Scenes in the BBC’s new three part drama ‘Three Girls’, which is based on the true stories of victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale, will have been heart-breaking and harrowing for viewers to watch when it aired. But the harsh reality is that we need programmes like this to be made if we […]

Aged just 12, Fay Khatri was forced into a marriage against her will. Five years later, she was forced to marry again – this time to her cousin. “I was abused by a number people while I was growing up and at one stage I decided that was just the way was going to be […]

Girls in Britain are at risk of being forced to undergo female genital mutilation and professionals need to be alert, a High Court judge says. Mr Justice Keehan says police, social workers, teachers and medics must be aware of warning signs and know how to help. The judge, who is based in the Family Division […]

The sex crimes chronicled in Three Girls (BBC) are too abhorrent to contemplate in anything but the most abstract terms. So tremendous credit is due to Nicole Taylor, whose dramatisation of the Rochdale child grooming scandal conveys the unspeakable facts while maintaining a respectful distance from the suffering of the young women raped systematically by […]

Last week, the Supreme Court issued notices to four ministries on a petition seeking a ban on “female circumcision”. The inhuman practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) — seen in parts of Asia and Africa, including among the 2 million-strong Bohra community in India — is currently in sharp focus worldwide. Days before the Supreme […]

A jilted boyfriend gang-raped his ex-girlfriend with six other men then drove a car over her head to stop her being identified in India. The mutilated body of the 23-year-old woman was found being torn apart by dogs after she was abducted from Sonipat and driven to the city of Rohtak in the country’s north. […]

Some 28.8 per cent of education staff are concerned they may be perceived as prejudiced or racist should they report concerns regarding honour-based abuse and child abuse linked to faith and belief, it has been reported. According to the latest survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), it was also revealed that 31 […]

The devastating effect of child-sexual exploitation is laid bare in this harrowing but unmissable mini-series, based on real events. Between 2008 and 2012, almost 50 young girls suffered appalling abuse at the hands of sex-grooming gangs in and around Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Almost as shocking was the fact that the victims were ignored by the […]

Child sexual exploitation is still ‘woefully under-reported’ in the UK, the NSPCC has warned. The charity said many young victims don’t understand that what is happening to them is grooming and exploitation, because offenders use manipulative tactics. It is now calling on concerned adults to raise the alarm if they suspect a young person might […]