The Scottish government is set to announce a national review of the grooming gang evidence in Scotland, after coming under pressure to take action on reports of organised sexual exploitation. An independent judge will assess the situation in Scotland, with their conclusions then used to help the government decide whether there should be full public inquiry. The Scottish Conservatives have been clear for some time that their position is to move straight to a national probe, while Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has welcomed reports that a review is forthcoming.
The SNP government has, however, been accused of dragging its feet on the issue – with political opponents insisting that justice secretary Angela Constance has demonstrated a ‘lack of interest’ in the issue. Constance has even faced calls to resign over her assertion during a Holyrood debate in September that Professor Alexis Jay – who led the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England Wales – did not support further probes into grooming gangs in Scotland. The justice secretary sparked further outrage when, at the end of November an Urgent Question on grooming gangs arose, she was not present in the Chamber to answer it. The Scottish government has form on its opposition to an inquiry, with First Minister John Swinney telling the Chamber in September that he was not ‘persuaded of the necessity’ to order one.
The SNP now seems significantly more open to an investigation
Professor Jay has in fact said that a probe into child sexual abuse in Scotland is required urgently – noting that too little was known about grooming gangs operating north of the border. Jay, who herself lives in the west of Scotland, said that a review ‘could be a precursor to a public inquiry and that is why I think it is quite urgent to do soon’. Indeed, as in England, harrowing stories have emerged about child abuse at the hands of gangs in Scotland. In October, five members of a Romanian grooming gang were sent to prison after raping ten women – some as young as 16 – in Dundee. A victim known as Taylor (not her real name) wrote an open letter to Swinney, describing how at 13 years old, her and her friend were sexually abused by a group of Pakistani men in Glasgow.
Currently a national inquiry into grooming gangs operating in England and Wales is taking place – although it has not had the smoothest start. One group of survivors stepped down from the victim liaison panel over concerns about transparency and the scope of the inquiry – with some calling for Home Office minister Jess Phillips to quit. Another group of women said they would only continue their work on the inquiry if Phillips remained involved. The probe remains ongoing.
Sarwar told BBC Scotland that action on grooming gangs north of the border has ‘taken far too long’, adding:
We’ve got to do everything to make sure we have robust systems in place to make sure those historic cases have been dealt with appropriately and that any existing or future cases will be dealt with appropriately.
The Scottish Tories tried to add an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Bill in September to call for a full-blown probe – however this was rejected by the Scottish government. The SNP now seems significantly more open to an investigation – and it would do well to learn from the issues that have arisen south of the border.
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