ROTHERHAM, UK:
Rapist Arshid Hussain (“Hussain”) perpetrator, in the atrocities of the now notorious Rotherham sex-trafficking gang, and who was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to 35 years in prison for his crimes, is now being offered the right to apply for council ordered parental rights so he can see one of his victim’s child, who was conceived when he raped her at 14.
The Times reported:
“The serial rapist who fathered the boy was not named on his birth certificate.”
They also stated:
“The rapist, who was part of a grooming gang, had no parental responsibility for his son but the local authority contacted him in jail and gave him a chance to seek visits from the boy.”
The article in The Times exposed the incident of a council giving access to children conceived in the course of a sexual assault to a convicted sexual predator simply because they are assumed the biological progenitor. In fact, the proof of parentage is his conviction for grooming and repeatedly sexually assaulting the child’s mother who was underage at the time.
The newspaper did not name the council nor the parents in order to protect the rights of the victim and her child and the article was written without identifying the family involved, however, the mother is speaking up in the interest of both her own safety and that of her child. (click here)
Sammy Woodhouse, Rotherham grooming-gang survivor who was raped and exploited by Hussain as a young teen, is speaking out about the risk to the public and continuation and traumatising of victims by her Council, revealed that she and her son are the affected parties who are being called on to give access to the convicted sex offender.
In her Twitter feed, Ms. Woodhouse advised the public that not only is Rotherham Council giving visitation rights to Ms Woodhouse’s son conceived during rape, but that “this is happening all over the UK”.
She posted:
“The Times:’Jailed rapist given chance to see victims child’.
“Rotherham has offered convicted rapist access to my son.
“This is happening all over the UK and must stop!
An investigation and change in law is needed.”
Ms. Woodhouse said further in her YouTube video:
“People, women and children are being put at direct risk.”
Mr. Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association said:
“It is shameful how silent the public seems to be about these inane decisions and the mishandling of the victims when in reality this exploitation by grooming gangs is not the victim’s fault.”
“It is the silence that is shameful and not the survivor’s cries for peace and justice. The silence only serves to hide, as it did before, the abuse of these criminal gangs and allow the system to continue to minimalize the seriousness of the criminal acts. Have we learned nothing?!
“How can the victim’s living situation be made more peaceful rather than more difficult by the continual harassment from their predator through the council? Why has the council not protected the victim and her child’s right to move on peacefully with their lives? The premise that after two years in jail that the convicted felon deserves ‘a second chance’ to apply for parental visits at the expense of a child that they ostensibly never had any intention of having a parental relationship with in the first place is appalling and perverse.”
“The criminally responsible party was given 35 years for his crimes and should not have the right to contact his victim either directly or indirectly through her child at that time.”
“BPCA commends Sammy Woodhouse for her bravery at calling out the abuse of power that she is suffering by the hand of her Council, in their abject failure to discern right and wrong.”
“The mere idea that a rapist could be, on the lark of a social worker or politician, be given access to a vulnerable young person, by a known sex offender who is skilled at grooming and has abused a multitude of others is a great travesty of justice.
“It gives pause as to whether the decision makers are not prone and have succumbed to the skilful manipulation of a convicted criminal known to be adept at these sort of tactics. I would hope that any of those involved in the assessment that gave the rapist access to the victim’s child should be subjected to psychological scrutiny themselves and called on to reflect upon the appropriate professional standards for crimes of this nature and magnitude.”
BPCA has written to Ms. Woodhouse offering to meet to hear her specific concerns and thoughts about how this ineffective law can be changed. Mr. Chowdhry has also met with other community leaders in Sikh and Hindu UK communities about similar violations as Ms. Woodhouse has experienced that were also ignored and excused for years by UK authorities. (click here)
Ms. Woodhouse reflects on her experience of being lured, groomed and sexually abused by the Rotherham grooming gang in a book entitled “Just a Child”. During an interview about Ms. Woodhouse’s book, one of the commentators described a luring incident where an attempted rape occurred and declared “I wasn’t groomed, but…,” which is a misunderstanding too – a girl does not sign up for that treatment; no one does. The TV host described being entrapped and while perhaps not perpetrated over a long-term it still constitutes grooming. Moreover, this should not be fostered in any culture or by any religion. Chalking such violations up to culture is no excuse. These excuses need to stop because they not only undermine community cohesion but also the rule of law.
British Pakistani Christians have grave concerns within their ethnic community regarding the sex-trafficking gangs. These same exploitive behaviours are not unheard of in the collective experience of religious minorities, and as a matter, of course, Pak-Christians are often subjected to various forms of sexual abuse including kidnapping, rape and forced marriage. When they report these abuses Christian families are patronised and threatened, often leaving them vulnerable to false blasphemy allegations (click here), to indentured servitude to pay for legal fees (click here), and some have been told they should be happy a good Muslim family has taken an interest in their daughter! (click here)
BPCA Officer Keri-Lynn Gibbs related to an incident which she said indicated to her that even some British professionals seemed uncomfortable calling for justice for sex crimes, and criticised BPCA for reporting them. She said:
“Last year while advocating for a concern that was shared by another British organisation that was new to us, I was shocked at the contempt BPCA faced from the individual we were dialoguing with summarily for telling the stories of sexual assault survivors (and indeed the many who do not survive sexual-violence), when I was told by one female leader, ‘You are that group that reports sex-stories!’ and indicated discomfort at being associated with us.”
“I can tell you that I was heartbroken that this British-origin group was more disgusted that we talked about the sexual abuse that was happening to Pak-Christians, than at the actual violence the victims were facing. They ostensibly had little compassion for those who were suffering harm and seemed only appalled that they had to see and hear of it. This atrocious mindset is one Sammy may well understand given her own experience.”
The societal denial here in the UK about the nature of Sammy Woodhouse’s past abuse even though the culprit is jail, demonstrates a negligent attitude that keeps people all over the world from getting help. The rapist’s attempt to insinuate himself into her family life after being deemed a threat, is a serious matter for her personally, but the subliminal fear perpetrated in these gangs has seemed to affect the highest levels of government and as we have seen in the past months, this internalised terror has even caused the UK government to kowtow to that fear by not extending shelter to an obvious refugee like Asia Bibi. Ms Woodhouse is not the only one being gaslighted, our entire society is vulnerable to these manipulative tactics that minimize the most vile criminalities upon vulnerable members of the community.
BPCA commends Sammy Woodhouse for her courage in not only telling her story, but seeking justice at every avenue for yourself, her family and all the others affected in the same way. She has made an exceptional effort and BPCA wants to take actionable measures to support this campaign to end forced contact between children conceived during rape and the sex abusers.
British Pakistani Christian Association, continues to provide advocacy and humanitarian aid to Christians in Pakistan and the Pak-Christian diaspora. We cannot do it without your help please donate by clicking (here)
