UK Minister Criticized For Disregarding Pakistani Males

Political commentators and children's charities have criticized British Home Secretary Suella Braverman's comments that British-Pakistani males "hold cultural values at odds with British values" as "inflammatory" and comparable to starting "race wars."

Dame Louise Casey CB's 2015 report, which ironically noted how the British-Pakistani community had been "harmed by association" in the scandal, was also mentioned by the home secretary.

The crackdown on grooming gangs is anticipated to defy "political correctness," according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is also expected to announce new initiatives to address sexual assault of children. He refrained from reiterating Ms. Braverman's remarks about Pakistanis, though.

The government promised to support police forces' inquiries into allegations of child sexual abuse with the help of knowledgeable specialist officers and National Crime Agency personnel.

The majority of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are white males, as noted by former top prosecutor Nazir Afzal.

He wrote, "Suella Braverman chooses to focus on those who are not white British, despite the fact that she is aware that 84% of child sex offenders are."

The suspicion remains that the Tories have again seized upon the grooming gangs issue in order to stir up controversy, enrage voters in the Midlands and north of England, and show they are the party willing to say the "unsayable," according to journalist Adam Forrest, who wrote a column for The Independent titled "Is Sunak's grooming gangs crackdown just 'dog whistle' politics?".

Sir Peter Wanless, CEO of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said that while the government's emphasis on combating such offenses is to be applauded, race should not be the primary consideration.

"Organised networks' sexual exploitation of children is one heinous form of abuse, so it's encouraging to see the government put its efforts into stopping offenders and safeguarding victims. Support for a justice system that is having trouble coping and money for services to aid child victims in recovering must be provided in addition to this.

It's crucial to keep in mind that any kid can become a victim of child sexual exploitation, and that adults who commit these crimes often come from diverse backgrounds. In order to avoid creating new blind spots that make it difficult to identify victims, it is important to concentrate on factors other than race because sexual predators will target the society's most accessible and vulnerable children.

It was "very, very dangerous" for the government to turn child sexual abuse into a question of race, according to Sabah Kaiser, an ethnic minority ambassador to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay and which looked into child abuse in Rotherham.

"Child sexual abuse does not belong to any particular race or faith. It lacks any tradition. Sexual assault of children knows no bounds. Therefore, it is crucial that our country responds to this problem in a coordinated manner as a whole, she said on Today on BBC 4.

It's crucial that we avoid making this extremely important problem into one about race. Because, let's face it, while that makes for interesting headlines, it is not relevant to the subject at hand.