Suella Braverman has defended her use of language after claiming grooming gang members are “almost all British-Pakistani”, describing them as “unfashionable facts” within the face of a backlash.
In a column for The Spectator, the house secretary stated it was not racist to talk “plain truths” – although she pressured most British-Pakistani males aren’t perpetrators of sexual abuse.
“There is something peculiar about this political moment, where those of us advancing unfashionable facts are beaten over the head with fashionable fictions,” Ms Braverman wrote.
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“I suppose the ethnicity of grooming gang perpetrators in a string of cases is the sort of fact that has simply become unfashionable in some quarters – like the fact that 100% of women do not have a penis.”
Earlier this month Ms Braverman made a number of feedback in regards to the ethnicity of abusers in high-profile gangs.
In feedback that generated heavy criticism, she advised Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “What’s clear is that what we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British Pakistani men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks.”
In a newspaper column she stated “the perpetrators are groups of men, almost all British-Pakistani”.
And she additionally claimed Labour-run areas did not cease youngster grooming gangs over fears they might be referred to as “racist”.
Dozens of Muslim organisations, medical our bodies and enterprise leaders urged her to withdraw the feedback, accusing her of “amplifying far-right narratives”.
The remarks have been additionally criticised as factually inaccurate given a Home Office-commissioned research in 2020 discovered that group-based youngster sexual exploitation offenders are mostly white males beneath 30.
But Ms Braverman doubled down on her remarks in her The Spectator piece.
“To say the overwhelming majority of perpetrators in towns such as Rotherham, Telford, and Rochdale were British-Pakistani and that their victims were white girls is not to say that most British-Pakistanis are perpetrators of sexual abuse,” she stated.
“The former is a truth, one that made authorities reluctant to confront the issue. The latter is a lie, the speaking of which would be a disgraceful prejudice.
“Casually accusing me of racism for talking plain truths distorts the that means of the time period, and does an awesome disservice to all of us working to fight racism.”
Previously, The Muslim Council of Britain urged the federal government to “adhere to the facts of the matter, rather than deploying deeply divisive, racially charged rhetoric that amplifies far-right narratives and demonises an entire community”.
And the Muslim Women’s community, which has labored with Asian victims of Child sexual exploitation, stated Ms Braverman’s “approach…of demonising an entire community and lending credibility to far-right narratives undermines the need to ensure all victims of CSE are protected and all perpetrators are bought to justice”.
Content Source: information.sky.com