Following judgement in the trials of a group of (West Yorkshire / Keighley men) accused of a variety of grooming and other sex offences, Muslim Women’s Council (MWC) condemned the unacceptable use of power relationships to force people into sexual abuse in any part of the community.
The MWC joined with other faith, community and women’s groups in the area to attack predatory sexual behaviour and welcome the prosecutions.
MWC Chair Bana Gora said:
Women who are subjected to this kind of sexual abuse need both to be given protection and to be able to see that justice is done. We want to express our profound sympathy and concern to all who have faced abuse and make very clear that ‘no’ means ‘no’.
On behalf of Muslim Women we recognise that grooming, child abuse and paedophilia are problems in need of urgent action. There is clear evidence these activities are not exclusive to any community and whether it be peers of the realm, celebrities or gangs of men, sexual exploitation is a serious crime that needs to be tackled by everyone.
We all have a duty to keep our young people safe and protected. Society needs to work together to ensure that women and children in particular are treated with respect, whatever their beliefs, background or location, and able to live their lives fear free.
MWC have previously highlighted that this is a problem that cuts across all groups regardless of religion and that demonising one community fails to address the deeper problems of sexual abuse throughout society.
