A few years ago, the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire became synonymous with a child sexual exploitation scandal where girls had been groomed and sexually exploited by gangs of older men. It eventually emerged that professionals who should have intervened, such as police and social workers, who had been made aware of the problem had avoided dealing with it, in part because of the risk of racial tensions (or the accusation of racism) if the truth came to light.
The fact that the abusers were mainly of Pakistani origin and the girls were mostly white has been used to target Asian and Muslim communities with abuse. The truth is that, although it looks like this specific kind of grooming may be most prevalent with Pakistani Muslims as the perpetrators, the “large majority” of those convicted of sexual offences in the UK are white.
So, when the grooming scandal was finally revealed, seven men were tried and convicted of abusing teenage girls over a period of seven years. Six were jailed for a total of over 100 years for the crimes, with gang leader Arshid Hussain receiving a sentence of 35 years.
Sammy Woodhouse, one of the victims of Hussain and his rapist gang, which included two of his brothers, waived her right to anonymity and came forward as having been part of the case. Her bravery is enviable and her strength in speaking out is quite astonishing. She has also spoken out against a lap-dancing club she subsequently worked at, and has won awards for her courage and activism.
Sammy was pregnant by the age of 15 and had a son, and Arshid Hussain is his biological father. She has now spoken out because she sought out care proceedings with the support of the council in Rotherham to gain access to support for her child, who has complex needs. She then found out that Hussain had been sent letters about this process, and assured that he would be kept abreast of what happened during the proceedings.
Hussain is not marked on Woodhouse’s son’s birth certificate as the father, nor has he any parental responsibility, yet the council “argued that it was legally required to contact the rapist and notify him of proceedings involving the child”. This left Woodhouse afraid that she would come face to face with Hussain in court, and that he would be given information or responsibility towards her son.
Rotherham Council is, therefore, facing another scandal. Not only did they fail to prevent – or even tackle – widespread and devastating sexual exploitation, they have also included one of the abusers from the high-profile case in communications about the struggles his victim is having managing with her son. Sammy Woodhouse is retraumatised, afraid that this man – who is demonstrably a danger to women and children – will have contact with her son, and she is doing what she does so well: speaking out.
There is no question that Woodhouse has been let down yet again by services that are supposed to be protecting her. However, it is unlikely that the social workers involved in this case did this on a one-off basis. They were following the law, which according to the BBC, states that: “Legal guidelines in England and Wales state that all parents, regardless of parental responsibility, should be given notice of care proceedings.
“This means that by default, a convicted rapist does have the right to be notified of care proceedings involving his child.
“If they are married to their victim, men convicted of rape have parental responsibility and will automatically be a party in any court proceedings in which they will have their interests considered.”
The BBC goes on to explain that even though this means that rapists can be informed of decisions about their children, they do not have an automatic right to access, which would be decided separately. However, that is hardly reassuring.
Sammy Woodhouse has already stated that she fears that there must be other women in the same situation as she is, whose rapists have been contacted when important aspects of the care of their children arise. It is unacceptable, it is frightening, and it is almost certainly true. If she is one person who has spoken out, how many others are unaware that this has happened or are too afraid to come forward?
Sheffield Labour MP Louise Haigh has argued in the Guardian that the Ministry of Justice should conduct an urgent review to find out how frequently this is happening, and that victims must be taken more seriously within the legal system as a whole. While “prisoners get all the rights!” is often a right-wing complaint, it is true that victims in cases of sexual assault, abuse and exploitation are frequently overlooked and their abusers get away with far too much.
The Ministry of Justice responded “This is obviously a very distressing incident and the relevant departments and local authority will work urgently to understand and address the failings in this case.”
But the voice we need to listen to most closely is that of Woodhouse herself, who told the Victoria Derbyshire programme, “There are women all over the country that have to share access with their children to the men that raped them. They have to see them, they are cross-examined by them, they have to ask their permission for things. I even tried to apply for a passport for my son to go on holiday and they got back in touch and said I had to ask his permission. We’re constantly being revictimised.”
Photo: Fibonacci Blue