‘Grooming gangs are being cynically weaponised to divide us’
‘Grooming gangs are being cynically weaponised to divide us’
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Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments. In recent months, my identity as a British Muslim student has felt increasingly under siege. The renewed focus on grooming gangs such as the one in Rochdale has been alarmingly weaponised to conflate these crimes with Muslims, Pakistanis and immigrants. Such discussions cannot be reduced to matters of race or religion.
![[Father disciplining toddler]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-117456135.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=507)
Islam unequivocally condemns all forms of sexual exploitation. As such, anyone who violates the dignity of another human being is acting in complete opposition to Islamic teachings and must be brought to justice, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Equating the actions of a criminal minority with the wider Muslim community is grossly unfair.
The Home Office’s own research from 2020 highlights that the majority of offenders in group-based child sexual exploitation cases are white and that no community or culture is ‘uniquely predisposed to offending’. Thus, framing these crimes as a critique of a religion or culture is a gross disservice to victims and distracts from the systemic failures of authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.
Unfortunately, this scapegoating of Muslims feels part of a broader trend. Only a few months ago, the mosque I attend at university was targeted in an attack by violent protesters. Before that, prominent public figures had questioned the loyalty of British Muslim youth.
