Hi Rhi,
Did you bother reading to the end of the article in the Independent? The conclusion is that this is predominantly about opportunity - the perpetrators are misogynistic against women/girls and target those that are available - which tends to be white vulnerable girls who are out in the evenings, unlike their Asian counterparts.
Yes, I read to the end of the article in the Independent, Rhi. I assume you mean the one that John referred to. There were various voices in that article which emphasised different interpretations for the same behaviour, to some extent overlapping, and, more importantly gave practical ideas on how it could be tackled. I also read the article that you kindly provided from the Guardian (in post 19), again to the end. I thought the penultimate paragraph made a lot of sense, when it said:
But equally, cultural sensitivity must not be used as a screen for taking culture off the table altogether. It’s right that people who speak out on this do so with extreme caution, given how easy it is for things to be taken out of context to fuel racial hatred. But we should also be attuned to the fact that cultural sensitivity may make us prone to ignore truths we find uncomfortable.
And in the cases apart from Newcastle the men involved some from a very specific area - Pakinstani Kashmir.
Not quite true. In Oxford, for instance, two of the seven men were of East African heritage.
It makes me think of the scandal of priests who abuse. These men aren't taught about sex, they are taught that women are inferior, they have to marry conservative girls from rural Pakistan yet they live in a sexualised culture that they don't understand. And they are exposed to a lot of porn. Education seems to be essential in countering this.
I agree wholeheartedly.
And if you don't think that the authorities believing that young white girls having sex with men three or four times their age is a 'lifestyle choice' is indicative of the lack of worth that these girls are valued with then words fail me.
Do I think that the council workers(only three according to the Guardian article) who voiced the opinion that girls of 11 were making lifetime choices, were right? Absolutely not.
Yes, it was certain council employees who suggested that they were making lifestyle choices, but you seem to be quite happy to label them vaguely as 'the authorities', just as you quite unjustly in my opinion suggested the idea that white working class girls are regarded as 'trash'across the board, selecting out social workers and council officials for special mention. I think that is most unfair to the vast majority of council officials and social workers across the country. You obviously don't.
Do you think that the same opinion would have been voiced had these girls been from middle class families?
I have no idea if these three people(or anyone who thinks like them) would hold similar opinions if the girls were middle class.
And do you not think that people can be failed by their own class?
Of course. However people of a similar background would tend to have greater empathy and understanding of each other.
As I have already said, I don't think it is racist to focus on and challenge this abhorrent behaviour and it is also my opinion that there is a racist element at work in these organised groups. I go along with the thoughts of Lord Macdonald in an interview on Radio 4's 'Today'.
By the way, I watched Newsnight, last night, which had a discussion on this subject between four Muslims. I thought it was quite interesting and informative, as each of the people had differing views and brought their own thoughts and ideas to bear upon the subject. On the whole I thought that it was quite constructive.
