending where perpetrators
from the Pakistani community commonly utilised measures aimed at intimating to
young Sikh girls that they belonged to the Sikh community. This would commonly involve
wearing Sikh Karas, displaying Sikh symbols in their vehicles as well as using Punjabi
nicknames.
Often the cultural acceptance within sections of the Muslim community towards the
perpetrator’s behaviour allowed the attitude towards non-Muslim females and
consequently the abuse to become increasingly structured, refined and widespread.
The allegation that Muslim youths are pestering Sikh girls has angered Mr Ashiq Hussain,
chairman of the union of 14 Muslim organisations in the town (Walsall).
“Instead of blaming Muslim youngsters, what they ought to do is educate Sikh girls to
keep away from the boys. It takes two to tango.”
“There is no law that says a Muslim cannot chat up Sikh girls.”
The Guardian - 29 December 198710
Circumstances present in the analysis of case histories reveal that in the identification
of young Sikh females to exploit, perpetrators repeatedly utilised both overt and cultural
identification factors to pinpoint victims alongside any factors serving to exhibit their
vulnerability or naivety. By seeking out victims they believe they could control, the
perpetrators conducted their gradual manipulation and abuse by exerting power over
them.
36The identification of such factors especially in vulnerable, naïve and young victims serves
to easily facilitate their automatic adherence to authority and presents relatively lower
levels of awareness around the appropriateness of relationships.
373.3 HISTORY
Following the early settlement of Sikh immigrants during the nineteen-sixties, stories
began to circulate in which the common theme surrounded young females being
coerced into relationships with Pakistani men and being forcibly sent to Pakistan to work
in the underground sex trade. The stories intensified in the backdrop of distrust between
the two communities following the violent partition of the Indian sub-continent fifteen
years’ prior.
The first case reported in the mainstream media involving the targeting of a Sikh
schoolgirl by a gang of Muslim men came before Middlesex Area Sessions (Court) in
1971. The ethnicity of the victim and perpetrators (whilst not stated) is dependably
identifiable by their names.
Four sentenced for holding schoolgirl of 16
For his part in unlawfully and injuriously imprisoning for four hours a Kenyan Asian schoolgirl,
Imtiaz Hussain Shah, aged 22, machine operator of Seymour Road, Slough, Buckinghamshire was
sentenced at Middlesex Area Sessions yesterday to 12 months’ imprisonment.
On a similar charge Alla Ditta, aged 24, machine operator, of King Edward Street, Slough, was sent
to prison for 9 months; Abdul Rauf, aged 19, unemployed, also of King Edward Street, was sent to
borstal training; and Raymond Roy Mohammed, aged 21, unemployed, of Bourne Road, Slough,
was sent to prison for 12 months.
Mr Mohammed was also sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, to run concurrently, for making
a statement to suggest he was a police officer, a charge which he had admitted. Mr Shah and Mr
Rauf were recommended for deportation.
Mr Geoffrey Leach, for the prosecution, told the court that when the defendants pleaded guilty
on May 13 that Mr Shah had become infatuated with Miss Kilvindar *****, aged 16, of *****
Road, Southall, Middlesex. He plotted to get hold of her and on February 12 as she was on her
way to school she was stopped by Mr Mohammed, who was accompanied by a girl.
Mr Mohammed said they were police officers. Miss ***** was induced to get into a car.
The Times - 4 June 197111
38The significance of the case becomes apparent once realising the offence contained key
ingredients correlating closely with offending patterns described by Sikhs for the
subsequent fifty years. The instance clearly demonstrates the early prevalence of a gang
of Muslim men using techniques of deception to target a young Sikh schoolgirl living in
a different locality. Whether the offence was opportunist is countered by the admissions
of infatuation and planning. Whether the confidence with which the brazen plan appears
to have been executed suggests previous incidences or whether the accompanying girl
was another victim acting as a facilitator for the gang, can only amount to speculation.
The fact the case was reported warrants interest. The type of offending was new in the
United Kingdom amongst the Sikh community who seldom approached law
enforcement on issues with the potential to cause perceived ‘shame’ upon the family or
‘jeopardised’ future marriage prospects for the female involved.
Whilst historical media reports lacked specific details of a phenomenon only to surface
in the mainstream media post 2011, isolated reports continued to demonstrate
concerning relations between adult Muslim men and young Sikh girls.
“A Sikh girl who ran away after marrying Mohammed Aslim, 20, a Moslem, of Huddersfield, does
not want to return to him, she told Det. Chief Supt. John Stainthorpe yesterday.”
The Daily Telegraph - 10 April 197512
The pattern of behaviour which progressively refined and became concentrated in the
West Midlands during the early 1980s led to members of the Sikh community compiling
and submitting the first of several intelligence reports identifying perpetrators,
businesses and associated vehicles to West Midlands Police.
39Evidence of police action against offenders remained elusive.
“Community leaders in Walsall in the West Midlands are striving to ease tension in the Sikh
community, which is upset over allegations that Muslim youths are pestering Sikh girls.”
The Guardian - 29 December 198713
The intensification of offending led to widespread incidents of violence between the Sikh
and Muslim communities surfacing across the West Midlands which was followed by
wide scale arrests of predominantly Sikh men.
School aged Sikh girls were being reported missing with greater
frequency as were reports of adult Pakistani males frequenting
school gates and approaching young Sikh females.
Sikh community representatives assert that when liaising with the Police and local
authorities on such cases, the authorities would often ignore the fact that unknown
adult men were approaching young girls outside schools and attribute the schoolgirls
going missing on account of parents harbouring cultural conflicts over young girls
entering relationships.
Detectives have been brought in to the hunt for a teenage girl missing from her Birmingham
home for five weeks.
The West Midlands today issued this photograph of the fourteen-year-old and said officers
were becoming increasing concerned.
Det Sgt John Green, who is leading the search of ***** Kaur, said “For about three weeks after
she left she was sighted by friends several times in the area around her home - but she ran off
when they tried to approach her.
“But our fears are now growing as no-one has seen her for the past fortnight.”
Det Sgt Green said: “We are keeping an open mind about her disappearance and it is possible
that she has moved out of the area. We suspect she may have gone to live with a boyfriend."
Birmingham Evening Mail - 20 May 198814
40In light of the prevailing circumstances, members of the Sikh community in the West
Midlands began to form groups to raise awareness amongst youngsters and tackle the
issue. One of the foremost groups was known as the Shere Punjab (Lions of Punjab). The
stated aim of the group was to provide protection to schoolchildren, return abducted
children to their families and provide a deterrence to the perpetrators. Given the nature
of their stated remit, the Shere Punjab were at the forefront of ground level activism
over the issue.
…the Sikh community was particularly concerned about attacks on young Sikh women by
Moslems and the Shere Punjab was formed to combat that.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 11 April 198915
During an interview on the BBC 2 Network East programme, a Shere Punjab spokesman
outlined the problem facing the community in the following terms:
“Most of this is caused by the Pakistani community themselves, when young people go outside
schools. I’m on about ages roundabout nineteen to twenty. They go in their fancy sports cars,
hang about.“
“Our aim is to get all these schools free of people standing outside them. We want a normal
life, girls can go to school, come back home without being picked up and taken out to town,
taken out to discos - stuff like that. As long as that stops, we’re happy.”
BBC 2 Network East - 24 September 198816
As the frequency of cases in the West Midlands increased, communal tensions continued
to result in rising levels of violent incidents across the region.
Sikh gang members carried weapons above their heads as they marched through Birmingham
looking for rival Moslems they blamed for sexually abusing Sikh girls, the city’s Crown Court
was told yesterday.
It centred around the belief that young Sikh girls were being taken against their will and being
sexually abused by Moslem boys.
The Daily Telegraph - 13 June 198917
41Despite the allegations of abuse surfacing during multiple Court cases, the focus of the
police and prosecution agencies remained upon Sikh activists who repeatedly claimed
they were striving to protect their community.
Gangs of Muslim men toured daytime discotheques kidnapping Sikh girls to use as sex slaves,
a court was told yesterday.
The jury at the trial of 13 Sikh men at Birmingham Crown Court heard claims that one gang
forced girls into prostitution and blackmailed their parents.
The Independent - 24 June 198918
At the same time, similar incidents and allegations surfaced in West Yorkshire, East
Midlands and both East and West London. The prevailing circumstances prompted the
then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd to warn of a summer of race riots surrounding such
issues.
Southall, West London, where Moslems and Sikhs have been involved in disorders, some of
which started when Moslem boys tried to date Sikh girls.
The Sunday Telegraph - 10 July 198819
The cycle of reported incidents and related communal tensions continued alongside
allegations that repeated failures by the police and local authorities to investigate
community concerns facilitated the offending to continue.
A MIDLAND teenager who was abducted from her bed was back with her family today after
police snatched her back on the M5.
***** Kaur *****, aged 17, from Wednesbury, who had been taken from a house in
Wolverhampton, was found in a car on the motorway near Worcester last night.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 199120
42Following the turn of the century, case histories indicated a significant evolution in the
tactics used to target young females. Whereas perpetrators traditionally adopted direct
techniques of blackmail to exploit cultural sensitivities, the internet and social media
became the preferred platform to utilise blackmail and identify vulnerable targets.
Sikhs have angrily condemned a website which appears to be run by young male Muslims and
boasts about seducing Sikh women during freshers week at university. The website contains
pictures of at least 25 Sikh women which the site's administrators claim to have seduced
alongside highly provocative remarks about the women and the Sikh religion.
Timed to coincide with the start of the university year - described in the site as a time when
"[Muslim] soldiers go hunting for Sikh slappers" - the website's creators encourage friends and
readers to send in pictures of Sikh women they have seduced during freshers week.
Ashish Joshi chairman of the Network of Sikh Organisations' media monitoring group, said he
had been inundated with angry responses from Sikhs in the past 24 hours. "I have never seen
anything like this," he said. "There have always been concerns about grooming but to advertise
such behaviour and encourage others to do so is absolutely shocking."
"This is not about love, no-one can help who they fall in love with," he said. "This website is all
about the deliberate and targeted sexual degradation of Sikh women purely because of their
religion. It is about young Muslim men boasting about seducing kaffirs [unbelievers] while
keeping their Muslim sisters chaste."
The Independent – 8 October 200821
By 2011, the widespread scale of sexual abuse of minors by Pakistani perpetrators
dramatically hit the headlines when former home secretary Jack Straw stated there was
a ‘specific problem’ in some areas of the country where Pakistani men ‘target vulnerable
young white girls’.
Speaking on the BBC Newsnight programme on 7 January 201122, Straw stated:
43"…there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage
men...who target vulnerable young white girls...”
"We need to get the Pakistani community to think much more
clearly about why this is going on and to be more open about the
problems that are leading to a number of Pakistani heritage men
thinking it is OK to target white girls in this way."
Straw called on the British Pakistani community to be ‘more open’ about the issue.
"These young men are in a western society, in any event, they act like any other young
men, they're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that, but
Pakistani heritage girls are off-limits and they are expected to marry a Pakistani girl from
Pakistan, typically," he said.
Furthermore, Straw added "They then seek other avenues and they see these young
women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care...who they think are easy
meat…and because they're vulnerable they ply them with gifts, they give them drugs,
and then of course they're trapped."
Whereas the former home secretary’s observations were met with enormous
controversy, they were welcomed in equal measure by many including the Sikh
community.
Atma Singh from the Sikh Community Action Network, said: “Well dome to Jack Straw for being
100 per cent honest and saying what many people already know: that there are pockets of
youngsters in the Pakistani Muslim community who treat girls from other communities as
sexual objects.”
The Independent on Sunday – 9 January 201123
By 2013, the forgotten Sikh schoolgirl victims of the grooming gangs caught the attention
of the BBC following a high profile case of six men who targeted, abused and exploited
a young Sikh girl in Leicester.
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