Racial stereotypes exaggerated in ‘grooming’ reports

Child sex trafficking study sparks exaggerated racial stereotyping | Law | The Guardian

Anyone read the extensive coverage of the issue of Asian men grooming white girls in northern towns that has dominated the Times the past few days (it’s all paywalled, so no point linking to it)? Well, the authors of one of the pieces of research it’s based on have said that their research does not prove that this particular situation is widespread:

The authors, Helen Brayley and Ella Cockbain, from UCL’s Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, said they were surprised their research, confined to just two police operations in the north and Midlands, which found perpetrators were predominantly but not exclusively from the British Pakistani community, had been cited in support of the claims that such offences were widespread. …

Brayley and Cockbaine, whose six-month study was cited as evidence, said they were worried that limited data had been extended “to characterise an entire crime type, in particular of race and gender”. They challenged claims that white girls were deliberately sought out by offenders. “Though the majority … were white so too were the majority of local inhabitants.” Comparing the percentage of white people in the areas with black and ethnic minorities, their data, they said, showed “black and ethnic minority girls over-represented among the victims”.

They added: “This challenges the view that white girls are sought out by offenders, suggesting instead that convenience and accessibility may be the prime drivers for those looking for new victims.”

Another study, published in 2009, showed that although most victims were white, others were Bangladeshi and African-Carribean, while the perpetrators had been identified as white British, Kurdish and South Asian. Also see Libby Brooks in today’s edition.

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