It has been an immense honour to listen to
the experiences of the people of
Rotherham. The project team received a
warm welcome and felt humbled at the
extraordinary courage of victims, survivors
and their families. We wish to express our
heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part
in the study. The knowledge and opinions
shared by our participants are the
foundation of this report.
No-one wants to think about what child
sexual abuse and exploitation really
means. Recognising that children have
been humiliated, raped and tortured is
extremely distressing. As such, it is no
surprise that many felt anger and rage
when they understood that those with
authority failed to protect vulnerable
children and young people.
There is a need to face the awful reality that
child sexual abuse has always happened.
However, in the age of the internet, the
number of children at risk of sexual abuse
has increased. Those who sexually abuse
children are mostly, but not always, men.
Not discounting the vast number of boys
who have suffered abuse, most of the
known victims of sexual abuse are girls.
Both victims and perpetrators come from
every walk of life. The threat is such that we
all have a responsibility to consider what
we can do to protect every child in our
family and communities.
The public criticism of Rotherham
Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) and
South Yorkshire Police, following Professor
Jay’s report was right and inevitable.
Positively, there have been several
examples of how RMBC and South
Yorkshire Police have responded to
criticism and improved the way they
respond to victims and survivors. However,
there have also been negative
consequences of public scrutiny, with many
people in the study reporting that they want
to regain pride in their hometown.
Those who took part in this study did not
shy away from exploring the difficulties they
face. Naturally, participants continue to talk
about issues of trust, as past mistakes
created a sense of vulnerability. However,
there is also evidence that healing is taking
place. Many participants made suggestions
of how they and RMBC could and should
collaborate to strengthen, individuals,
families and their communities
Indeed, there is a determination to meet
current and future needs with a sense of
collective rigour. Some of these tasks
involve developing internal structures, such
as communication and the provision of
appropriate resources. Rotherham, like
many other towns and cities in Britain, is
also faced with external threats which can
exacerbate internal challenges. An
example of this is how recognition of the
involvement of some men of Asian
Pakistani heritage, in the abuse of children
in Rotherham, led some political groups to
capitalise on fears. However, it is clear that
children are best protected in resilient
families and communities. Thankfully,
Rotherham and its people continue to
demonstrate resilience.
In addition, there is also a strong sense of
realism, no-one in Rotherham expects
perfection, but they do expect to do
everything possible to protect children and
young people. One woman made the
distinction between surviving and thriving:
“…I don’t want to survive,
I want to thrive…”
We hope this report contributes to that aim
and welcome your views on the findings
from data collected between April and
June 2015. We recognise that the data is
reflective of views expressed at that time
and that RMBC and the people of
Rotherham, have continued to respond to
needs throughout the course of this
analysis process
