This investigation was first published in the May 2024 print edition of Byline Times
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Survivors of child sexual exploitation are being exploited by groups linked to the far-right, taking advantage of a lack of support for these vulnerable individuals, to further an anti-Muslim agenda around grooming gangs, a five-month special investigation by Byline Times has found.
This newspaper has spoken to survivors of CSE who were promised paid-for therapy, and were aware of others offered food, televisions and new clothes, by groups with links to the far-right, which then pushed survivors to speak out about their experiences of abuse at rallies.
The practice was described as “grooming” by both survivors themselves and several leading academics Byline Times spoke to.
Members of one group in Hull, with links to multiple neo-Nazi organisations and campaigners, told one survivor that child sexual exploitation was being carried out by “p***s”. After leaving the group, she faced a litany of violent threats and intimidation from its members.
Despite evidence, produced by the Home Office itself, showing that individuals from no single background or religion are more likely than another to commit child sexual exploitation crimes each year, narratives around ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ have become normalised among politicians and media outlets on the right.
Special Investigation: The Network of Far-Right Groups Exploiting the Survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation
Part Two: The interconnectedness of far-right groups reflects the extent to which those holding extreme beliefs have used the issue of child sexual exploitation to further their own ends
Nazir Afzal, a former Crown Prosecution Service lead on child sexual exploitation and the prosecutor in the Rochdale paedophile gang case, told Byline Times that this is part of a wider pattern of the far-right weaponising the issue of ‘grooming gangs’ to further its own aims – with the narrative being used to recruit growing numbers of members and justify anti-migrant and anti-Muslim protests.
This investigation has uncovered that the far-right has been able to exploit a lack of prolonged support for often ignored survivors of child sexual exploitation by government and charities – which helps to explain why survivors are susceptible to any support such groups claim to offer.
Grooming and Threats
Lara (not her real name) did not know what to expect when she was told to attend a meeting by United Hull.
Having attempted to access NHS mental health support for “years and years”, a friend and another survivor of child sexual exploitation had told her that the group would be able to get her “long-term therapy and justice”.
She was desperately in need of support to combat the depression and suicidal feelings that were the result of the trauma of her abuse – abuse she said was never properly addressed by the police or other local authorities.
Despite not knowing much about the group, Lara decided to go along.
“I remember when I was getting in the taxi, I was literally praying, because I was finally going to get some help,” she told Byline Times. “I got to this pub, went in, and there were just lots and lots of men. They were there with a big banner.”
One of the men eventually approached Lara, telling her how “brave” she was for attending the meeting. He said the group would be able to organise psychological support for her.
But the reality of United Hull’s political beliefs quickly became more apparent.
Lara said: “They were saying abuse by Asian men was an Islamic thing, and that it was an attack on our country and our British values.” As she had been abused repeatedly by men from a number of different backgrounds and ethnicities, the narrative did not sit well with her.