At least 250,000 girls, and likely more, experienced gang rape, trafficking, torture, and coerced pregnancy over several decades in the UK. The perpetrators, predominantly of Pakistani Muslim heritage, operated with the complicity of British state institutions, as per a 219-page report by a privately funded parliamentary inquiry.
The inquiry, known as the Rape Gang Inquiry, was chaired by Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe and operationally led by survivor and advocate Sammy Woodhouse. It was funded by over 20,000 donors and gathered testimonies from survivors, whistleblowers, politicians, and experts through public hearings.
The report highlighted the systemic failure of state institutions over the years, allowing organized networks of men to exploit children with the consent, active or passive, of the British state. It cited instances dating back to 1955 and emphasized the underreporting of sexual violence, estimating the number of victims to be a conservative 250,000.
Evidence from the inquiry pointed to gang operations in 149 UK local authority districts, with a significant percentage of those convicted in such cases having Muslim names. The grooming process often involved young girls being befriended, provided with substances, and eventually subjected to repeated rape by groups of men.
A 2017 analysis found that a majority of offenders in such cases were South Asian, with a high proportion being Pakistani Muslims. The report detailed the harrowing experiences of victims, including blackmail, physical abuse, forced pregnancies, and trafficking, with perpetrators justifying their actions based on religious and racial biases.
Institutional failures were also underscored, with police, social services, schools, healthcare providers, and licensing authorities being criticized for ignoring complaints, misidentifying victims, destroying evidence, and failing to protect vulnerable children. The report shed light on the deep-rooted issues that allowed such exploitation to persist unchecked for years.
