Sarah Champion

Sarah Champion is the latest in a growing line of hard working women who have lost their jobs, been squeezed out, made redundant after putting huge efforts into exposing the sexual exploitation of vulnerable children and young people. Sarah Champion, Ann Cryer (politicians) Sarah Rowbotham (sexual health worker), Maggie (the policewoman in Rochdale/Manchester, these are the well known names but there are many police officers, social workers, teachers, midwives, health visitors/ health/drug/alcohol workers who have found themselves on the front line of working with children who are being exploited, debased and psychologically damaged by men who give them drugs, alcohol and pass them around for sex.
Yes, it happens in all communities. My main worry is the ease with which so many men appear to find themselves capable of this kind of debase behaviour. Sarah Champion probably should have kept a million miles away from the Sun, which is no friend of Labour, or indeed of women.
I suspect she'd hoped that by writing in the Sun, she might reach an audience that don't listen to radio 4 news or read a more well informed news paper.
I wish she hadn't resigned. I listened to the Jeremy Vine show, the male Muslim speaker was powerful in his condemnation of the criticisms of Sarah C. He and Yasmin both talked at length about the distorted view of Islam that allows groups of men to see women as nothing. Yasmin talked about her interviews with 3 of the wives of the Rochdale abusers. All 3 talked of marital rape. Men who can behave so violently, abusively and without concern for the girls they are raping and debasing aren't likely to go home and behave like ideal husbands and fathers are they.

I appreciate that some GN members don't believe anything from tabloid newspapers such as the DM or Telegraph but this was from The Guardian, 6 days ago. Whilst no one is claiming that ALL Asian men, or ALL muslim men look on women with disdain, the following extract certainly gives the impression that white women are not exactly respected:

^ "One member, Badrul Hussain, had claimed “white women are only good for one thing” during a rant at a female ticket inspector who found him travelling on public transport without a ticket in 2014. “All white women are only good for one thing,” he shouted. “For men like me to f* and use like trash. That’s all women like you are worth.” ^

I just said that Hannahloisluke!

I read that Jeramy corbyns popularity rating had dropped because of his refusal to attend Passchendaele.
Let's hope that his refusal to acknowledge this abuse by 'some' Asian men does more damage to his sainted image.
Very good point Iam64 Re getting to a different audience.

Yes, she should have resigned. As has been said many times before, there are predatory men in all areas of society - some in very powerful and respected positions - preying on vulnerable children and committing all sorts of vile crimes in the UK and in other parts of the world. To target one group and to use such inflammatory language is, I think, totally unacceptable and not at all helpful.

Not helpful for Corbyn to gain British Asian votes ? Wonder if he would be so eager to support the IRA now if they were as active as in the seventies and eighties or would he say as he did about addressing Hamas as friends - with hindsight I was wrong

Yes I agree eloe

In such a sensitive and potentially inflammatory case politicians have to be extremely careful in the language that is used and the media chosen.

It has nothing to do with being politically correct but everything to do with recognising the damage that is done by being careless in your use of blame.

I think that people of the Islamic faith recognise that there is a huge cultural divide in attitudes to female behaviour, and this may encourage the type of dreadful crimes under discussion. This is what imo needs addressing.

I agree with you about the use of language Eloethan and of course, I am well aware that child sexual abuse crosses all classes, races, faith, employment fields etc. I hope that Sarah C decided to resign to avoid being the story, rather than being pushed. I still feel it's very sad that yet another excellent female, in this case a politician, has been sidelined and her excellent work in this area undermined.
It's also a truism that most sexual abuse is committed by men. That doesn't mean women aren't involved but its to a lesser extent. That fact has been the subject of research over many years and the extent of involvement of men from the backgrounds of those convicted in the recent child sexual exploitation cases also needs to be fully researched. If we don't understand why it happens, how can we work to prevent it? How can we ensure all communities work more effectively to keep our children safe?
One of the British Pakistani men who phoned the JVine show yesterday spoke out strongly against the men convicted and the importance of looking at their heritage. He added that 'white girls are allowed out too much on their own, too late at night, their parents should be more protective'. His response to the question, should girls be safe out at any time was yes, of course they should but the reality is, they aren't. I didn't find his comments offensive. It reflects the real dilemma we face as a society.

Anyone who has any association with this vile rag-the sun-should know how dirty they play and it was beyond naive of her to use it as a platform for very serious views which require the utmost clarity and honesty not scumbag twisted editing. Why would she not remember the Hillsborough reportage? A very poor error of judgment on her part

Of course she should have used the word 'some' that is true, but surely a quiet reprimand would have been sufficient, first offense and all that?!! What happened to the man who racially, sexually and verbally attacked the ticket inspector? was it reported, was action taken?! I guess not! It would seem that some can do and say as they please, but the other way round, all hell is disproportionately let loose.

nell I can understand your annoyance. But I think the difference is that the unpleasant man on the train represents no one but himself.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sun had sub-edited out a qualifier like 'some'. To try and get a foothold in a readership who has infamously always viewed women as meat is pushing hope too high. They have won again. They have got their narrative. Uppity women - out. And Jeremy doesn't come out well in this. He should stand by her judgement. She is an MP in a constituency where 1000 girls were abused by predominately Pakistani men. And yet she is silenced and accused of racial prejudice. Of course not all Pakistani men abuse but the fact that Pakistani women are so controlled, frequently covered and forbidden freedoms we have fought hard for, says a lot about their cultural attitude to women. It is something we need to expose and discuss not sweep under the carpet in fear of offending Islam. When Christian Catholic men and women in charge of children were found to be guilty of abuse, their religion was not hidden. There was an apology from the Pope for example. For some reason Corbyn is quick to attack the other Abrahamic faiths, Christians and Jews but not Muslims. Which all seems to hark back to his staunch loyalty to Palestine, the same as his unclear Euroscepticism which cost Remainers dearly, as that harked back to the Bennite eurosceprticism. We are all shaped by our early experiences but I wish he was more flexible and listened and thought more. The only thing we can depend on him to do is defend Muslims and old Lefties (eg Venezuela) whatever they do and repeatedly say - all violence is wrong, all sexual predation is wrong. It is embarrassing. I'm afraid it will just make people more angry if he can't face facts that he doesn't like. And might I add that there are many Muslims that would welcome an open debate on this - of course there are. Both men and women. *k the Sun they will never be in the forefront of progression and liberal attitudes. Sarah C has been sacrificed. And I for one might forgive but won't forget.

The labour leadership is getting very politically correct !

Isn't saying all sexual abuse is wrong - stating the bloody obvious

My DD made an interesting point last night: maybe it's time (as per Greek Orthodox/Roman Catholics)for a schism in Islam, with the vast majority of muslims in one part and hard woman/hating terrorist Islamists in the other.

I said before I think Sarah Champion's error was to not make it clear she was referring to "some" or "a "small minority". Nevertheless these cases are hitting the headlines with increasing regularity so lets not pretend that there isn't a misogyny issue that pertains to a percentage of males within the Muslim/Arab community. The sort of shilly shallying and evasiveness in not defining the reality of certain situations from some libertarians in the name of cultural sensitivity doesn't fool anybody. Two examples, one previously mentioned, a white caucasian girl child used on a Barnardo's poster to highten awareness of children being removed during holidays for fgm. Even more incongruous, a white, blonde haired woman with tape across her mouth, this time a poster for "forced marriage". Who are they kidding, tell it like it is, these issues do not apply to white European women and children and although I'm veering slightly off subject I do feel there is a deliberate campaign to mislead when tackling some unacceptable cultural truths. Not facing these issues head on are seriously going to undermine social cohesion, particularly if they aren't dealt with in an honest and effective way.

Here's something I find distatseful, some British young people go to foreign countries, have sex in public, get drunk and generally behave badly. Do any of you think that statement shows cultural insensitivity ? I don't, young Brits behave like this in large swathes of southern Europe I think their behaviour is appalling !

Their behaviour is appalling no two ways about it, but at least we can say so without being accused of being racist, sexist and anything else you can think of! They are not above criticism, some muslim men, it would appear, are.

Terribull, that is appalling behaviour but nothing like as bad as grooming young, often underage, girls and then using and abusing them and I am shocked that you would compare them!!

No-one I heard on Jeremy Vine had an issue with the statement - most of them thought it didn't go far enough.

kittylester - I was trying to make an analogy about cultural sensitivity and facing up to facts. I believe some resorts in southern Europe no longer want marauding young Britons there because of their behaviour. They are entitled to that opinion, it is justified, because it is young people from this country, fuelled by drink who show a disrespect to the host country. Similarly "the grooming" scandal relates to one ethnicity my point was that sometimes all cultures must face up to the fact that there are those within it who drag the rest of us down with them, particularly when they show a flagrent disrespect for their host country/ies, albeit as a visitor or as a citizen. Not all young British are drunkenly louche anymore that all Pakistani men are abusers of young girls.

The young Britons analogy put forward by me is competely off subject, but I suppose I was also trying to say that, would we, as British, be angered on behalf of fellow citizens, if they behave badly and are then pilloried by another nation as a consequence. I think not! I believe this so called "cultural sensitivity" is something we are expected to show to certain ethnicities but it isn't always reciprocated.

Sarah Champion was shadow women and equalities minister, but she patently failed to carefully monitor and oversee the information that was printed in her name. So effectively she failed to do her job properly. Who or what was involved in the statement is irrelevant really. Releasing anything to the press which labels one section of society as being anything is patently wrong and she should know this. Yes some Pakistani men have abused and raped white girls, the same men probably raped and abused their Pakistani wives.
Some celebrities in the 60's and 70s abused girls, but not all did and if I printed an article saying "Celebrities abused girls" it would be wrong.
Some Australian and British men go to Thailand to pursue their sexual interest in young girls, but if I missed out the "some" I would absolutely be misrepresenting the situation.

Many of those of us who are sorry to see Sarah C go have immediately acknowledged it was unfortunate her words weren't more carefully chosen, or edited by her/her staff. I remain disappointed that she joins a line of women who have been demoted, dismissed, made redundant, resigned due to ill health etc - all of those women having spent years championing the rights of vulnerable girls and women to live their lives without being sexually exploited, raped, beaten and so on.
The sex worker and police officer in the Rochdale case were both accused of being over emotional/over involved in their work. Raising awareness of child sexual exploitation is a risky business for the women who do their best to do this, it seems.

There was no need to sack her, just a few words from Corbyn and silence from his puppets and she could have worked through it.

If you are a minister (even a shadow) and responsible for something you take the flack when something goes wrong- it's called responsibility. I know that successive Tory governments have failed to do this, but perhaps we should be pleased that the Labour party takes things more seriously.
Iam64 I think bringing in the past and the appalling record of the authorities to deal with the abuse of young girls is a separate issue. This wasn't raising awareness of exploitation, it was setting one group of the population against others, which arguably could lead to further hidden problems by alienating people so discouraging them from reporting incidents.

She wasn't sacked; she resigned.
Quite sensibly as the story was not about her.