The Small Heath Community Forum (SHCF) has teamed up with a national organisation, the Muslim Women’s Network UK, who are also based in Birmingham, to raise awareness of sexual exploitation amongst Asian communities. The ground-breaking event is being held on Thursday 28th November 2013 at the Khidmat Centre and will highlight that Asian girls are also being sexually exploited.
In September 2013, the Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) launched the report, ‘Unheard Voices: The Sexual Exploitation of Asian Girls and Young Women,’ which was based on 35 case studies from across England. The report challenges the stereotype that child sexual exploitation is a racial crime in which Asian offenders target White girls only. The majority of the case studies were of Muslim girls and almost two thirds were of British Pakistani heritage, who were being targeted by men from the same ethnic and faith backgrounds. According to MWNUK, these cases (which included victims from Birmingham) are only a tip of the iceberg and the true scale is likely to be greater.
When Razia Hadait, the Lead Project Coordinator at the Khidmat Centre read the report, she realised that it was an issue that local Asian men and women had little or no understanding about. She said: “this event will help local communities to understand what sexual exploitation is and make them realise that it is something that is also happening to Asian girls. With better knowledge, more girls can be protected and more offenders reported.”
Shaista Gohir, Chair of MWNUK, who carried out the research and authored the ‘Unheard Voices’ report, hopes that other community groups will follow SHCF’s lead and hold similar events across the UK. “Although we have provided the evidence of case studies including tactics offenders use to trap girls and prevent them from reporting such as blackmail, shame and honour, we need groups who can reach out into the communities to cascade this information.”
She added: “While we must be careful not to provide a false perception that grooming is restricted to Asian communities, cases involving Asian offenders must not be swept under the carpet either. Communities under the spotlight must accept they too have networks of paedophiles operating among them. Silence in the name of avoiding shame and preserving honour is so powerful that it is allowing men to continue operating with impunity and further fueling sexual violence against girls and women.”
Other speakers at the event include: Safina Bi (Barnardos), Jayne Goodridge (West Midlands Police) and Shaykh Mohammed Aslam (City Knowledge Academy).
In an emergency call 999. For support and advice you can also call:
West Midlands Police on 0345 113 5000 or call 101
Children Social Care Duty Team 0121 303 1888 (office hours) 0121 675 4806 (out of hours)
Barnardos Birmingham Space Project on 0121 359 5333
Childline on 0800 1111.
Rape Crisis on 0808 802 9999
Muslim Women’s Network UK on 0121 236 9000 / 07415 206936
