London, April 9 British Conservative MP Katie Lam’s call for a national inquiry into UK grooming gangs exposes a scandal in which gangs of Pakistani British heritage systematically exploited vulnerable children — mostly white and Sikh girls — from the 1990s through the 2010s, devastating communities in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale, and Telford.
“Predators targetted girls as young as 11 in everyday spots like parks, bus stops, or schools, luring them with flattery, alcohol, drugs, or small gifts to erode boundaries. Trust quickly turned to coercion: victims were driven to flats or takeaways, passed between dozens of men for repeated rapes, and silenced by threats of beatings, arson, or sharing explicit videos online,” a report in Khalsa Vox detailed.
"Rotherham's estimated 1,400 victims from 1997-2013 illustrate the scale, with many from unstable homes or care, preyed on by taxi drivers who knew their routines. Abusers blended into communities as delivery drivers or shop workers, operating boldly at night when oversight was low. Heartbreaking outcomes included murders like Lucy Lowe’s by her abuser, forced pregnancies, and lifelong health scars,” it added.
According to the report, decades of abuse in Rotherham came to light, revealing Pakistani-heritage grooming networks targetting white girls, with reports ignored since 1991. Operation Stovewood, a major investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation in the UK, now lists over 1,100 victims with trials scheduled until 2027.
In Rochdale, nine men were convicted in 2012 for trafficking preteens — “one endured 20 abusers nightly” — followed in 2025 by seven more sentenced to imprisonment for a combined 174 years.
Since the 1970s, the report said, Telford had up to 1,000 victims exploited due to poverty. In Oxford, 'Operation Bullfinch' convicted 22 for abuses between 1998 and 2012.
In Huddersfield, 20 men were guilty of more than 120 rapes of girls as young as 11, while Newcastle added dozens more. Greater Manchester data showed Asians, mainly Pakistanis, were responsible for 52 per cent of group abuse cases.
The report stated that during a Sikh rally in Hounslow this year, around 200 participants rescued a 16-year-old held and raped by a 34-year-old Pakistani man following police inaction.
The incident, it said, reflected how grassroots efforts fill institutional voids and emphasised the need for minority-led education on such risks.
Highlighting the scale of abuse and need for reform, the report said, “Communities and police must prioritise data, training, and victim voices to end cycles, rebuilding shattered trust. Survivors drive change, demanding no repeats.”
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