Vulnerable women are most likely being “extensively” abused across the UK and ministers need to urgently review sex exploitation laws, a report says.<\/p>\n
David Spicer led a review in the wake of Operation Sanctuary which saw\u00a018 people jailed<\/a>\u00a0for the sexual abuse of\u00a0young women groomed in Newcastle<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said exploitation was not being recognised in adults.<\/p>\n The operation identified about 700 victims in total across the Northumbria Police area, 108 in Newcastle.<\/p>\n The government said it would “look carefully” at Mr Spicer’s 33 recommendations, which also included a need for research into the cultural background of abusers, many of whom in the case of Sanctuary were from a “predominantly Asian or British Minority Ethnic culture or background”.<\/p>\n Mr Spicer, who\u00a0carried out the serious case review<\/a>\u00a0for the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults and Children Boards, said it was clear “adults were being targeted, groomed and exploited” as well as children.<\/p>\n But he said authorities did not have the powers to intervene with adults to stop them “making bad choices” or forming “inappropriate relationships”.<\/p>\n He said: “Vulnerability is not determined by age and it is likely that extensive abuse of vulnerable adults is taking place across the country unrecognised.”<\/p>\n Operation Sanctuary started in 2014 after a 21-year-old woman with a learning disability told police she had been a victim of sexual exploitation over a long period.<\/p>\n Further reports from two 19-year-old women “confirmed” sexual exploitation was a much larger problem in Newcastle “than previously recognised”.<\/p>\n Mr Spicer said the operation had proved successful but it was only when Northumbria Police and other agencies like Newcastle City Council started looking for the issue they found it.<\/p>\n He also said the government needs to research the “profiles, motivations and cultural and background influences of perpetrators of sexual exploitation”.<\/p>\n In the Newcastle case, most of the men were British-born but all came from Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Iraqi, Iranian or Turkish communities.<\/p>\n Think tank the Quillam Foundation, which focuses on counter-extremism, said\u00a084% of the 264 offenders convicted of grooming between 2005 and 2017<\/a>\u00a0were of south Asian heritage.<\/p>\n Mr Spicer said the perpetrator he spoke to “displayed no regret” and “spoke in a derogatory manner about a lack of morals in British girls”.<\/p>\n The report noted that there was no evidence that police and other agencies had been reluctant to investigate amid “misplaced” concerns over political correctness or allegations of racism.<\/p>\n Mr Spicer also said confidentiality systems in sexual health services should be reviewed as a lack of information-sharing meant no-one spotted victims who went to multiple clinics.<\/p>\n Medical professionals such as pharmacists should also be trained to spot signs of abuse, he said.<\/p>\n Mr Spicer was also critical of the ordeal of victims giving evidence in court saying several complained it caused “lasting serious mental health problems”.<\/p>\n As well as reviewing the way victims are treated during trials, Mr Spicer also said the terminology of charges should be changed to avoid causing further distress.<\/p>\n This was after victims complained the charge of inciting prostitution labelled them as prostitutes.<\/p>\n A government spokesman said: “These are abhorrent crimes that have had a devastating impact on the lives of the victims involved.”<\/p>\n Changing Lives, a charity which supports victims of sexual exploitation including 33 associated with Operation Sanctuary, praised the report<\/p>\n Director Laura Seebohm said the trauma “cannot be underestimated” and she welcomed the recommendations for “national debate, review and guidance”.<\/p>\n Vida Morris of Newcastle’s adults safeguarding board said she was “profoundly and deeply sorry for the emotional and physical trauma” the victims suffered.<\/p>\n She said the women had been “brave beyond belief” and thanks to them Newcastle was “without a doubt a safer place”.<\/p>\n Northumbria police and crime commissioner Vera Baird declined to be interviewed.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"