Why are we not hearing of any black, Asian, Chinese or any other ethnicity they’ve abused?
6.1.3. Ethnicity
As with other characteristics, reporting issues make it hard to draw firm conclusions on ethnicities of victims, and most research focuses on CSE more widely. However, as the Jay report of the inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham highlighted, White girls are not the only victims of this type of offending (Jay, 2014). When looking at ethnicity, it is key to consider the large body of evidence of under-reporting and under-identification of victims from certain ethnic minority groups, which greatly impacts the understanding of victims of CSE due to their consequent under- representation in the data (Kelly and Karsna, 2018; Allnock et al., 2019). The CSA Centre, CEOP and the National Crime Agency (NCA) have all noted this issue, suggesting that there are unique barriers to victims from ethnic minorities disclosing abuse as well as issues in the way that professionals recognise abuse and respond to disclosures (CEOP, 2014; National Crime Agency, 2018; Allnock et al., 2019). In particular, research commissioned by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) also noted that stereotypes about what is ‘normal’ for certain ethnic minority groups can result in professionals failing to recognise abuse, or not acting on concerns (Rodger et al., 2020). Issues such as language barriers, lack of awareness and discrimination can all have an impact on an ethnic minority victim’s ability or willingness to disclose (The Children’s Society, 2018). Cultural and religious views in a certain community may prevent victims from speaking out (Fox, 2016). For example, issues such as shame, dishonour and blackmail are thought to be major impediments to certain Asian victims coming forward (Gohir, 2013).
Disclosure is not the only issue. The Children’s Commissioner for England found that children from ethnic minorities were less likely to be identified as victims in the same ways as children who were White British (Berelowitz et al., 2012). The Children’s Society, in collaboration with Victim Support and the NPCC, produced guidance in 2018 for supporting Black and ethnic minority victims of CSE. They note that professionals should be aware of specific difficulties caused by the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities to help them to recognise abuse in ethnic minority victims (The Children’s Society, 2018). It has also been noted that specialist services are often lacking, and many mainstream CSE services are geared towards prototypical White female victims and may overlook the needs of other groups including ethnic minorities (Gohir, 2013; Cockbain and Tufail, 2020). It has also been noted that the media focus on the racial model of offending can risk the erasure of non-White victims of crime if victims from ethnic minority backgrounds remain overlooked (The Children’s Society, 2018; Cockbain and Tufail, 2020).
This context of under-reporting and under-identification of certain groups is important to keep in mind when assessing the available evidence. Research suggests that the majority of known victims of CSE are White, with research suggesting that anywhere from 60% to 83% of victims fall into this category (CEOP, 2011; Berelowitz et al., 2012; NPCC, 2015; Cockbain et al., 2017). Additionally, the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) on victims of CSA found that the proportion of White adults who reported that they had experienced any form of CSA during childhood was 8%, compared with 3.5% for Asian adults and 6% for Black adults (Office for National Statistics, 2020). The NPCC found in the problem profiles of all types of CSE that out of 8,995 individuals confirmed to be victims or at risk of CSE 70% were White, 5% were Black, 2% were Asian; 22% were of unknown or not recorded ethnicity (NPCC, 2015). The Drew review found that 73.3% of victims were White British, but a further 20.1% had no ethnicity stated (Drew, 2016). Whilst the Children’s Commissioner for England found that 60% of victims were White, they also found that 28% were from ethnic minorities and highlighted that this contradicts the general perception that sexual exploitation by gangs and groups is committed primarily against White children (Berelowitz et al., 2012). A further study looking at over 9,000 users of CSE services found ethnic minority victims made up around one fifth of the total number and were represented broadly in line with their proportions of the general population (Cockbain et al., 2017), making up a substantial minority and disputing the widely held notion that the victims of CSE are always White (Cockbain and Tufail, 2020).
The Muslim Women’s Network looked specifically at Asian victims of predominantly group-based CSE, which challenges the racial model of Asian gangs targeting White girls. They were able to identify Asian victims of group-based CSE through the professionals who had come into contact with them. Speaking to 73 people from social services, the police, youth work, health care, education, justice and voluntary organisations, as well as friends and relatives of victims and examining 35 case studies relating to victims, they found that the offenders in these cases were often Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghani and White, and were almost always from the same ethnic background as their victims – although this may be due to the relative ease of accessing victims in similar community groups or areas. The professionals interviewed in this research also noted that offending against a White victim by a White offender was perceived to be the most common type of sexual exploitation offending (Gohir, 2013). Other research has also suggested that offenders and victims are commonly ethnically homogeneous (Taylor, 2019).