THE RELIGIOUSLY AGGRAVATED

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF YOUNG

SIKH WOMEN ACROSS THE UK

A p re lim in a ry ex p lora tio n in to the h istory o f tar ge te d sexu a l

ex p lo ita tion o f yo un g Sik h fem a les , a lo ngs id e assoc ia te d ag ita tion a nd
ac tiv ism by Br itis h Sikhs

S.M.A.R.T
In conjunction with
Sikh Youth UK
©2018 Sikh Youth UK. All rights reserved
CONTENTS
Foreword

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction - The sexual exploitation of young Sikh women in the UK

1.1. Aim of this study

2. Methodology
2.1. Important considerations for the findings

3. Findings
3.1. South Asian Migration Patterns

3.2. Grooming Gangs

3.2.1. Grooming Process
3.2.2. Identifying females to exploit

3.3. History
3.3.1. Forced conversion

3.4. Police Responses

3.5. Parental, Family & Community Responses

3.5.1. Vigilantism

4. Secondary Victims

5. Recommendations

6. References

1
2
FOREWORD
Sexual abuse and exploitation has highly traumatic, damaging and longstanding
consequences for victims as well as those supporting them. Empowering young people
alongside raising awareness of the risk remains central to combatting the crisis.
However, identifying young people at risk within the Sikh community is particularly
difficult in light of ever evolving grooming techniques coupled with persisting social
stigmas, cultural taboos and institutional deterrents surrounding the reporting of abuse.
The presence of such factors makes ascertaining the full scale of sexual exploitation and
supporting those affected, extremely difficult.

In recent years, Sikh Youth UK’s frontline work with young people experiencing sexual
abuse has revealed even greater challenges to supporting young women at risk across
the United Kingdom. The absence of substantive data supporting allegations of targeted
abuse and exploitation of young Sikh females remains the common justification amongst
authorities accused of failing to safeguard such children.

In light of these circumstances, this exploratory study serves to present the Sikh
community’s perspective of factors which have manifested themselves in behaviour
identified throughout the history of young Sikh females targeted for sexual abuse and
exploitation in the United Kingdom.

It is important to clarify that this study has not been undertaken as a witch-hunt against
any individual, community, culture or faith. However, in the absence of a clear
understanding and acceptance of key factors contributing to the risk, the British Sikh and
wider community will continue to struggle to effectively provide adequate measures
protecting and rehabilitating the victims of such crimes.

By drawing upon the professional insight and experience of practitioners, community

representatives, social and legal professionals in conjunction with media activity and
related literature, this study has sought to provide a preliminary insight into an under
researched and unacknowledged component of sexual abuse in the United Kingdom.

3
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have contributed to the development of this study and we are very
thankful for their input, support and guidance.

We are especially grateful for the contributions by both primary and secondary victims
of targeted abuse who bravely disclosed their traumatic experiences for the benefit of
the wider community.

To label them as victims is an academic formality for they truly are brave survivors who
inspired the completion of this study.

5
6
INTRODUCTION

7
1. INTRODUCTION
Sexual abuse and exploitation is not something that just happens, nor is it normal or acceptable in any society. Many of the
key risk factors that make individuals, families or communities vulnerable to sexual abuse can be effectively addressed only
once they have been acknowledged.

For over fifty years, voices within the British Sikh community have periodically raised
concerns over the alleged targeting of young Sikh females for sexual abuse and
exploitation. The issue is one that has prompted frequent community agitation and
activism perpetuated by a plethora of reported incidences to organisations and
community representatives from households across the country. The prevalence of such
cases has given rise to questions surrounding their authenticity, the sincerity of the
relationships and the role of the authorities in safeguarding Sikh youth.

Since the early nineteen-eighties, evidence collated by British Sikh organisations has
recorded cases of sexual abuse and exploitation against young Sikh females by grooming
gangs populated by perpetrators of primarily Pakistani or Muslim heritage. Although not
exclusively, offences are documented as regularly being committed within the structure
of networks including the nuclear and extended family members of offenders. This has
in turn prompted questions surrounding whether young Sikh females are victims of
opportunists or being targeted due to their religious heritage.

Ground level accounts from victims, Sikh community leaders and social activists have
repeatedly pointed towards a pattern of behaviour now commonly acknowledged as
archetypal sexual grooming techniques. Despite alleging a history of remonstration to
authorities over the issue, the Sikhs generally acknowledge their concerns as negligently
misunderstood or recklessly ignored.

At the same time as the concerns of the Sikh community remain unaddressed, gangs of
predominantly Pakistani men have been convicted of targeting young white females for
sexual exploitation in cities across the United Kingdom. The common factor amongst
these convictions is the utilisation of those techniques identified by the Sikh community
thirty years earlier.

8
Following the high profile Rochdale grooming gang scandal, nine men of Pakistani
backgrounds were convicted at Liverpool Crown Court for the sexual abuse and
exploitation of white teenage girls. When jailing them, Judge Gerald Clifton observed:

"You preyed on girls because they were not part of your community or religion"
Manchester Evening News – 15 May 20121

In this case, the judge indicated his belief that the Rochdale gang had deliberately sought
victims outside of their own community. The case was one amongst many
demonstrating the disproportionately high involvement of Pakistani men in grooming
gangs. Whereas Rochdale served as a shocking revelation to many across the nation, the
case has been described as one all too familiar to the British Sikh community.

The Sikh predicament is stated to involve perpetrators of principally Pakistani heritage

targeting young female victims for abuse in both Sikh dominated areas as well as
locations with a scattered Sikh presence. Taking advantage of parallels between Sikh and
Pakistani cultures, offenders are alleged to have repeatedly exploited known cultural
sensitivities to ostracise victims from their family and community.

Sikh organisations allege that perpetrators have repeatedly manipulated inapt protocols
within law enforcement and social services, causing victims to fall deeper into their
exploiters traps. Those from different areas of association with the issue have often
conveyed frustration over the perceived inaction of the police and local authorities in
such cases.

Conversely, police forces and local authorities respond by pointing to a lack of statistics
and reported incidents in order to be able to address and tackle the issue. However,
accounts of Sikh parents in the cases of both current and historical victims, maintain that
their reluctance to engage with the police stems from the absence of understanding and
lack of empathy they experienced when dealing with the authorities upon such matters.
Members of the community assert that reports to police forces were historically met
with cynicism and largely ignored.
9
Despite the current absence of official statistics, judicial activity has intermittently
recorded references to the targeting of Sikh girls for over forty years.

The first recorded case involving the targeting of a Sikh schoolgirl

by a Pakistani gang came before Middlesex Area Sessions (Court)
in 19712, although many within the Sikh community allege such
activity surfaced a decade earlier.

Studies in the last decade have started to explore how sexual exploitation manifests and
impacts itself in the lives of young people however, as the targeting of young Sikh
females remains to be acknowledged, no studies have explored their experiences.

Although victims continue to surface, the lack of work surrounding the experiences of
young Sikhs suggests the drift towards pluralistic approaches continues to impact the
social care sector’s ability to deliver support that takes race and ethnicity sufficiently
into account. A comparable approach adopted by law enforcement and prosecution
agencies towards Sikh victims and their families indicates that evidence in cases pointing
to religiously aggravated sexual exploitation is generally disregarded or ignored.

In order to effectively support young people and tackle sexual exploitation, it is essential
to acknowledge that every young person’s experience is unique and takes place in a
specific context. Evidence supporting the specific targeting of young Sikh females and
the cultural factors surrounding the reporting of such abuse forms a pivotal role in
understanding a unique dimension in the risk faced by the community.

Furthermore, it demonstrates how factors including race, ethnicity and faith intersect in
ways that influence young Sikh females’ experiences of exploitation.

10
1.1 AIM OF THIS STUDY
Unique cultural, social and religious elements have the ability to contribute towards vulnerability and further compound the
risks. Understanding such factors is imperative for the development and adoption of new approaches aimed towards
competently tackling and reducing the danger.

Sikh Youth UK have long advocated that a grave, longstanding and targeted threat of
sexual abuse and exploitation exists towards young Sikh females across the United
Kingdom.

The organisation has repeatedly asserted that evidence from multiple victim’s points
towards a religiously aggravated element to the crimes. Consequently, Sikh Youth UK
argue that where there is a racial or religious element in sexual abuse cases, laws
facilitating the application of a sentencing uplift remain to be appropriately considered
and effectuated.

According to guidance issued by the Sentencing Council, the Crime and Disorder Act
1998 gives judges the power to increase sentences if:

“..the offender demonstrates hostility towards the victim based on his or her membership of a racial or
religious group, or if the offence is racially or religiously motivated3”

Moreover, the religiously aggravated element to the offending has given rise to concerns
surrounding the recording of such offences. Currently the procurement of evidence in
grooming gang cases focuses predominantly on the history and nature of the abuse as
well as features linking the network of perpetrators to the exploitation. Whereas it is
argued that the racial or religious aggravation should be at the front and centre of cases
where there is evidence of such hostility or motivation, presently the focus lies largely
on the abuse and exploitation aspects.

In order to secure convictions against grooming gangs, robust evidence demonstrating

the prevalence of organised abuse and exploitation across a network is imperative.
Accordingly, a case will be investigated with such considerations at the forefront of
investigating officers’ considerations.

11
However, where a vulnerable victim may be unaware of the aggravating factors
surrounding their abuse, it is argued that the onus must be on the investigating officers
to comprehensively explore and record such details.

Many within the Sikh community have advocated that it is of the utmost importance
that British justice operates on a level playing field. Regardless of race, religion, or
gender, every child deserves the right to be safe and protected from sexual abuse. It is
also absolutely vital that those who commit such crimes are punished to the full limit of
the law. However, where it is clear that a child is at threat or targeted for abuse due to
their race or religion, it is essential that the recording and prosecution of cases reflects
all aspects surrounding the abuse.

Accordingly, the primary aim of this study is to provide a preliminary exploration into
the history and factors relating to the targeted exploitation of young Sikh females in
order to prompt further in depth research providing compelling provenance surrounding
the issue. It is anticipated that such information will serve to encourage reform in the
recording, handling and prosecution of racially and religiously motivated sexual offences
as well as providing the appropriate support and rehabilitation specifically catered
towards victims and their families.

Given the inherent difficulties involved in the prosecution of sexual offences, it is also
sought that due consideration be given towards the inclusion of such offending under
the realm of hate crime legislation.

Furthermore, this study hopes to identify areas where shortcomings in the current
system can be acknowledged and reformed in order to prevent further victimisation of
those enduring the consequences of such trauma in addition to preventing communal
tensions and violence.

12
13
14
METHODOLOGY

15
2. METHODOLOGY
This exploratory study was conducted between May and August 2018 by employing a
range of methodologies aimed at shedding light surrounding fifty years of targeted
exploitation of young Sikh females across the United Kingdom.

Experiences were obtained from Sikh women, families and professionals associated with
the issue and living in areas of both dense and light Sikh populations.

The study focused on harnessing the insight of victims, community activists and
professionals alongside the expertise and experience of specialist staff who regularly
work with young Sikh women experiencing sexual exploitation. In doing so, the study
sought to recognise and utilise the extensive knowledge and critical awareness of
experienced professionals around an under-explored, complex and ever-evolving issue

The researchers conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with victims as well as

professionals across the United Kingdom made up of:

• Historical victims and their family members over the past five decades.
• Social Activists.
• Legal professionals.
• Community Support Services.

In addition to the interviews, a desktop review of wide ranging materials pertaining to

sexual abuse and South Asian migrant communities in the United Kingdom were
analysed including:

• National literature and media relating to the British Sikh community spanning fifty
years.
• Resources relating to child sexual exploitation and BME communities.
• Local and national quantitative data relating to child sexual exploitation, with a
focus on gender and ethnicity.

16
2.1 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR
THE FINDINGS
The findings in this study represent the views and expertise of those professionals,
organisations and individuals consulted. The views are not representative of all
professionals working in the sphere of sexual abuse, nor of all young Sikh women’s
experiences of abuse across the country, or all wider community and service responses
to sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse.

To avoid misrepresentation, we have tried to corroborate all evidence through

alternative sources including analysis of wider literature, case files, interviews and
quantitative data. Although this report focuses on young Sikh women, these are not
issues that affect the Sikh community alone. It is important to remember that sexual
abuse and exploitation occurs in every community, and anyone can be at risk.

This study did not directly engage with young Sikh female victims of ongoing cases as it
would not have been possible to guarantee their safe and ethical involvement in light of
pending investigations and legal proceedings. Therefore, historical cases and victim
accounts as recorded by Sikh organisations were used in order to ascertain the
perspective of victims.

Cases considered for this study were weighted significantly towards areas of high Sikh
populations including the Midlands, West Yorkshire as well as East and West London.
Although these did not form the entire quantity of cases analysed, any further research
would be prudent to consider the experiences of Sikh victims across the country
including Wales and Scotland.

Future research must centre upon the voices of young Sikh females encountering abuse
as well as scrutiny of records and statistics held by law enforcement agencies, local
authorities, social services and educational establishments. The consideration of such
information alongside the accounts of historical victims, convicts, retired educational

17
practitioners and retired police officers would serve to provide a more comprehensive
understanding of the history and scale of the issue.

18
19
20
FINDINGS

21
3. FINDINGS
There is no single reason to explain why some people or communities are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation. Instead, a wide
range of historical and situational factors relating to the perpetrators of abuse, their victims and the communities/societies within which
they reside can interact to increase or reduce vulnerability to sexual abuse.

The term ‘Sexual Grooming’ is the catchphrase used to describe a racialised pattern of
abuse purportedly exposed by the British media. The pattern typically involves men of
Muslim background who use flattery, presents and intoxicants to form relationships with
vulnerable underage minors who are then subject to abuse by the perpetrator(s).

Whereas the method of abuse can be conducted by individuals, the racialised form of
abuse typically involves multiple offenders often working within a structured network.
Similar forms of multi‐perpetrator abuse were first identified as a cause for concern in
the United States in the 1970s4. However, the term ‘sexual grooming’ has been
presented in the British media as a new and predominantly ethnic phenomenon.

In January 2011, The Times newspaper ran a front-page

exposé entitled ‘Revealed: Conspiracy of silence on UK sex
gangs’ detailing abuse termed as ‘Grooming’5.

The abuse emerged to wider public awareness following the highly publicised
prosecutions in 2012 of nine men of Pakistani heritage from Rochdale. The perpetrators
were sentenced to a total of seventy-seven years’ imprisonment for sexually abusing
girls aged between thirteen and fifteen years old.

Whereas the media articles and subsequent convictions appeared to be the first widely
digested media coverage of the phenomenon, whisperings of the same issue surfaced
intermittently over the course of the previous three decades.

In August 2004, a Channel 4 documentary followed the work of Bradford Social Services
surrounding claims that young white teenage girls were being groomed by Asian men
for sex abuse.

22
 Entitled Edge of the City6, at the centre of the documentary
was the testimony of two white mothers who stated their
young daughters were groomed and sexually abused by
Asians.

Although the documentary attracted criticism from some quarters as providing fodder
for right wing propaganda, it vividly demonstrated how men from Bradford's Pakistani
community, were targeting girls from the ages of eleven or twelve years up, taking them
out in their cars, and giving them alcohol and gifts. The girls were flattered into believing
that the men loved them. Often, they were given heroin, crack cocaine and date-rape
drugs, raped, and in some cases, abducted and gang-raped. The revelations within the
documentary echoed the characteristics of grooming gang behaviour equivalent to
those highlighted by the Sikh community two decades earlier.

In most instances, it is alleged that Asian men are introduced to the girls by their younger
siblings who are at school with them. Then the men begin hanging around the school gates
in their cars, showering the girls with compliments and gifts.

Before long, the men have persuaded the girls – often from deprived homes or in care – to
go out with them. Then the girls are coerced into under-age sex by a mixture of flattery
and threats and a belief that they are ‘in love’.

The men pass the girls from one to another in what had become a virtual sex ring. In
extreme cases, it is claimed some girls become so locked into the vicious cycle of abuse
and exploitation that they end up as prostitutes.
Daily Mail - 12 August 20047

As the multitude of subsequent convictions has revealed the disproportionate number

of Pakistani and Muslim men convicted of such offences, vigorous public debate has
surrounded the role of ethnicity and religion in the perpetration of sexual abuse, as well
as discussion upon the failures of social services and authorities in responding to
complaints of sexual exploitation.

23
The perceived disinterest and inaction of the police and authorities towards the abuse
of children, has formed a regular focal point of community outrage. With the seemingly
periodic emergence of similar cases across the United Kingdom, the failure to act has
been attributed to the ‘political correctness’ that has inhibited authorities and agencies
from addressing the racial and cultural dimensions that have been understood and
identified as causative factors behind the abuse.

Whereas the wide scale abuse of young white females surfaced mostly during the past
decade, the research conducted within this study has found verification demonstrating
a history of predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs targeting young Sikh females for
over fifty years. The over representation of such perpetrators in selecting non-Muslim
victims would appear to be indicative of a wider acceptability in certain sections of the
community towards the targeting of young females from outside of the Pakistani
community and/or Muslim faith.

This is not to suggest that young Pakistani and Muslim females are not targeted or that
members of the Sikh community have not been involved in cases of abuse. However,
considerable evidence has repeatedly demonstrated that in the cases of young Sikh
victims targeted by grooming gangs, the perpetrators are almost exclusively from
Pakistani backgrounds.

Given the credible evidence denoting the presence of religiously aggravated abuse,
analysis of case data and associated materials has pointed to the presence of a
combination of factors which are unique to such offending. Included amongst these are
the historical tensions between both communities, common cultures and distinctive
migration patterns.

Early Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom was dominated by men with their
female counterparts arriving considerably later. Although initial Sikh migration from
India was dominated by men, Sikh migration patterns were notably different. Sikh
females and children arrived in the United Kingdom shortly after the male influx. At the
same time, Sikh migration from East Africa involved entire families migrating together
or in very close succession.

24
In the absence of spouses and females within the Pakistani community, the aspects of a
common culture and language between Sikh and Pakistani migrants appear to have
presented young Sikh females as an acceptable target for the sexual deviance of some
early Pakistani migrants.

Some early Sikh migrants claim the organised targeting of Sikh

females was conducted in part as retaliation for the involvement
of Sikh soldiers in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 after which
Bangladesh was formed from East Pakistan.

Speaking of the role of Sikhs in the conflict, Major General Muqeem Khan of the Pakistani
Army states:

“A handful of Sikhs converted our great victory into a big defeat and shattered our
confidence and courage. The same thing happened in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In the battle
of Jassur, the Singhs opposed the Pakistani Army so fiercely that our backbone and
foothold were lost. This became the main reason for our defeat and Sikhs' strength and
safety and honour of the country became the sole cause of their victory"

Pakistan’s Crisis in Leadership - Major General Muqeem Khan8

Although evidence to support theories that Sikh girls were targeted in retaliation for the
role played by Sikh soldiers in conflict with Pakistan remains elusive, increasing cases of
abuse have served to reinforce rational and longstanding concerns over targeted
exploitation.

The cultural acceptance or silence towards the behaviour of early Pakistani migrants
coupled with traditional perspectives towards non-Muslim females allowed abuse
towards such victims to become progressively structured, refined and widespread. From
early cases through to modern day instances, this study has identified that patterns of

25
deliberate targeting, deception, manipulation, exploitation and maltreatment present
themselves as a common thread in the abuse of young Sikh females by predominantly
Pakistani men.

The advent of social media has demonstrated the evolving nature of the threat where
young Sikh females continue to be targeted for exploitation, through a platform which
has allowed perpetrators to locate victims and deceive them with greater ease and less
risk.

Whereas techniques continue to involve perpetrators using deception to disguise their

identities and approach young Sikh females online, the often uninhibited manner in
which many youths utilise social media to express their emotions and locations has
provided the ideal platform for perpetrators to readily identify some of the most
vulnerable in society.

26
3.1 SOUTH ASIAN MIGRATION PATTERNS
The migration and settlement patterns of South Asian communities alongside early age/gender breakdowns as well as cultural and
language similarities, form important factors contributing to the prevalence of targeted sexual abuse and exploitation in the United
Kingdom.

Most of Britain's Sikhs have their origins in immigration either from the Punjab in India
or Kenya and Uganda in East Africa during the nineteen-fifties and sixties.

The first recorded Sikh settler in Britain was Maharaja Duleep

Singh who following the Anglo-Sikh wars and British annexation
of the Punjab in 1849, was exiled to Britain in 1856. The last heir
to the sovereign Punjab, Duleep Singh lived much of his life on
an estate in Suffolk where he died in 18939.

The first wave of Sikh migration to the United Kingdom took place during the nineteen-
fifties when mostly men from the Punjab sought work in British industry, which had a
shortage of unskilled labour. Most of the new arrivals were employed in industries such
as manufacturing, foundries and textiles. The new arrivals settled in London, the
Midlands and West Yorkshire followed within a decade by their spouses and extended
family.

Many Sikhs left Punjab because of the shortage of industrial and agricultural jobs in
addition to the chaotic aftermath of the 1947 division of ‘British’ India into the Hindu
nation of India and the Muslim nation of Pakistan.

The frontier between India and Pakistan ran through the Sikh homeland of the Punjab.
There was bloodshed and destruction as millions of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs tried to
cross the border to the safety of their own communities. The Punjab changed from a
settled and prosperous area to a violent and overcrowded frontier zone. Many Sikhs left
the area that was to become Pakistan to move to the Indian section of the Punjab, while
others left India altogether.

27
During the late 1800s, many Sikhs had begun migrating to Uganda and Kenya in East
Africa. The East African Sikhs had established careers and industries in colonies in Africa
during the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were
forced to leave their adopted nations in the nineteen-sixties and seventies as a result of
the move to Africanise countries like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. This deprived many
Asians of their work, and in many cases they were expelled altogether. Due to their
experience of the British system and procedures in East Africa, many Sikh families
migrated to the United Kingdom where they found it easier to integrate and settle.

Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom was starkly different with largely male
migration dominating the community presence for several decades. The majority of
migrants originated from Mirpur in Kashmir. Sailors from Mirpur found work as engine-
room stokers on British ships sailing out of Bombay and Karachi, some of whom settled
in the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

As with the Sikh community, Pakistani migrants who came to Britain after the war to fill
labour shortages found employment in the textile industries of Lancashire, Yorkshire,
Manchester, cars and engineering factories in the West Midlands, and growing light
industrial estates in places like Luton and Slough.

The Mangla dam building in 1966 submerged

substantial areas of the Mirpur district, and the
associated displacement of over one hundred thousand
people accelerated emigration from that area.

The migrants from Pakistan were predominantly male-led with many migrants coming
from poor rural areas and settling in areas of declining industry taking jobs that were not
attractive to working-class white men. Women tended to come to Britain several
decades later as dependents, from a culture where they were responsible for domestic
life and men were expected to be the breadwinners.

28
Other groups who migrated from Pakistan in the nineteen-sixties include Punjabis who
mainly settled in Glasgow, Birmingham and Southall in London, and migrants from urban
areas who were more likely to be professionals and who worked for the NHS.

The migration patterns from South Asia identify how both the Sikh and Pakistani
communities settled in close proximity and engaged in similar industries of employment.
The distinguishing feature in the migration between both communities arises from the
breakdown of the migrants themselves. A greater level of parity between males and
females existed between early Sikh migrants than their Pakistani counterparts.
Furthermore, a larger population of young Sikh migrants existed in comparison to the
presence of Pakistani youth. The Pakistani migration to the United Kingdom remained
dominated by middle aged to mature men for almost two decades.

For the context of this study, whereas the close proximity of both communities could
suggest an opportunist element in cases where young Sikh girls were subjected to abuse,
evidence from Sikh organisations has repeatedly demonstrated that grooming gangs
sought out and targeted Sikh girls both within and outside of their towns of residence.
Such activity has also been reflected in the convictions of Pakistani grooming gangs
exploiting young white girls. Where local and national statistics detail the ethnicity of
sexual exploitation victims of grooming gangs as non-Muslim and the perpetrator profile
as Pakistani, the behaviour strongly suggests a deliberate rather that opportunist nature
to the offending.

The high prevalence of Sikh victims targeted in Muslim dominated areas could also point
towards to the opportunist nature of offending. However, in light of recent convictions
and evidence indicating Pakistani grooming gangs deliberately targeting girls from
outside their own faith and ethnicity, as well as the racial and religious abuse many
victims have revealed they were subjected to, it is clear that the targeting of Sikh girls
forms a key element in demonstrating longstanding attitudes of offenders to target non-
Muslims females for multi perpetrator abuse and exploitation.

29
3.2 GROOMING GANGS
Social and cultural norms – behavioural rules or expectations within a social or cultural group - can strongly influence sexual abuse and
exploitation behaviour. Interventions that challenge social norms are essential for the prevention of abuse by making it less culturally
acceptable.

The phenomenon of gangs of predominantly Pakistani men who loitered around schools
to target young females forms a distinct category of abuse which surfaced in the United
Kingdom over fifty years ago.

From the early nineteen-eighties, Sikh parents in the West Midlands repeatedly raised
concerns to community leaders surrounding the presence of gangs of adult males
loitering around school gates in cars and approaching pupils. The concerns were
followed by specific reports to the police and local authorities of abuse in addition to
evidence detailing locations, businesses, vehicles and the individuals concerned. Despite
raising such concerns, the reports progressed into cases of Sikh schoolgirls being lured
with gifts, going missing for days, being abducted as well as becoming drug addicts and
increasingly entering the social care system.

Whilst sensationalised stories of looming ‘race riots’ were used to report the resulting
communal tensions, the media and authorities failed to comprehensively address key
factors surrounding the activity of grooming gangs at the time. These included violence
regularly stemming from cases of grooming as well as Sikhs creating organisations to
teach their community and children about what grooming gangs were doing.

The pattern of offending would typically involve fashionably dressed adult Pakistani men
travelling in flamboyant vehicles to predominantly Sikh dominated areas and schools.
One of the younger men would selectively approach girls using flattery, presents and
intoxicants to form a relationship. Once snared, the victim would be systematically
coerced into conflict with her family, strengthening the perpetrators hold over her. The
circumstances would eventually or in some cases immediately progress to abuse by
multiple perpetrators.

A defining feature prevalent in the offending was the ethnic/cultural homogeneity of the
offenders. The networks were commonly formed from members of different
30
generations within the same nuclear and extended families as well their close social
circles.

Due to the failures of law enforcement agencies and local authorities in acknowledging
and addressing the problem, such networks have continued to flourish, evolve and often
operate with relative impunity across the United Kingdom for over five decades.

31
3.2.1 GROOMING PROCESS
Understanding the existence of targeted sexual abuse, where and how it happens and who is affected can inform effective social, legal
and political responses.

Following the conviction of several high profile grooming networks over recent years,
multiple cases have demonstrated that the process of grooming has significantly refined
and continues to evolve. The evolution has principally served for perpetrators to
clandestinely widen their reach to potential victims as well as avoid detection.

For the context of this study, the grooming gang behaviour which has led to the modern
day phenomenon involves networks of middle aged men targeting young girls aged
between eleven and sixteen years old. The schoolgirls they target are overwhelmingly
non-Muslim, while the gangs are predominantly of Pakistani heritage. The girls are often
lured into the clutches of the network using a young man who ensnares the victim by
befriending, seducing and often blackmailing them.

The initial stages typically entail the schoolgirl being given money and gifts coupled with
being flattered by compliments and wonderment of entering into a world of adults.
Whereas alcohol and drugs may enter the equation during the early stages, offenders
will almost certainly seek to install themes of trust to compel their victims to accede to
the exploitation.

Once the victim has been manipulated into considering the initial, alluring youth as a
genuine friend or boyfriend, she will be persuaded, coerced or forced into sexual activity
with him, his relatives and/or friends. Once this stage has passed, rape and prostitution
will become widespread with the victim suffering severe mental deterioration, physical
pain and even torture.

PLEASURE OR PROFIT?

The structure of the networks is multifaceted and not solely comprised of individuals
seeking sexual pleasure. Prostitution and drugs in such situations suggests the hierarchy

32
within the structures exploit young females for financial purposes by catering to the
sexual exploits of other within the networks.

A victim fleeing her abusers results in the potential to lose a ‘lucrative investment’.
Safeguarding against such risks begins early in the process with the recruiter
psychologically instilling elements of trust through which victims will be manipulated or
feel compelled to continue with the abuse under a sense of obligation to the recruiter
who selected them from positions of obscurity.

Failing this, offenders will go to extreme lengths to ensure their victims are compliant
and keep acceding to their demands. Victims often face extreme violence or are
threatened with violence against their siblings, family members and homes. They are
encouraged to recruit or befriend further targets which a victim often conducts under
the distorted impression that by recruiting others, the abuse will lessen against
themselves.

The grooming gangs are systematic and well-organised in their behaviour, and the
collusion of the community is extensive including taxi drivers, fast food outlets and
business owners. The perpetrators exploit the opportunities in society where young
females are least protected, such as girls who are living in children’s homes, or who are
in some form of local authority care.

The average age of the males convicted of involvement in Pakistani grooming gangs is
thirty years old. The vast majority of those convicted are already married or in
relationships, many with children of the same age as their victims. The statistics clearly
demonstrate that the men are far from being adolescents, oblivious to what is right and
wrong.

If a victim is not already estranged from their parents when initially ensnared, the gang
will use techniques to drive a division between the girl and her parents. When pre-
empting parent’s efforts to distance the victim from the grooming gang, perpetrators
coerce their victims into making ‘honour’ based false allegations against the family.
These may include fabricated allegations of arranged marriages, being trafficked abroad

33
or even domestic violence and abuse by family members. The technique deliberately
manipulates local authority and police protocols who often accept such allegations on
face value. This results in victims being placed into the care system and prevented from
interaction with their family. The ensuing circumstances facilitate the perpetrators to
have full access to their victims and deepens the exploitation.

Because the gangs are well-organised and have systematically manipulated the
behaviour and minds of their young victims, and since they are prepared to use violence
and intimidation to interfere with the legal process, the chances of criminal conviction
are very slim. The problem is compounded by the girls often failing to realise their status
as the victim. Even when a victim recognises the abuse they have sustained, often the
individual who ensnared them is still regarded as genuine and innocent.

The threats, violence and mental conditioning utilised by the perpetrators makes it clear
that those who have been convicted are almost certainly the tip of the iceberg.

34
3.2.2 IDENTIFYING YOUNG WOMEN TO
EXPLOIT
Both recent and historic grooming gang cases have repeatedly identified how
perpetrators have regularly sought out and targeted victims they perceived as
vulnerable or ‘naïve’. In many cases, those subject to social conservatism or high levels
of supervision were actively sought after. The evidence of several historic Sikh victims
considered in this study have identified the latter themes as present during their
upbringing which were exploited during their ensnarement.

The same cases have also identified that grooming gang networks are wide reaching and
will often operate in several neighbouring cities in addition to where they are based.
Perpetrators working in the night-time economies such as transport, fast food and
security have repeatedly played significant roles in the identification of victims, as well
as the commission and proliferation of abuse.

As alluded to earlier, the early migration of Indian Sikhs, East African Sikhs and Pakistani
Muslims to the United Kingdom resulted in both communities settling and living in close
proximity to one another. Adults from both communities commonly worked in the same
industries.

In the relative absence of young females amongst early Pakistani migrants, aspects of a
common culture and language appear to have presented young Sikh females as an
acceptable target for the sexual deviance of some early Pakistani migrants. The
exploitation would explicitly take advantage of cultural taboos preventing victims from
disclosing the nature of the abuse for fear of being ostracised by their family and
community. Such early behaviour draws close parallels with ongoing offending where
perpetrators continue to exploit concepts of shame, honour and normative gender
expectations of young Sikh females, in order to silence and threaten them.

Historically, Sikh females were identifiable due to visible articles of faith, clothing and
names however, the primary manner in which they were targeted was through the
35
localities in which they resided and the schools situated within them. Grooming gangs
operating from Birmingham and Walsall operated across the entire West Midlands
whereas those based in Dudley targeted regions including Sandwell and the Black
Country. Case records demonstrate gangs operating from Slough frequently targeted
Sikh females in Southall, Hounslow and Hayes. Likewise, Bradford based gangs actively
targeted females in Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Wakefield and Doncaster.

Records of Sikh organisations identify early patterns of offending where perpetrators

from the Pakistani community commonly utilised measures aimed at intimating to
young Sikh girls that they belonged to the Sikh community. This would commonly involve
wearing Sikh Karas, displaying Sikh symbols in their vehicles as well as using Punjabi
nicknames.

Often the cultural acceptance within sections of the Muslim community towards the
perpetrator’s behaviour allowed the attitude towards non-Muslim females and
consequently the abuse to become increasingly structured, refined and widespread.

The allegation that Muslim youths are pestering Sikh girls has angered Mr Ashiq Hussain,
chairman of the union of 14 Muslim organisations in the town (Walsall).

“Instead of blaming Muslim youngsters, what they ought to do is educate Sikh girls to
keep away from the boys. It takes two to tango.”

“There is no law that says a Muslim cannot chat up Sikh girls.”

The Guardian - 29 December 198710

Circumstances present in the analysis of case histories reveal that in the identification
of young Sikh females to exploit, perpetrators repeatedly utilised both overt and cultural
identification factors to pinpoint victims alongside any factors serving to exhibit their
vulnerability or naivety. By seeking out victims they believe they could control, the
perpetrators conducted their gradual manipulation and abuse by exerting power over
them.

36
The identification of such factors especially in vulnerable, naïve and young victims serves
to easily facilitate their automatic adherence to authority and presents relatively lower
levels of awareness around the appropriateness of relationships.

37
3.3 HISTORY
Following the early settlement of Sikh immigrants during the nineteen-sixties, stories
began to circulate in which the common theme surrounded young females being
coerced into relationships with Pakistani men and being forcibly sent to Pakistan to work
in the underground sex trade. The stories intensified in the backdrop of distrust between
the two communities following the violent partition of the Indian sub-continent fifteen
years’ prior.

The first case reported in the mainstream media involving the targeting of a Sikh
schoolgirl by a gang of Muslim men came before Middlesex Area Sessions (Court) in
1971. The ethnicity of the victim and perpetrators (whilst not stated) is dependably
identifiable by their names.

Four sentenced for holding schoolgirl of 16

For his part in unlawfully and injuriously imprisoning for four hours a Kenyan Asian schoolgirl,
Imtiaz Hussain Shah, aged 22, machine operator of Seymour Road, Slough, Buckinghamshire was
sentenced at Middlesex Area Sessions yesterday to 12 months’ imprisonment.

On a similar charge Alla Ditta, aged 24, machine operator, of King Edward Street, Slough, was sent
to prison for 9 months; Abdul Rauf, aged 19, unemployed, also of King Edward Street, was sent to
borstal training; and Raymond Roy Mohammed, aged 21, unemployed, of Bourne Road, Slough,
was sent to prison for 12 months.

Mr Mohammed was also sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, to run concurrently, for making
a statement to suggest he was a police officer, a charge which he had admitted. Mr Shah and Mr
Rauf were recommended for deportation.

Mr Geoffrey Leach, for the prosecution, told the court that when the defendants pleaded guilty
on May 13 that Mr Shah had become infatuated with Miss Kilvindar *****, aged 16, of *****
Road, Southall, Middlesex. He plotted to get hold of her and on February 12 as she was on her
way to school she was stopped by Mr Mohammed, who was accompanied by a girl.

Mr Mohammed said they were police officers. Miss ***** was induced to get into a car.

The Times - 4 June 197111

38
The significance of the case becomes apparent once realising the offence contained key
ingredients correlating closely with offending patterns described by Sikhs for the
subsequent fifty years. The instance clearly demonstrates the early prevalence of a gang
of Muslim men using techniques of deception to target a young Sikh schoolgirl living in
a different locality. Whether the offence was opportunist is countered by the admissions
of infatuation and planning. Whether the confidence with which the brazen plan appears
to have been executed suggests previous incidences or whether the accompanying girl
was another victim acting as a facilitator for the gang, can only amount to speculation.

The fact the case was reported warrants interest. The type of offending was new in the
United Kingdom amongst the Sikh community who seldom approached law
enforcement on issues with the potential to cause perceived ‘shame’ upon the family or
‘jeopardised’ future marriage prospects for the female involved.

Whilst historical media reports lacked specific details of a phenomenon only to surface
in the mainstream media post 2011, isolated reports continued to demonstrate
concerning relations between adult Muslim men and young Sikh girls.

“A Sikh girl who ran away after marrying Mohammed Aslim, 20, a Moslem, of Huddersfield, does
not want to return to him, she told Det. Chief Supt. John Stainthorpe yesterday.”
The Daily Telegraph - 10 April 197512

The pattern of behaviour which progressively refined and became concentrated in the
West Midlands during the early 1980s led to members of the Sikh community compiling
and submitting the first of several intelligence reports identifying perpetrators,
businesses and associated vehicles to West Midlands Police.

39
Evidence of police action against offenders remained elusive.

“Community leaders in Walsall in the West Midlands are striving to ease tension in the Sikh
community, which is upset over allegations that Muslim youths are pestering Sikh girls.”
The Guardian - 29 December 198713

The intensification of offending led to widespread incidents of violence between the Sikh
and Muslim communities surfacing across the West Midlands which was followed by
wide scale arrests of predominantly Sikh men.

School aged Sikh girls were being reported missing with greater
frequency as were reports of adult Pakistani males frequenting
school gates and approaching young Sikh females.

Sikh community representatives assert that when liaising with the Police and local
authorities on such cases, the authorities would often ignore the fact that unknown
adult men were approaching young girls outside schools and attribute the schoolgirls
going missing on account of parents harbouring cultural conflicts over young girls
entering relationships.

Detectives have been brought in to the hunt for a teenage girl missing from her Birmingham
home for five weeks.

The West Midlands today issued this photograph of the fourteen-year-old and said officers
were becoming increasing concerned.

Det Sgt John Green, who is leading the search of ***** Kaur, said “For about three weeks after
she left she was sighted by friends several times in the area around her home - but she ran off
when they tried to approach her.

“But our fears are now growing as no-one has seen her for the past fortnight.”

Det Sgt Green said: “We are keeping an open mind about her disappearance and it is possible
that she has moved out of the area. We suspect she may have gone to live with a boyfriend."

Birmingham Evening Mail - 20 May 198814

40
In light of the prevailing circumstances, members of the Sikh community in the West
Midlands began to form groups to raise awareness amongst youngsters and tackle the
issue. One of the foremost groups was known as the Shere Punjab (Lions of Punjab). The
stated aim of the group was to provide protection to schoolchildren, return abducted
children to their families and provide a deterrence to the perpetrators. Given the nature
of their stated remit, the Shere Punjab were at the forefront of ground level activism
over the issue.

…the Sikh community was particularly concerned about attacks on young Sikh women by
Moslems and the Shere Punjab was formed to combat that.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 11 April 198915

During an interview on the BBC 2 Network East programme, a Shere Punjab spokesman
outlined the problem facing the community in the following terms:

“Most of this is caused by the Pakistani community themselves, when young people go outside
schools. I’m on about ages roundabout nineteen to twenty. They go in their fancy sports cars,
hang about.“

“Our aim is to get all these schools free of people standing outside them. We want a normal
life, girls can go to school, come back home without being picked up and taken out to town,
taken out to discos - stuff like that. As long as that stops, we’re happy.”

BBC 2 Network East - 24 September 198816

As the frequency of cases in the West Midlands increased, communal tensions continued
to result in rising levels of violent incidents across the region.

Sikh gang members carried weapons above their heads as they marched through Birmingham
looking for rival Moslems they blamed for sexually abusing Sikh girls, the city’s Crown Court
was told yesterday.

It centred around the belief that young Sikh girls were being taken against their will and being
sexually abused by Moslem boys.
The Daily Telegraph - 13 June 198917

41
Despite the allegations of abuse surfacing during multiple Court cases, the focus of the
police and prosecution agencies remained upon Sikh activists who repeatedly claimed
they were striving to protect their community.

Gangs of Muslim men toured daytime discotheques kidnapping Sikh girls to use as sex slaves,
a court was told yesterday.

The jury at the trial of 13 Sikh men at Birmingham Crown Court heard claims that one gang
forced girls into prostitution and blackmailed their parents.
The Independent - 24 June 198918

At the same time, similar incidents and allegations surfaced in West Yorkshire, East
Midlands and both East and West London. The prevailing circumstances prompted the
then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd to warn of a summer of race riots surrounding such
issues.

Southall, West London, where Moslems and Sikhs have been involved in disorders, some of
which started when Moslem boys tried to date Sikh girls.
The Sunday Telegraph - 10 July 198819

The cycle of reported incidents and related communal tensions continued alongside
allegations that repeated failures by the police and local authorities to investigate
community concerns facilitated the offending to continue.

A MIDLAND teenager who was abducted from her bed was back with her family today after
police snatched her back on the M5.

***** Kaur *****, aged 17, from Wednesbury, who had been taken from a house in
Wolverhampton, was found in a car on the motorway near Worcester last night.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 199120

42
Following the turn of the century, case histories indicated a significant evolution in the
tactics used to target young females. Whereas perpetrators traditionally adopted direct
techniques of blackmail to exploit cultural sensitivities, the internet and social media
became the preferred platform to utilise blackmail and identify vulnerable targets.

Sikhs have angrily condemned a website which appears to be run by young male Muslims and
boasts about seducing Sikh women during freshers week at university. The website contains
pictures of at least 25 Sikh women which the site's administrators claim to have seduced
alongside highly provocative remarks about the women and the Sikh religion.

Timed to coincide with the start of the university year - described in the site as a time when
"[Muslim] soldiers go hunting for Sikh slappers" - the website's creators encourage friends and
readers to send in pictures of Sikh women they have seduced during freshers week.

Ashish Joshi chairman of the Network of Sikh Organisations' media monitoring group, said he
had been inundated with angry responses from Sikhs in the past 24 hours. "I have never seen
anything like this," he said. "There have always been concerns about grooming but to advertise
such behaviour and encourage others to do so is absolutely shocking."

"This is not about love, no-one can help who they fall in love with," he said. "This website is all
about the deliberate and targeted sexual degradation of Sikh women purely because of their
religion. It is about young Muslim men boasting about seducing kaffirs [unbelievers] while
keeping their Muslim sisters chaste."

The Independent – 8 October 200821

By 2011, the widespread scale of sexual abuse of minors by Pakistani perpetrators

dramatically hit the headlines when former home secretary Jack Straw stated there was
a ‘specific problem’ in some areas of the country where Pakistani men ‘target vulnerable
young white girls’.

Speaking on the BBC Newsnight programme on 7 January 201122, Straw stated:

43
 "…there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage
men...who target vulnerable young white girls...”

"We need to get the Pakistani community to think much more

clearly about why this is going on and to be more open about the
problems that are leading to a number of Pakistani heritage men
thinking it is OK to target white girls in this way."

Straw called on the British Pakistani community to be ‘more open’ about the issue.
"These young men are in a western society, in any event, they act like any other young
men, they're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that, but
Pakistani heritage girls are off-limits and they are expected to marry a Pakistani girl from
Pakistan, typically," he said.

Furthermore, Straw added "They then seek other avenues and they see these young
women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care...who they think are easy
meat…and because they're vulnerable they ply them with gifts, they give them drugs,
and then of course they're trapped."

Whereas the former home secretary’s observations were met with enormous
controversy, they were welcomed in equal measure by many including the Sikh
community.

Atma Singh from the Sikh Community Action Network, said: “Well dome to Jack Straw for being
100 per cent honest and saying what many people already know: that there are pockets of
youngsters in the Pakistani Muslim community who treat girls from other communities as
sexual objects.”
The Independent on Sunday – 9 January 201123

By 2013, the forgotten Sikh schoolgirl victims of the grooming gangs caught the attention
of the BBC following a high profile case of six men who targeted, abused and exploited
a young Sikh girl in Leicester.

44
 The case came to the forefront following a
series of vigilante attacks by members of the
Sikh community on premises purportedly
associated with the perpetrators.

In a series of circumstances fraught with controversy, the attacks followed Sikh

community claims of police inaction despite evidence of the abuse. The claims were
denied by the police despite the arrests of the perpetrators occurring shortly after the
vigilante attacks.

A child prostitution trial has heard that "other Sikh girls" were involved with men who paid a
16-year-old girl for sex.

Three men from Leicester are on trial accused of sexual offences against her. Aabidali Mubarak
Ali, 39, Rakib Iacub, 20, and Wajid Usman, 22, deny all of the 22 charges. Three other men have
already pleaded guilty to related charges.

In a police interview played to jurors, the girl said other Sikh people in Leicester had approached
her family with concerns their daughters might be "in the same situation".

She told police: "I've been told I'm not the only girl. There are other Sikh girls."

BBC News – 30 July 201324

Despite historical cases involving Sikh victims resulting in court cases and convictions,
the Leicester case was believed to be the first where the victim’s faith was identified as
well as indications of multiple other Sikh victims.

Six men were jailed at Leicester Crown Court last week for offences including facilitating child
prostitution. The convictions are being heralded as a legal landmark because it is the first high-
profile case involving a Sikh victim of sexual abuse, which has led to convictions in the UK.
BBC News - 2 September 201325

45
On 2 September 2013, BBC’s Inside Out programme uncovered evidence of potentially
dozens of other young Sikh victims of sexual exploitation and such cases rarely reach
court. The documentary comprehensively outlined the history and techniques of abuse,
the cultural stigmas in reporting offences and the police failures in investigating
offences.

British Sikh girls are being preyed upon by men who subject them to sexual abuse, a BBC Inside
Out investigation has uncovered.

In many cases the men deceive the girls into believing that they are Sikh to gain their trust.
Desperate to hide their secret for fear of bringing shame to their families, girls are often forced
to leave home.

Reporter Chris Rogers travels to a remote part of America where he meets a 16-year-old British
Sikh girl who says she was groomed and sexually abused by Muslim men over a period of time.

BBC Inside Out – 2 September 201326

Notwithstanding the gravity and nature of the revelations, the police and authorities
again failed to acknowledge the scale of the problem, which in turn facilitated the
targeting to persist, and in some instances, evolve to exploitation of incomprehensible
proportions.

46
3.3.1 FORCED CONVERSIONS
The phenomenon of Muslims targeting young Sikh females for kidnap, conversion and
exploitation is a narrative familiar to many Sikh households across the globe. Since the
partition of India and formation of Pakistan, this ‘threat’ has been prevalent alongside a
sense of ‘honour’ within the Sikh community to protect and rescue the oppressed.

The perception of such a threat within the Sikh psyche stems largely from the Mughal
invasion of the Indian sub-continent during the seventeenth century. During the course
of the campaign, the Sikh community stood against the invasion but were widely
persecuted and almost decimated by the Mughal forces. The reign of the Mughals in the
Indian subcontinent was particularly brutal whereby Afghan raiders would regularly
kidnap non-Muslim women for conversion, abuse and exploitation. History dictates that
the Sikh armies took the responsibility of recovering many of these women and
returning them to their families. The perpetrators were also punished by the Sikhs who
were widely regarded as heroes who saved the honour of the powerless. The events
formed the first widespread experience the Sikhs faced with respect to Muslim
aggressor’s attitude towards targeting of Sikh women.

The second major experience of such an attitude was experienced during the partition
of India in 1947. Widespread incidences of kidnap, rape and forced conversion of Sikh
and Hindu females by Muslims mobs were reported throughout the partition of India.

A window into the history was provided during the BBC Two
documentary, The Day India Burned - Partition27.

Bir Bahadur Singh vividly details the events in his village Thoha Khalsa
when surrounded by Muslim mobs during partition.

The emotional account is typical of stories from Sikh, Hindu and indeed Muslim families
across region during the time of partition. Rather than suffer from the high probability
of sexual abuse if captured, young Sikh females committed suicide en masse or were
killed by their families in harrowing measures aimed at protecting their ‘honour.’
47
 Narrator - The Sikhs were heavily outnumbered by Muslims. Their biggest fear was that their
women would be taken away, converted and raped.

Bir Bahadur Singh - “There was a Muslim called Gulaam Rasool who demanded a girl. He said
give us one girl – he was an evil man – give us one girl and I’ll make them go away.”

Narrator - The women of the village went into hiding. Bir Bahadur Singh’s father decided to
act to save the honour of his village. His teenage son looked on.

Bir Bahadur Singh – “The girls were aged between 10 and 40 and were very pretty, especially
in my area as it was a mountainous area. First of all, (breaks down in tears). First he called my
sister, his daughter, and said “Daughter Maan come here.”

“My sister, Maan Kaur, who was two years older than me, she was 18 or 19 years old. She sat
down and my father raised his sword but it didn’t strike properly. God knows what happened.
My sister lifted her braid, and my father angrily pulled her head scarf back and brought down
his sword and her head rolled away. Both my uncle and nephew and my father’s elder brother
– who was a big guy all started beheading. All you could hear was the cut cut cut sounds.
Believe me, even after 60 years, I still remember that nobody made a sound. They just chanted
Gods name, nobody ran away, nobody screamed.”

BBC Two: The Day India Burned – Partition (14 August 2007)

Speaking of the same incident in Thoha Khalsa, a Muslim witness recalled:

On the evening of March 6, Muslim mobs from the surrounding villages entered Thoha Khalsa
and gave ultimatums to the Sikhs to convert. On that evening, the impact of their presence was
negligible due to the lateness of the hour but the actual clashes started the next morning, when
their numbers swelled to some thousands. After resisting for three days, the Sikhs hoisted white
flags from their havelis. They had only acted in self-defence. But when defeat and dishonour
was imminent, Sikh men started killing their own women.

I still remember when Bhansa Singh killed his wife with tears in his eyes. They all gathered in the
central haveli of Sant Gulab Singh. In the span of some hours, I witnessed the deaths of almost
25 women. It was such a horrible scene. For six days, the whole village witnessed orchestrated
looting and killing. While their men fought, the Sikh women started gathering near a well
around the garden. It was almost after noon, and I watched from nearby with two of my friends.

48
 Some of the women held their children in their arms. They sobbed desperately as they jumped
into the well. In about half an hour, the well was full of bodies. I went closer and realised that
those who were on top were trying to submerge their heads. No space remained. A few came
up and jumped again.

It was a terrible scene. They were determined to die rather than sacrifice their honour. In one
week, all the remaining Sikhs and Hindus were compelled to leave their native place.”

The Express Tribune – 20 October 201328

Despite the prevalence of forced conversions taking place only twenty years’ priors to
the arrival of Sikh and Pakistani communities in the United Kingdom, some academics
have sought to entirely rebuff modern day allegations by the Sikh community of forced
conversion. Their analysis has avoided evidence demonstrating the prevalence of such
activity partly due to historical media reports seldom reporting news considered to
harbour the potential to ignite communal tensions. However, in recent times, several
reports have made reference to tensions surfacing following the distribution of leaflets
at educational establishments across the country in which the forced conversion of Sikh
girls to Islam has been encouraged.

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said yesterday strong leadership was required to combat
rising tensions amongst ethnic minorities in Derby.

A highly charged atmosphere in the city has been compounded by the circulation of an
inflammatory hoax letter. The letter, circulated to British Asians, calls on Muslims to convert
Sikh girls to Islam by getting them drunk. It purports to come from a militant Islamic
organisation.
The Independent - 3 November 200129

Further to the letter, largescale violence swept through Derby resulting in severe injuries
to non-Muslim youngsters allegedly at the hands of Muslim gangs. Although the above
article states the letter was being investigated by Derbyshire police, indicative of a
questionable media response, the article makes no reference as to how it was
established as being a hoax, especially in light of the campaign of violence associated
with it.
49
 POLICE and community leaders say they are struggling to contain racial tensions in Derby after
a young Sikh was badly hurt when ambushed by a gang of Muslims carrying hammers and
crowbars.
The Telegraph - 31 October 200130

Over almost three decades, incidences of such letters have surfaced time and time again
at schools, colleges and universities across the country.

There have been a series of violent clashes between Sikh and Muslim youths since the circulation
of a race hate letter in Slough last June, urging young Muslims to convert Sikh girls to Islam.
Slough & Langley Observer31

The leaflets have commonly been dismissed as a hoax or attributed to Islamic and right
wing organisations. Whilst Sikh organisations have pointed to them as demonstrating an
ideology of targeting young Sikh girls for conversion, evidence demonstrating the
prevalence of forced conversion activity has seldom come to fore.

Urging Muslims to convert “the heathen”, it says: “Sikh girls are usually slags and usually stupid
enough to believe anything you say.” It suggests Muslim girls should let their boyfriends seduce
Sikh girls as “the way forward to the ultimate destruction of the Sikhs.”
The Southall Gazette32

During the research for this report, first-hand information was sought from victims to
substantiate claims of forced conversion as well as independent verification of such
activity. Diligent research managed to unearth irrefutable evidence of the issue although
confined of the back pages of local newspapers.

Providing conclusive proof of acts of forced conversion attempted upon young Sikh
females at educational establishments in the United Kingdom, the following article
demonstrates a systematic agenda and attempts to force young students into
submission.

50
 Ten Birmingham Asian men who travelled to Coventry to try and convert Sikh women from their
religion have been bound over to keep the peace by magistrates after violence flared at the
city’s technical college.

Mr Roger Smallman, prosecuting told Coventry magistrates the incident had religious
overtones.

He said the ten were Moslems who had travelled from Birmingham to Coventry to approach
Sikh women to convert them. He said that three car loads went over to Coventry on March 3
and the police found weapons in their possession. He said the visit followed earlier incident in
February near the college canteen when a number of men who were not students confronted
young Sikh women.

There was a violent confrontation in which machetes and knives were used and in which injuries
were caused to Asian youths at the college.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 6 March 199233

The article distinctly shines light on the violent techniques utilised by the perpetrators
as well as the remarkably delicate manner in which the culprits were prosecuted.

Roger Smallman, prosecuting, said the youths were part of a group of Muslims from
Birmingham who were seeking to approach Sikh young ladies from the Muslim community to
convert them from that religion.
Coventry Evening Telegraph - 6 March 199234

The repeated attempts to forcefully convert young Sikh females at an educational

establishment were being conducted by a group of ten Muslim men who travelled in
joint enterprise from a different town in multiple vehicles whilst heavily armed. Their
arrests followed a series of previous incidents in which violence was used and injuries
caused to students.

In modern law, the fact that violence was being used in pursuit of an ideology of forced
conversion would likely constitute a hate crime.

51
Even at the time of the incident, the use of serious violence by a large group would likely
have been sufficient elements for the incident to constitute a serious public order
offence.

However, the culprits in this particular incident appear

to have been prosecuted at the lowest level with their
offences being discharged by way of a small fine and
bind over to keep the peace.

Unfortunately, the Sikh community have reported such incidents as common place
across the United Kingdom as well as them regularly resulting in communal violence.

The Sikh community took the unusual step of requesting a meeting with college chiefs after
growing complaints from Sikh students that they are being targeted by Muslims.

The fundamentalists are said to be aggressively pronouncing the superiority of their own
religion and intimidating Sikhs into changing theirs.

Harjinder Singh, President of the Sikh Dasmesh Darbar Temple in Roseberry Avenue, Manor Park
said: “The Sikh students at the college are getting badly abused by Muslim fundamentalist
students who are trying to force them to change their religion. We are very worried about the
safety of Sikh students.”
Newham Recorder – 15 March 199535

Reports and concerns of forced conversions also surfaced from the Hindu community
who duly raised their concerns to the authorities.

52
 Manoj Ladwa (President National Hindu Students Forum) believes impressionable Hindu and
Sikh girls are being brainwashed.

“I know for a fact that Hindu and Sikh girls are being bullied into converting to the Muslim
religion,” he stormed. “This is going on right now.”
Eastern Eye – 14 April 199536

Again in 2007, an incident surfaced in Birmingham reigniting the prevalence of forced

conversion of young Sikh females at educational establishments.

Police guard girl ‘forced to become Muslim’

A TEENAGE Sikh girl was today being guarded by police amid claims she had been forced to
convert to Islam.

An armed gang smashed their way into a house in Erdington last month and threatened the
occupants, apparently in search of the girl.

She was reported missing from her family home in West Bromwich a few days earlier. They are
concerned that the girl, understood to be a student at Sutton Coldfield college, could have been
forced to switch religion, it was reported.

"This lady has been located and is currently in the care of West Midlands Police," a force
spokesman said. "We would like to reassure the community that this lady is safe and well."

An investigation was launched on May 25 following the aggravated burglary in Erdington when
masked men broke into the house and threatened the occupants with weapons, possibly
believing the girl was staying there. Police said no one was injured in the incident.

"We are conducting inquiries into the motive for this attack," the spokesman said. "We are not
ruling the possibility this may be linked to a report received concerning the whereabouts of an
18-year-old female from West Bromwich, who was reported missing by her family." He added:
"Her family are clearly concerned about her welfare as are the wider communities."

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: "We are working closely with the police to deal
with a number of sensitive issues being raised by members of the community and will be working
together with other interested parties to consider the wider and longer term implications for
the city."
Birmingham Evening Mail – 6 June 200737

53
The incident prompted widespread condemnation from the British Sikh community
and resulted in significant levels of protest.

Sikh protestors demand protection

SIKHS took to the streets of Birmingham demanding police

protection from "Muslim extremism".

About 100 protesters chanted and held up traffic as they

marched from Soho Road, in Handsworth, to West Midlands
Police headquarters at Lloyd House over allegations that
young Sikh girls were being forced to convert to Islam.

The issue came to light after claims a teenage Sikh student

was allegedly forced to denounce her faith and become a
Muslim.

She was placed under police protection after an armed gang

smashed their way into a house in Erdington last month and
threatened the occupants, apparently in search of her.
Birmingham Evening Mail – 11 June 200738

An increase in incidents of deception and forced conversion of young Sikh females raised
considerable concern amongst the British Sikh community and were subsequently
reported to the Sikh clergy in India.

54
In 2014, the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the highest temporal authority for Sikhs, called upon
the British Sikh community to exercise all legal measures to tackle the exploitation of
British Sikh girls whilst parents were advised to raise awareness amongst their children.

'Love Jihad': UK Sikh girls' exploitation worries Takht

The Akal Takht has taken a serious view of reports of Sikh girls falling victim to 'love jihad' an
act that involves 'charming' Pakistani youths attempting to impress, marry and convert non-
Muslim girls to Islam.

The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhism, has taken a serious view of reports of Sikh
girls falling victim to 'love jihad' an act that involves 'charming' Pakistani youths attempting to
impress, marry and convert non-Muslim girls to Islam for using them in jihadi efforts.

Hindustan Times – 28 January 201439

As the threat continued to evolve, the Sikh community cite two cases as demonstrative
of how the failure of authorities to acknowledge and address the targeting of young Sikh
females allowed their exploitation to take an increasingly sinister and dangerous twist.

A student who planned to travel to Syria to commit terrorist acts after being radicalised in online
chatrooms has been jailed for three and a half years.

18-year-old Muslim convert Sandeep Samra became frantic to obtain a new passport after her
original travel documents were cancelled, frustrating her hope of "going for death" in the so-
called Islamic State.

The health and social care student, originally from a Sikh background, told the court her "Jihad"
would have been working as a nurse in Syria.
ITV News – 26 January 201840

Late intervention by a prominent Sikh organisation revealed how vulnerable and naïve
non-Muslims targets were being sought online by male and female radical Islamists to
be manipulated for exploitation and terrorist purposes.

55
 Police worried for teenage girl missing from her home in
Coventry

Sandeep Kaur Samra, aged 16, left her home in Foleshill,

Coventry, at 4.30pm and hasn’t been seen since. She has
never been missing before. Police are very worried about
her.

Inspector Dave Langston from Coventry Police, said:

“This is out of character for Sandeep and we need to get in

touch with her to check she is safe and well.

Coventry Telegraph - 8 May 201641

In this particular case, the target revealed she was identified whilst in the care system
where she was groomed and systematically brainwashed into conversion. Following
repeated coercion by multiple exploiters, she was deeply confused and had renounced
concepts of gender quality, fairness and compassion up to the point that she was
prepared to commit acts of terror as well as to enter into marriage with a foreign based
Islamic terrorist.

A Jihadi bride who bought flip flops for her Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (Isil) terrorist husband while he was
fighting in Syria has been jailed for more than five years.

Khranjit Nijjer, 32, deceived friends and family to raise

£4,500 to fund Abdul Khan, who she married when she was
19.

Judge Kinch added: 'The background is that you left home

aged 18 or 19 and converted to Islam and then married
Abdul Khan. 'You became part of his family and you say you
found him dominating and controlling. When Abdul Khan
went to Turkey in 2014 and overstayed he required you to
send funds to support him.
The Telegraph – 6 June 201842

56
The theme of a naïve and vulnerable girl leaving home at a young age, converting to
Islam and becoming involved with Islamists has not been an isolated incident. Although
only two known cases have resulted in convictions, several cases have been reported to
Sikh organisations during the past decade.

Whereas cases involving the targeted manipulation and conversion of young Sikh girls
have been longstanding, recent cases demonstrate how in some instances, the threat
has dangerously evolved to horrific proportions.

Whether isolated or widespread, the intermittent media revelations of such incidences

have revealed how the identification and coercion of predominantly non-Muslim victims
for nefarious activities has been prevalent for over three decades. The core techniques
utilised by exploiters draw close parallels with those utilised by grooming gangs.

Furthermore, the volume of activity and variety of locations have served to validate fears
in the Sikh community of active campaigns aimed at the sexual exploitation, forced
conversion and Islamic radicalisation of vulnerable young Sikhs.

57
3.4 POLICE RESPONSES
Tackling sexual abuse and the root causes of sexual exploitation requires strong and effective action across government. It also requires
collective action with and between local government, health services, police, voluntary groups, local communities and other key
stakeholders. Most importantly, it requires a comprehensive understanding of all factors facilitating or contributing towards the abuse.

Over the course of three decades, Sikh community leaders in the West Midlands
repeatedly assert that when families or community representatives contacted the police
regarding the abuse of children, their information was constantly met with disinterest
and their claims met by inaction. Ignoring the fact that adult males were pursuing sexual
relationships with children, Sikh families allege they were dismissed amongst
accusations they were ‘too controlling’ or their children had made a ‘consensual lifestyle
choice.’ Such responses formed a regular focal point of Sikh community outrage which
has continued through to the modern day.

The policing approach alongside social stigmas have been attributed as the key factors
in the reluctance of the Sikh community in reporting incidents of abuse and the
subsequent lack of official statistics. The failure to safeguard Sikh children is believed to
have ultimately resulted in an explosion of communal tensions as well as emboldening
the activities of the perpetrators.

With the emergence of multiple similar cases across the UK, the perceived failure to act
has now been attributed to the ‘political correctness’ that inhibited authorities and
agencies from addressing the racial and cultural dimensions understood as causative
factors behind the abuse.

The issue, which in essence formed the precursor to the activities of grooming gangs
across the United Kingdom, was largely ignored in favour of sensationalised reports of
looming ‘race riots’. Whereas police forces and local authorities across the United
Kingdom dedicated finance and resources in their response to ‘communal tensions’,
research or consideration into the root causes of such issues was largely ignored.

In response to the rise in violence during the late nineteen-eighties, in his Annual Report
of 1989, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Mr. Geoffrey Dear stated:

58
 Violence warning over the dating of Sikh girls

Inter-racial violence between Sikh and Moslem youths had been recorded in
the West Midlands as a result of Moslems wanting to take out Sikh girls,
Mr Geoffrey Dear, Chief Constable of the West Midlands, said in his report
published yesterday.
The Daily Telegraph - 6 June 198943

Whilst the Chief Constable’s remarks clearly demonstrated Muslims were actively
seeking to enter relationships with Sikh females, they appear to have completely ignored
reports that these were adult men attempting to enter relationships with children.
Whereas the Sikh community repeatedly point to evidence provided to the police, such
remarks pose the question of whether detailed information of the abuse was received
by the police at all.

During the BBC 2 Network East programme broadcast on 24 September 198844, a

segment on the rise of violence between elements within the Sikh and Muslim
communities over claim of the sexual abuse of young Sikh girls made reference to an
intelligence report prepared and handed by members of the Sikh community to West
Midlands Police. The report was said to have detailed vehicle registration numbers,
locations and individuals concerned in the abuse of Sikh schoolgirls.

Commenting on the situation, a Shere Punjab spokesman stated:

“The Police promised us that they’ll do the job if we step out of the way, and
we stepped out of the way for a couple of months. Things just happened in
the past couple of days and information was passed to them and we haven’t
heard nothing been done.”

When questioned regarding the receipt of such information, Chief Superintendent David
Love of Walsall Road Police Station stated:

59
 “Personally no and I certainly don’t know of any being received. Not in the
specific terms you’re saying in terms of vehicle numbers.”

In relation to whether the force had received any information regarding the
rapes and abductions, Chief Superintendent Love stated: “To the best of my
knowledge, no.”

Nevertheless, research conducted during the course of this study established that the
first report detailing the perpetrators and vehicles related to the targeting of Sikh
schoolgirls was prepared by the Sikh community and submitted to a senior West
Midlands Police officer in 1983. Those responsible for the report assert that the concerns
were ignored with the abuse allowed to continue and subsequently increase.

Sikh community representatives from across the United Kingdom concur that despite
decades of repeated engagement with police forces over the abuse of schoolgirls, they
were met with a reluctant or ignorant stance towards such allegations. Over the years,
evidence of such a stance has continued to surface time and time again.

In May 2012, members of the Sikh community

protested outside a police station in Luton following
allegations that a young Sikh female had been sexually
assaulted on by a Muslim man.

Hundreds of demonstrators congregated outside Buxton Road police station to air their
concerns.

Members of the Sikh community protest in Luton after a woman was allegedly assaulted
Community leaders in Luton are calling for calm, following protests against the way police
handled allegations of an assault on a young Sikh woman.
ITV News – 30 May 201245

60
The protest followed an earlier meeting at the local Gurdwara where members of the
Sikh community met with police officers to voice their concerns over the Police
disinterest in handling the case.

Following the protest and media coverage, Mr Anan Majid Basharat from Luton was
arrested, charged and subsequently convicted of an offence relating to the allegations.

A MAN arrested in connection with an assault on a woman in Luton on Monday afternoon was
given conditional bail by magistrates yesterday afternoon.

Anan Mahjid Basharat, 19, appeared at Luton Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon after
being charged with assault by battery following the incident which sparked protests by
hundreds of members of the Sikh community outside Luton Police Station on Tuesday night.

Luton Today – 31 May 201246

Again in the East Midlands, allegations that Leicestershire police ignored a file of
intelligence pertaining to the abuse of a young Sikh girl came to light during legal
proceedings concerning a series of violent attacks across the region.

In January 2013, a group of forty Sikh men attacked a

restaurant and addresses believed to be the workplace and
residences of men involved in the grooming and rape a Sikh
teenager.

Following the attacks, the Leicester Mercury reported the city police commander Chief
Superintendent Rob Nixon as stating the attacks were “…sparked by misinformation
regarding the rape of a teenage Sikh girl” and that there was “a rumour that a Sikh girl
has been raped and Leicestershire police has done nothing despite being in possession of
video evidence of that rape. This is not true.”

61
Shortly after the series of attacks, six men were arrested, charged and prosecuted for
multiple offences of sexual exploitation of the girl. A banning order issued at two
hearings prevented the names and addresses of the men from being published.

Between November last year and January this year the men had sex with her at various locations
across Leicester, including a flat above the Moghul Durbar restaurant in East Park Road. A group
of people later attacked the restaurant and assaulted several people including Wajid Usman,
who had also had sex with the girl.

BBC News – 30 August 201347

Despite the unusual efforts to conceal details of the defendants, the Leicester Mercury
successfully challenged the order, which was subsequently removed by District Judge
John Temperley.

Lifting of the order initially disclosed that defendant Wajid

Usman, was “of no fixed abode”. However, in subsequent court
appearances it was revealed that some of the sexual abuse had
occurred in a flat above the Moghul Durbar restaurant, where
Wajid Usman had been living and working.

Although the Leicestershire police commander had stated the attacks were fuelled by
‘misinformation’ and ‘rumour’, court proceedings disclosed the reality of the situation.
The majority of the convicted men were Muslim, the victim was Sikh and some of the
abuse had taken place at the restaurant attacked by the Sikhs. Furthermore, the
chronology of events would suggest that despite being furnished with evidence of the
abuse from the Sikh community, the perpetrators were only arrested and prosecuted
once the Sikhs had drawn attention to these crimes by conducting a series of vigilante
attacks.

Commenting on the behaviour of Leicestershire police in the case in 2013, a Midlands

based Sikh organisation stated: “The reaction of Leicestershire police is nothing new.
Racially motivated grooming of girls by groups of Pakistani Muslim men has been
common place since the eighties. Instead of investigating the groomers, the police will
62
arrest the families or members of the community who feel they are left with no option
but to take the law into their own hands. They continue to underplay the issue as do the
media and politicians for fear of political correctness. It’s all happening at the cost of our
youngsters lives.”

Evidence suggesting such a culture of political correctness surfaced in 2015, when a

confidential report48 released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that
although West Midlands Police were aware that schoolgirls were at risk of child sexual
exploitation back in 2010, the police were worried about community tensions if the
abuse perpetrated by predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs was made public.

The West Midlands Police report entitled Problem Profile, Operation Protection divulged
how grooming had been directed specifically at schools and children’s homes. In a
heavily redacted passage, entitled ‘Schools’, it stated:

“In (redacted) a teacher at a (redacted) that a group of Asian males were approaching pupils at
the school gate and grooming them. Strong anecdotal evidence shows this MO (modus
operandi) is being used across the force.”

Despite the concerns raised, no known public appeals or warnings were made regarding
the risk at the time. The report further revealed that children’s homes were also being
targeted by gangs who used victims to target other girls. It stated:

“Operations in other forces have identified an MO where offenders use a young girl in a
children’s home to target and groom other residents on their behalf.

“This has also been evidenced within the force in (redacted) and (redacted). The girl’s motivation
to recruit new victims is often that the provision of new girls provides her a way to escape the
cycle of abuse.”

The report disclosed that of the 75 grooming suspects identified, a large proportion were
from a Pakistani background and a significant proportion were likely to be from a Muslim

63
background. Almost half lived in Birmingham, with thirty per cent from east Birmingham.
The report stated:

“The vast majority of identified suspects (79 percent) are Asian (59 of 75)…62 percent of Asian
suspects are of Pakistani origin. Pakistani males account for half of all identified suspects in the
force (37 of 75).”

The victims in the report lived across the West Midlands Police force area, on every local
policing unit area. The report further divulged that networks of multiple offenders were
involved in the abuse:

“A high level of organised criminality has now been evidenced both across the force area and
regionally, with multiple offenders working together to identify, groom and abuse victims.”

Whilst detailing aspects of grooming in the Coventry region, the report stated that an
organised crime gang was ‘‘actively grooming and abusing victims across the force in
Coventry hotel rooms.’’

“The organised nature is evidenced in many ways, for example by offenders targeting victims
on multiple operational command units many miles from where the offenders live themselves,
or in the number of offenders jointly abusing victims in specific offences.

“In a number of organised groups, victims are forced into prostitution and high levels of
intimidation and force are used to keep the victims compliant.”

The report also highlighted potential ‘community tensions’ which the child sexual
exploitation problems could lead to. It said:

“Police will be criticised if it appears we have not safeguarded vulnerable children, investigated
offences and prosecuted offenders.”

It further added that:

64
 “The predominant offender profile of Pakistani Muslim males... combined with the predominant
victim profile of white females has the potential to cause significant community tensions.”

The concerns highlighted within the West Midlands Police report again reflected an
identical offending pattern to those reportedly utilised by Pakistani grooming gangs on
young Sikh schoolgirls in the West Midlands two decades earlier.

Furthermore, the report demonstrated a culture within the West Midlands Police of
attempting to subdue evidence of racial patterns in sexual offending in order to avoid
criticism or communal tensions.

65
3.5 PARENTAL AND COMMUNITY RESPONSES
Interventions that develop parenting skills, support families and strengthen relationships between parents and children can have long
lasting prevention benefits. Community interventions can bring together multi-agency partnerships at a local level to identify and address
risk factors for sexual abuse.

The concept of family honour plays a key role in the Sikh way of life and has been partly
attributed as a reason why the Sikh community rarely reveal incidents of abuse to the
authorities.

For girls in particular, in order to ensure they can get married and maintain dignity in the
community, maintaining their virtue is a hugely important factor. Accordingly, issues of
abuse remain social stigmas which are commonly brushed under the carpet to avoid
tarnishing a young girl’s reputation and prospects of future marriage.

Given that sexual abuse and exploitation remain taboo subjects within the Sikh
community, victims commonly experience higher levels of unsupportive behaviour from
parents and family members. The absence of support or negative and inappropriate
responses by family members often contributes to the negative effects upon victims,
commonly leading to a shattering of family relationships, communication and
functioning.

In some instances, Sikh victims have faced pressure from family members to remain
silent about sexual abuse, causing particular damage and inhibiting approaches for
assistance.

An example of such activity was identified in the BBC Inside Out London programme49
broadcasted in 2013 where a Sikh girl was instructed by her mother not to go to the
police, even though she had been subjected to sexual abuse by countless men.

Fifteen-year old Jaswinder was under the control of a groomer for nearly two years. The man
charged countless other men to have sex with her and took obscene pictures which he used to
blackmail her into silence.

When she finally broke away and told her mother what had happened, she was warned against
going to the police and forbidden from ever telling her father the full details.

66
Speaking to the BBC, Counsellor Emma Kenny stated that, over the past few years, she
had noticed the number of Sikh girls requiring help after enduring sexual abuse was on
the rise50.

"We have cases where Sikh children have actually been forbidden from speaking up or removed
from their home environment when they talk about the fact they are being sexually exploited
or groomed," she says.

"Parents may be doing these things out of the best intentions but the problem here is that
firstly, by telling the child to keep quiet, the children will not get a chance to recover from the
ordeal.

"Secondly, removing them from the home, from their original support network, gives a very
strong message that they are the problem and that can lead to enormous long-standing
emotional and psychological issues."

As identified earlier in this study, the BBC Inside Out programme also discovered that
groomers are actually exploiting the fact that Sikh families are less likely to report
incidents of abuse.

The programme spoke to one man who recently broke away from a grooming gang and
was campaigning for greater awareness of the problem. He stated there were groomers
who specifically target Sikh girls because they feel they can get away with it.

Sikh girls were regarded as 'easy targets' because they know codes of honour mean the
child will be too scared and ashamed to tell their parents about the abuse and "their
parents would not even report it if they were to find out.”

Over the past four decades, the Sikh community have responded to the menace of
sexual grooming by repeatedly mobilising to educate their children about the risks in
addition to providing services to support the victims and their families. The vast majority
of awareness raising activities have centered around Gurdwaras and Sikh society events
at college and university campuses.

67
In recent years, Sikh Youth UK have embarked upon new methods to raise awareness of
the risks. Both social and conventional media outlets have been utilised to relay the
threat of grooming to audiences beyond the traditional Gurdwaras and educational
settings.

The 2017 short film ‘Misused Trust’ produced by Sikh Youth UK depicted real life events
surrounding abuse, addiction and vulnerability as detailed by grooming victims.
However, the widely received film met with controversy when aired globally on the
international television broadcaster, Sikh Channel.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom said it had received a complaint

about a film titled "Misused Trust" and aired on the Birmingham-
based cable TV Sikh Channel.

The 50-minute drama was produced by Sikh Youth UK and tells the
story of the sexual grooming of a young Sikh female student called
Japneet by a Muslim man called Abdul.

In a letter to the Sikh Channel, Ofcom said the film suggested

sexual assaults against Sikhs should not be reported to the police
"but rather should be referred to the Sikh community for action."
It added: "The complainant felt this advocated retaliatory violence
as acceptable."

Birmingham Mail - 12 August 201751

Although the claims regarding the film were deemed unfounded by the regulator,
members of the Sikh community claim such circumstances mimic historical responses
received by the community when raising awareness of grooming. Sikh community
representatives have commonly asserted how repeated victimisation of community
members by the authorities has constantly benefited the perpetrators of abuse.

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3.5.1 VIGILANTISM
Communal tensions stemming from the exploitation of Sikh females have sensationally
hit the mainstream media headlines on at least two occasions during the past thirty
years. During such tensions between Sikh and Pakistani Muslim youths in the West
Midlands from 1987 through to 1989, a plethora of media articles pointed to Sikhs
attributing violence as a response to the sexual exploitation of young Sikh girls by
Pakistani Muslim males.

The jury at the trial of 13 Sikh men at Birmingham Crown Court heard claims that one gang
forced girls into prostitution and blackmailed their parents.

The Sikhs were said to be members of the Shere Punjab, a vigilante gang, who were arrested -
armed with sticks and bottles - while on their way to confront the rival Muslim gang, the Aston
Panthers, in Handsworth, Birmingham, last June.

Gurmek Singh Chahal, 20, told the court the Panthers used Indian girls for sex and prostitution.
'The Shere Punjab was formed to stop the intimidation of our society by the Muslim society.'
The Independent – 24 June 198952

Again in Leicester, following the attacks on a Muslim owned restaurant and residences
in 2012, media articles again attributed the violence to the sexual exploitation of a young
Sikh girl by Muslim men.

Police and faith leaders met last night to find ways of easing tensions after the ransacking of a
Muslim-owned restaurant by a 40-strong Sikh mob.

The city's top officers sat with representatives from Leicester Council of Faiths to discuss the
apparently orchestrated attack by a vigilante gang at the Moghul Durbar restaurant, in East
Park Road, Spinney Hills, on Monday night.
Leicester Mercury - 17 January 201353

The major incidents in Birmingham and Leicester, although split by over twenty years,
share common ground. Whereas events in Birmingham appeared to be violence
stemming from a catalogue of continuous incidents against Sikh girls, Leicester was

69
initially seen as a direct response to a particular case of the grooming and exploitation
of a Sikh victim. However, commentators from the Sikh community assert that Leicester
became a boiling point for the volume of abuse being targeted at Sikh females in
addition to the perceived inaction of police forces in regards to such cases.

Certainly the involvement of a sizeable number of Sikhs from across the country in an
act of vigilantism provides some credence to the assertions. Research considered for this
study has uncovered a history demonstrating cycles of abuse being reported to police,
vigilante actions followed by the arrest and prosecution of adolescent Sikhs.

In both the Birmingham and Leicester incidences, Sikh community groups and activists
vociferously assert that evidence pertaining to the sexual grooming of young Sikh
females was collated and furnished to the Police well in advance of any violence. The
Sikh community allege that in the absence of Police action, the community took the step
of taking the law into their own hands. Both times resulted in large-scale arrests of Sikh
youths followed by senior Police officers publicly denying the receipt of any information
or intelligence from the community.

These incidents aside, over the past thirty years, local and national news headlines have
steadily reported incidents of communal tension and violence between predominantly
Pakistani Muslim and Sikh communities across the United Kingdom. Law enforcement
and local authorities have largely focused on specific incidents, localities and/or the
perpetrators of violence. What appears to have been neglected is the root of the
violence.

The Sikh community has a proud history of protecting females from abuse and acts of
vigilantism are scattered amongst the history of young Sikh females abused in the United
Kingdom. The community allege vigilantism arose as a final resort following the inaction
of the police. The violence was purported to have been in order to protect young females
as well as serve as a deterrent to grooming gangs.

The type of behaviour being discussed points to an approach to the subject of vigilantism
identified as crime control vigilantism. This form of vigilantism refers to behaviour

70
against perpetrators who are seen to have escaped justice as a result of inefficiency,
corruption or leniency on behalf of the government54. Crime control vigilantism is
commonly linked to specific worries about a particular crime problem55. It is the type of
vigilantism most associated with vigilantes56, and is often portrayed in popular culture57.
The crime control vigilante can be perceived as having a dual character, embodying both
‘a law abiding hero and a law breaking villain’58.

The evidence considered within this study would suggest that the prevalence of such
behaviour by elements in the Sikh community appears to have been a direct result of
failures by the police and local authorities to investigate and/or prosecute perpetrators
of child sexual exploitation coupled with the Sikh tradition of resorting to violence as a
means to redress a wrong only when all other avenues have failed.

The potential for vigilantism stemming from matters of abuse especially when relating
to children continues to hold favour amongst large sections of society at large. Evidence
would suggest that crucial failures in police liaison with communities when handling
cases of abuse continues to be the key factor facilitating the risk of vigilantism and
communal violence. In light of such circumstances, Sikh community recommendations
for the implementation and input of trained mediators remains critical to the handling
of cases and prevention of communal violence.

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72
SECONDARY VICTIMS

73
4. SECONDARY VICTIMS
Sexual abuse to primary victims often leads to commensurate physical and emotional damage to their immediate support networks. The
damage to these secondary victims impacts across a wide range of health, social and economic outcomes and can reduce their life
prospects in terms of employment, social and emotional wellbeing. Law enforcement and local authority responses to them routinely
compounds the trauma and is often described as ‘victimising the victim.’

Although not a consideration at the outset of this study, interaction with the family
members, friends and support workers of victims has revealed just how gravely they are
affected by sexual exploitation and its aftermath. Whereas, little primary research and
supporting literature focuses on the impact of abuse on these ‘secondary victims’, the
extent to which they are considered in literature, usually focuses on the manner in which
their response to the victim’s experiences has helped or hindered the primary victim's
recovery.

This is an important concern. As touched on in the parental responses section of this

study, higher levels of unsupportive behaviour by family members have been found to
be more likely for sexual assault victims than for victims of non-sexual assaults. Research
has found that the response of family members to a victim’s disclosure of sexual abuse,
but particularly the negative responses, can be a determinant of how damaging the
abuse manifests itself upon the victim.

Negative and/or otherwise inappropriate responses by family members to a victim can

have many profound negative effects on them, and can lead to a shattering of family
relationships, communication and functioning. For instance, pressure from family
members on the victim to remain silent or lie about the sexual assault can be particularly
damaging and indeed inhibit any further disclosures and help-seeking. Conversely, being
believed and being listened to can be particularly helpful.

In addition, this issue of response to disclosure and the limited research on the impact
of sexual assault on secondary victims themselves reveal some persistent themes. The
most common theme is that secondary victims often experience the effects of trauma
as well, sometimes with similar symptoms to those of primary victims.

74
A UK study based on interviews with eleven women attending a peer support group for
mothers whose children had been sexually abused identified a sense of guilt and failure
as a mother was a common initial reaction to discovery of the abuse. Many of the
women also described strong feelings of anger towards men in general, and feelings of
depression. Some mothers expressed their belief that the ‘recovery’ of mothers was a
key factor for the recovery of their children.

The support needs of secondary victim’s warrant attention in their own right. A clear
requirement has been identified to equip these people to provide a support network for
the victim, which would greatly assist the primary victim's recovery and provide an
overall better response to victims.

As this study has identified, the experiences Sikh families and community
representatives have commonly received when reporting or handling cases has
participated significantly towards their victimisation and traumatisation. Accordingly,
much greater consideration needs to be provided to the impact that behaviour exhibited
by the police and authorities can inflict upon the secondary victims.

75
76
RECOMMENDATIONS

77
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
The Sikh community fear that historic policing and local authority approaches to cases
of abuse and exploitation largely ignored the risk to youngsters due to concerns over
communal tensions and political correctness. Such an approach is widely believed to
have inadvertently ruined the lives of many children. It has been further argued that by
recklessly ignoring their duty of care to those at risk, police forces and authorities may
have even contributed towards their peril. What remains clear is that the threat to young
Sikh females persists and has amplified with the advent of social media.

Whereas grooming gang activity traditionally involved offenders approaching their

victims directly, the advent of social media has repeatedly demonstrated the serious and
evolving nature of the threat. Whilst young Sikh females continue to be targeted for
abuse and exploitation, social media has provided a much wider platform for the
perpetrators to locate and deceive victims with shockingly greater ease.

With the rising levels of risk, raising awareness and empowering youngsters remains of
the utmost importance. Consequently, generic approaches towards child sexual abuse
and exploitation require urgent reassessment across the board in order to acknowledge
the acute risk to particular sections of society.

In light of the recent increase in children of European Sikh economic migrants being
targeted for abuse and exploitation, the profound requirement for reform in the
investigation and response to such cases is as much of vital importance as ever. As
parents of such victims are often unconscious to the threat and otherwise preoccupied
with employment, the young and teenage children who have entered an alien culture,
are identifiably vulnerable and increasingly targeted.

Additionally, such concerns prompt demands for greater consideration towards the
cultural barriers faced by victims which contribute to their further marginalisation and
victimisation. Honour, shame and victim blaming remain notions that have inhibited Sikh
victims and their families from reporting sexual abuse and exploitation. As such notions
are repeatedly manipulated by offenders to silence their victims, it is imperative that
78
tailored community intervention is utilised specifically for members of the Sikh
community in order to address the unique backgrounds of Sikh females as well as
facilitating their effective rehabilitation.

Given the continued aversion of many Sikh victims and families to involve external
authorities such as the police and social services, multi-layered approaches which
incorporate trained community members acting as a medium to report abuse, conduct
mediation and address cultural sensitivities are crucially required. Such initiatives would
serve to embolden victims and the Sikh community to tackle the prevailing culture of
silence.

This study has made a preliminary effort to identify the issue at hand alongside key
associated factors. It has pointed out that a clear requirement exists for further research
of law enforcement agencies, local authorities, and educational establishments’ records
in addition to primary and secondary victim accounts in order to establish the full history
and extent of the problem. Furthermore, careful consideration is recommended upon
media reporting and responses on the issue as well as the impact institutionalised
approaches have inflicted on secondary victims.

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84